All-tel Coming Back

Another step in the right direction... Coming July 7th, according to the sign in the window, All-tel will once again have a presence in the ville. They will be located in half of what use to be the Perpetual bank on Main St. in Wellsville. I'm glad to see it. Among other things their store in Calcutta is a pain where you can't put plaster. Along with being in a poor location they were always so busy it was difficult to get good customer service from their sales people whenever I was there.

All-tel use to be in Wellsville in the old video rental place across the street and those folks always took the time to answer any and all questions. It's good to see another business open in Wellsville. All-tel and Verizon have join forces recently. Right now everything will remain the same so All-tel tells us. Wonder if there will be a name change in the future?

ole nib

Dillard Arraigned

Mary Ann Grier had a report in this morning's ER that accused Wellsville resident Eric Dillard plead not guilty to murder yesterday in County Common Pleas Court. Next step for this case will be Pre-Trial motions which is set to occur July 7. In the meantime Dillard's bond was kept the same. The judge reportedly remarked he will review the bond issue at that time. Dillard's attorney said the amount of bond is unconstitutional. Does the constitution have set limits on the amount of bond the courts impose? I imagine the judge will be hitting the law books checking on that. The prosecutor wants to keep it at $2 million to insure that the accused sticks around for his trial.

The philosophy of the new gun law that goes into effect in September crossed my mind. I'm wondering if jurors for this trial will be considering that. I know it's a question that won't be answered until post trial but with Dillard claiming self-defense it came to mind. The shooting occurred before the new laws take effect but this particular case seems to be a prime example of parts of the reasoning behind this bill. Personally, I don't think taking it to the street would make it excusable even under the new law.

There's lots of questions concerning the Dillard case that haven't been answered. One in particular that I have in mind is whether Farley was himself armed and maybe his weapon was hidden before the police arrived on the scene. It was reported another weapon was not found but some say there was another. This might be one of those intangibles that will never be answered.

ole nib

Gotta A Question

In her account of this week's council meeting Holly Stefanoff briefly mentioned a resolution that was passed Tuesday evening. She wrote "A resolution was passed to request the county auditor to certify certain tax valuation information in anticipation of levying a tax in excess of the ten mill limitation." The "in excess of the ten mill limitation" really got my attention. Can anyone elaborate on this particular resolution?

Was Holly referring to getting information from the county auditor so they can approve the budget or, Lord help us, is council considering putting an excessive levy on the ballot? Chances of getting a 10 plus mill levy approved at the polls have two possibilities in this day and age in this village - slim and next to nothing. It's an up hill battle to get renewals on existing levies for necessary services. New levies require a lot of promoting and convincing the voters that it is truly needed and sometimes that doesn't even work.

I'm not trying to cast aspersions on the reporter. She certainly got my attention. I hesitated asking this. I just would like to have a little more explanation as to what she was referring to. Many of us struggle to keep up with the taxes we have to pay today. I dread to think of having to pay more.

ole nib

Fountains On Riverside, Kiln On First Street...

...that's what was reported in The Review.

Although it hasn't been specifically mentioned I think I figured out the reason the village is forcing the St. Francis Animal people out of their building. It's all about liability and although the situation has many folks upset it is something that needed to be taken into consideration. God forbid that anything would happen but if it did it would put the village in a very precarious position.

So, apparently, now it's in a Catch 22 situation. Being an operation in a village owned building and the St. Francis folks being an all volunteer organization with no official ties to the administration amounts to risky business. Nobody is trying to force the St. Francis folks out of doing their thing. In fact I think it is very much appreciated by all. It's just something that needs to be taken care of so everyone is covered - just in case.

It has been reported that both sides are diligently trying to work out a compromise. I got to commend Councilmen Joe Soldano and Tony Cataldo for spearheading the village efforts to work out a solution. Both sides have valid issues to consider and I'm just sure with the cooperation between both sides something satisfactory to all will be worked out.

In other council news it was reported that the village is entering into a contract with a collection agency to help our village clerk collect back taxes. It's something that needs to be done to put some teeth into the collection efforts. It's bad news for the people that owe and a good move for the village coffers. This agency will not cost the village one cent. They add a fee to what is owed that those who owe will be responsible for. Another ordinance is being adopted to allow folks that owe fines to Wellsville the option of working them off under a community service program. We had this once before but got away from it. I think it was another issue of liability but they must have that worked out now. This years chip & seal program is about to begin. The fountains on Broadway, I think, are being inspected and readied to be turned on. Nunzi and his Fix-Up Clean-Up committee are going to get started with working on the kiln area at 3rd & Wells Avenue, I think, cleaned up. They are looking for anyone wishing to volunteer their services to help with this worthwhile project. If you got a few hours to spare check with Village Hall for times.

