Buckeye Water Board Meets

Thursday – December 15: The Board of Trustees for Buckeye Water District held their regular monthly meeting this morning at Wellsville Village Hall. All Board members were present except one. Also present was District Manager Al DeAngelis, Legal Advisor Fred Emmerling, Fiscal Officer Tony D'Angelo and Office Manager Greg Stanley.

The Board once again went into Executive Session for litigation with Attorney Emmerling. This one lasted 23 minutes with no action or comments when they returned. We suspect that it had to do with Judge Ashley Pike's ruling two days ago saying BWD had to pay East Liverpool the $4.8 million breech of contract judgement.

Pike has been dragging his feet on issuing that ruling, especially since the USDA advised that in a sense the money garnished is actually theirs. It was bank rolled for loans they issued BWD for growing the water district. BWD was preparing to run water lines to Frederick Heights before the City of East Liverpool got greedy. The St. Clair Township neighborhood doesn't have the best of water from their well systems. The township trustees have been begging, for what seems ages now, to get water lines installed for those residents. The Frederick Heights project was put on hold pending litigation.

Pike must have a short memory when he was quoted by a reporter as saying ...the court beseeches counsel to make every effort to settle on a realistic payment plan...” We recall that BWD offered East Liverpool a cool $1 million cash payment plus something like $14,000 a month for a year to partially satisfy the earlier judgment. It was offered to negotiate additional payments for the balance. East Liverpool's response was to garnish BWD assets and all their cash.

Although nothing was mentioned this morning we can only speculate how this is going to turn out. BWD has already appealed Pike's latest ruling with the 7th District Court of Appeals. Earlier talk was that by forcing them to pay the full $4.8 million judgment in one lump sum might force BWD to file for bankruptcy protection. The USDA surely doesn't want to take over a water district by foreclosing. East Liverpool may have been able to balance their city budget had they accepted that earlier payment plan. Now they'll have to wait ...even longer.

District Treasurer Bob Wines reported that the District is a little over the budget but it is not real bad. Board President Mike Ryan said the District is “in the red a little bit” and both conceded it shouldn't cause any serious problems. The Treasurer's Report was accepted as read.

Board member Gene McGaffick noted that sales was down a bit compared to this year's monthly average but year-to-date it is up compared to this time last year.

DeAngelis reported there was two large leaks in Salineville since the last meeting. One was a saddle break on the main line through that village. The saddle was one installed before Buckeye took over the Salineville water system. DeAngelis noted it was one of the less expensive ones they used that didn't have any stainless steel. The other leak was at the Salineville Sewage Treatment Plant. That line is the responsibility of the Village.

DeAngelis also noted there is a leak somewhere in Wellsville and it is suspected to be between Hibbits Mill and the main line in the village. It is not a real bad leak but water is being lost. Replacing the main line from Hibbits Mill into Wellsville was one of the projects put on the back burner as a result of East Liverpool's litigation. Plans now are being made to make a concentrated effort to isolate the leak in the near future.

For New Business Fiscal Officer Tony D'Angelo advised that under Ohio Revised Code 6119 Buckeye Water does not have to pay real estate taxes and he has spoken to County officials. Yesterday's Morning Journal listed the District being $4,656 in arrears for taxes on the Raw Water Pumping Station that is located by Little Yellow Creek. County officials agreed that the District is exempt.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:34 AM. The next regularly scheduled meeting is Thursday, January 19, 2012 at Wellsville Village Hall.


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Wellsville Tigers Improve To 3&1

Tuesday – December 13: The Wellsville Tigers hosted league rival Jackson Milton Tuesday evening in the Tiger's Den. It was “Bug Ball” all night as the men in the white uniforms took off running and didn't slow down until the refs blew the whistle. Wellsville took an early lead in scoring, built it up to a nice margin and didn't stop.

The Blue Jays took the floor with a bit of a swagger to their step. Must have been left over from their football season. That swagger was a bit tarnished by the time they headed back to the bus to go home. The Tigers took a 10 point lead after one quarter, went into the locker room at the half with a 17 point lead and held onto that margin after three. Final score was Wellsville 67-46 and they say the Tigers are in a rebuilding season.

The highlight of the evening had to be Sophomore Nate Scott's game high 32. Scott had six 3-pointers to account for over half of his total. When Scott is “in the zone” his three pointers are deadly and sweet. Most of them touch nothing but net. Next to Scott's hot hand had to Senior Josh Carter taking command on the floor. We saw one Jackson Milton player hit the floor after running into Carter wishing he was wearing football pads. He thought for a moment before picking himself up. The big guy finished the night with 16 rebounds and 6 points.

The Reserves had another nice win in the opening game with a 79-47 victory over the young Jays. It was a good night for the Orange & Black.

The Tigers get back to action tomorrow night, Friday, December 16, at Leetonia. Tip-off for the Reserves against the Teddy Bears is 6 P.M.