We have all suffered from the effects of the high cost of gas lately. The cost of fuel seems to cover the whole gamut on the cost of just about everything we spend money on. Nobody has mentioned what ill effects this is causing Wellsville's budget but you know it's not immune. Every day there is something in the papers touching on this subject. Here's an idea that our council members may want to consider. In yesterday's USA Today there was an article about Holly Springs, GA, adding a fuel surcharge of $12 to any traffic tickets issued. Holly Springs has a population of 7,700 and the surcharge is applied to any moving violations. It can be rescinded if the price of gas falls below $3 per gallon. Their mayor was quoted as saying "This is a self-taxing system. If you don't break the law, you don't pay the tax". Violators will only have themselves to blame. The folks down there expect the surcharge to bring in $19 - $26 thousand dollars a year and will be used to help with the town's cost of fuel.

Congratulations to the Port Authority and Tracy Drake for landing the NASA contract. Sometime in the near future they will be shipping parts manufactured in Cleveland for the space program. The parts are too big to be shipped all the way to Florida by truck. They will be trucked from Cleveland and loaded on barges here in the ville. Expect to see some strange looking loads moving down Route 11 & 7 shortly. Some parts are said to be 18 feet wide.

The Wellville Area Chamber of Commerce have joined in with the county C-of-C in getting a new web site up and running promoting the whole area. I think it is a pretty neat site. Check it out at http://www.columbianacountyareachambers.com/. It loaded with all kinds of infomation.

In case you missed it Gina Hampson and the Revitalization Committee are looking for pictures of the old Roadside Park that use to be on both sides of Route 45 where it meets Wells Avenue. Gina is getting ready to do a mural on it. To make it real she needs to get an idea of what it looked like before the new Route 7 was built. If you got any old snap shots to loan they would appreciate it. If you want to e-mail them to me at olenib@gmail.com I'll print them up and get them to her.

Now, I'm off to find those fountains on Riverside and that kiln on 1st St. With Joe's new street signs with bright orange letters it's hard to not know where you're at in town. I'll get pictures of them on here tomorrow if I find them.

ole nib

Wellsville's Old Roadside Park

Here's some pictures I saved of the old park. I did a piece on this in March of 2007. It's still in the archives. Hopefully these will be of some help.

You can click on the pictures to enlarge.

ole nib

This Year's Legends

The Riverside Reunion will be here before you know it. Below is a note from Hootch2:

"I just wanted to announce the Wellsville Legends for 2008 who will be honored at the Wellsville Riverside Reunion. If you'd like to put this on a different thread feel free. Being honored on July 3rd will be, Robert "Brassy" Beresford, Nunzio Lombardozzi, Marjorie Dysert, Jim & Phyllis Thrasher, and The Checkler Brothers. Johnny, Jimmy, Albert, Nance, and Nick. We'd like everyone to come out and thank these people who have worked hard all their lives to make this a better place to live. It'll be a great day in Wellsville when we have them all together to pay tribute. You can go to www.theriversidereunion.com for more details on the weekends festivities."

Thanks for the heads up Hootch. I'm looking forward to it.

ole nib

Get Real Lady

In Tuesday's MJ there was a letter to the editor published from an EL lady expressing doubts about the Baard plant. She stated she went to the last OEPA meeting to educate herself on the proposed facility. Sounds like she went in with a closed mind and picked up on only what she wanted to hear and that seemed to be mostly from the comments from the different environmentalist people.

She didn't seem to do much on educating herself stating that carbon dioxide and other gases will be released from the smoke stacks. She's talking about air quality issues that haven't been discussed yet by the EPA officials. Isn't it in the plans to bury the CO2 into the ground? That process is being tested elsewhere right now.

She said this plant is a prototype and has never been tested anywhere in the world. Whoa? They have been using this basic process in Europe for decades now. Do some research yourself lady. Learn about the Fischer-Tropsch process developed in the 20s & 30s. This may be new to the US but not to the "whole world".

She questioned the benefits of the jobs that would be provided by the building and eventually the operation of the proposed plant. Any new jobs in the area is bound to have a positive impact on our economy. Just providing goods and services to these people would be an improvement not to mention auxiliary business opportunities to support the construction and running of the plant. Look how the Port Authority is gearing up their Wellsville facility in anticipation of some of that support. Consider the increase in taxes just from the people employed in this endeavor. It may not turn things completely around but it will certainly be an improvement on what we have today.

She stated that WTI made no economic difference to East Liverpool. This convinced me she really has her head buried in the sand. Look at the dumping fees that city received over the years. Those jobs at WTI are jobs EL wouldn't have if it wasn't there. The people working up there live in the area, pay their income taxes and spend money in area stores. How can she say WTI didn't make an economic difference?

The cost of gasoline and other related products have been very much in all the news sources. Look at recent articles on the cost of black top and other road construction products such as chip and seal. How could she think an alternative fuel source would not be beneficial?

This is the kind of narrow minded thinking supporters of the Baard plant will be facing. Some are so closed minded they can't even credit any good that is already being accomplished or that is being planned. This is the kind of opposition that those with progressive thinking will have to face and overcome. We can not live in the past and survive.

ole nib