Don't let up Tigers...

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Nominations For Best Decorated Being Sought

Wellsville Area Chamber of Commerce Dolly Brophey announced that nominations are being sought for the best Christmas decorated residence in the Wellsville area. Awards will be given to the first, second and third best decorated houses. No one who has won in the last three years will be eligible for this year's contest.

Nominators are asked to call either 330-532-1807 or 330-383-0032 to place their nomination into the judging. The deadline for nominations is Friday, December 23, according to Mrs. Bropehy.

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Coulter Named 2011 Chamber Rising Star

Tuesday - December 13: Wellsville barber James R. Coulter, Jr. was named Wellsville's newest "Rising Star" at last night's Wellsville Area Chamber of Commerce Installation Dinner. Coulter who is popularly known as J.C. is the owner and master barber of the Wellsville Barber Shop located at 458 Main Street. Coulter opened the shop in 2010.

Coulter is an alumni of Southern Local and graduated from Youngstown State & Hondras College majoring in real estate and journalism. He is also president of CCI call center and is a free lance sports writer for Urban Media Today.

Since opening his shop in town Coulter has done many charitable deeds for the Wellsville community. In memory of his late friend Issac Ludwig he has given Halloween costumes to anyone in need of one for the past two years.

Eligibility for the Rising Star Award requires that the nominee be under the age of 40, in some sort of business in the Wellsville area and be actively involved in the community. Pictured above to the left of Chamber President Randy Allmon , Coulter is the winner of only the second annual award.

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Wellsville Chamber Holds Installation Dinner

Tuesday – December 13: The Wellsville Area Chamber of Commerce held their annual installation dinner yesterday at the Riverside Road House. Roxanne Hall was installed as the new Recording Secretary and Chamber President Randy Allmon advised that all other officers reamain the same.

Allmon remarked that the Wellsville Area Chamber membership continues to grow. Recent new members include Chris Arnott of Nationwide Insurance, Doug Verzella of the Ups of Downs Support Group, Lyndsey Mackall, Brandon Russell & Pastor Mark Blakely of Wellsville's First Christian Church and Rental Car Mama of St. Cloud, Florida. Rental Car Mama spokesman Andy Cannata advised that they enjoy a lot of business from the Wellsville area.

Allmon gave a special thanks to the Youth Ministry members of the First Christian for all their help with painting the gazebo and most recently helping with the Christmas decorations in the 4th Street Square. A note from Larry McCombs, husband of the late Vickie McCombs, was read thanking the Chamber for remembering Vickie and dedicating the Annual Christmas Parade in her name. Vickie McCombs was a very active, long time member of the Wellsville Chamber and yearly chaired the committee for the parade.

Before getting on with dinner Chamber member Paul Blevins presented Allmon with a plaque of appreciation for his dedicated service to the Chamber. In the presentation Blevins noted that the award was decided on by he and other members and was a surprise to Allmon.

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WHS Lady Tigers Drop To 1 & 3

Monday – December 12: The WHS Lady Tigers let one slip away when they hosted the Jackson Milton Lady Jays last night. Except for the two seniors in the starting line up the loss could be attributed to the lack of varsity experience. We saw a lot of forcing the ball through a host of blue jerseys, missed foul shots and not using the back board for easy lay ups.

Seniors Rilee Livolsi and Mikyla Tipton did their best. Tipton was the lead scorer for the Tigers with 28 points. Livolsi wasn't far behind with 21 of her own. Livolsi also pulled down 7 rebounds.

The Lady Tigers didn't give up and quit. They had a 69-68 lead with 2:34 left in the 4th quarter only to have it taken away in the next minute. There were several times they could have regained the lead but it seemed the bucket had a lid on it.

Final score was Jackson Milton 77-72. The loss is the third in four games for the Wellsville ladies.

The Reserves also dropped the opening game to the Lady Jays by a score of 39-31. Wellsville returns to action Thursday, December 15, at Leetonia. Tip-off for the Reserves is 6 PM.

Good Luck Ladies...

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Wellsville Volunteer Firefighters Night With Santa

Sunday - December 11: In order to make last minute arrangements with Santa for his rides around town the Wellsville Volunteers threw a party for him. They invited all the members of the department and their families. After ironing out the visit details and having a bite to eat Santa took time out to talk to the children and pass out early Christmas presents for each of them.

Before leaving to return to the North Pole Santa reminded us that he will be back next Saturday, December 17, and Monday, December 19, riding around town and Yellow Creek Township with the firemen to talk to all the children. He can only spare a couple of hours each evening from 7 to 9 PM. Santa said he and the elves are very, very busy this year but he did say he will come back on Thursday, December 22, if he missed anyone. Folks out in Yellow Creek Township are asked to call the department at 330-532-1338 to make arrangements.

All you need to do on those nights is turn on the porch light and wave the fire truck down when it gets close. Please do not let children run out into the street until one of the firemen tells you it's okay.

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