The Amherst news-times. (Amherst, Ohio), 1999-04-07 |
Save page Remove page | Previous | 1 of 14 | Next |
|
This page
All
|
Loading content ...
IIIWMIIWIi Ml ■ I She's the lady with the decorations — Page 2 MLS Theatre on stage — P. Amherst News-Time Wodnoscl.'iy. April 7. 1C)(-)(1 Amherst. Ohio Commissioners OK annexation bf acres eyed for by OLEN MLLER N«w8-Tim*>s reporter I. While expressing regret about the diminishing amount of Amherst Township land, the Lorain County Commissioners unanimously approved the annexation of 57 acres of township land near Rl 58 into the city last week. • Commissioner Michael Ross seemed to express the feelings of fellow commissioners Betty Blair and Mary Jo Vasi when he congratulated township trustee David Urig on his opposition to annexation during an April 1 public hearing. In the end, however, the commissioners sided with property owner Richard Rice, who said he could not develop his land without water and sewer lines provided by the city. No one in the audience thought once JEDD the commissioners would approve the annexation petition signed by Rice and nine other adjacent property owners without a review of the information presented. But Ross noted the township could not provide the necessary utilities for development "I believe the general good of this territory will be improved by immediate access to water and sewer," he . Also in question was a small island of land the county engineer's office suggested be added to the 57.2-acre area by amending the petition. It involved property on the east side of Rt. 58 that essentially is located near the downramp off a bridge over the Conrail Railroad tracks. CONTINUED on page 5 Washington Street widening to help, ease traffic woes . The widening of part of Washing- ion Street by three feet this week will help alleviate a parking prob- lem that has plagued the area around Marion L. Steele High School for several years. Under an agreement worked out with the city, the school board will pay $11,025 to have 31 parallel parking spaces built on the east side of the street They will cut into the curb lawn. The additional spaces will be constructed along a 644-foot area between a parking lot at the north end of Powers Elementary School and the entrance to the Amherst Church of Christ, according to* school district supervisor of buildings, J rounds and safety Kenneth lowacki. , The widening has been approved by both the Amherst Board of Edu- rm and city council, and will oc- this summer. This should help the parking situation a lot, but it won't solve it entirely," Glowacki said. I Parking around the high school has been a problem for several yean. Some students who drive to and from school now park on Cornell Street south of the high school or partially on the curb lawn along the east side of Washington Street The former has drawn complaints from residents living along Cornell Street while the curb lawn along Washington Street is lined with tire tracks and ruts, Glowacki explained. Under the change, the three-foot curb lawn will be paved over and parking bumpers installed to ensure students don't park on the street walk. A portion of the cars still will be on the street, although the widening will prevent them from being a possible traffic hazard. Glowacki said he explored the cost of installing diagonal parking along the east side of the street, a solution that would have created 40 spaces. This would have meant installing a new sidewalk and and in- cresed the cost by about $9,000. "It would cost us a lot more just for a few additional parking spaces. It wasn't worth it," he added. The project also includes some work on one of the parking lots on the north side of Powers Elementary School. The additional parking will require students to enter from Cleveland Avenue and park facing north. It also prevents them from having to back out into on-coming traffic, something that could not have been avoided if the diagonal spaces had been chosen, Glowacki added. Bus driver asks judge for chance to change plea on rape charges The former Amherst school bus driver charged with raping four giris over a period of several months wants to change is plea to aot guilty by reaeon of inanity. i Documents changing the plea of Andrew Bishop from not guilty to totgufltybyi ilsd with the Lorain QManty Com- toc* Pleas Court last week. . Judge Marie Betleski ia expected to nile on the request based on evi- submioed by Bishop's attorney, Thomas Dougan. The attorney is asking the court to hove Bishop tayctaoJofaCaaUy evaluBtad to ' arine if be is competent to stand Ready, set, search Above, a generous Easter Bunny gives a springtime maiden some of his candy and eggs during the annual Easter egg hunt at Maude Neiding Park. Nearly 1,000 people jammed into the park for the annual scramble Saturday which was sponsored by the Amherst Leos and Lions clubs, including this young family below. Try, try again.... for CHIP monies The city is hoping to qualify for a Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP) grant it failed to receive last year because of an error made by a, consulting group it hired. The city is seeking $510,000 in CHIP money available through a federally- funded Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) administered by the Ohio Department of Development The city failed to receive a similar grant last year because a consulting group it hired lo apply for the grant made an error in its application. Many small cities like Amherst hire consulting groups with expertise in helping to apply for federal grants. Most do not employ anyone with the necessary knowledge or have community development departments capable of handling the complicated projects, according to mayor John Higgins. "It's a very complicated and complex process that you've got to have a certain amount of experience in doing," he explained "It's the kind of thing where you have to have every V dotted and every 't* crossed or it gets rejected.'' This year the city has hired another consulting firm that promises to do a better job. Puggemeyer Design Group, a Bowling Green design, planning and engineering firm, will not charge the city a $5,000 fee unless the CHIP application is approved. Low and fixed income homeowners are those who qualify for assistance under the CHIP. The grant provides money for nine different functions: home rehabilitation, $297,000. home repair, $36,000; home- buyer down payment assistance, $34,000; homebuyer counseling, $1,500; home maintenance education, $600, home evaluation/reduction, $36,000; and relocation, $2,000. It also sets aside $94,600 for administration and implementation and $7400 for mandatory update of the city's Community Housing Improvement Strategy (CMS). City officials said they have no idea how many low- income residents might be eligible for assistance under the program. The firm makes CHIP applications for 14 communities including Amherst It also does updates for their mandatary CMS, an overall analysis of housing in the city by demographics, economic status and other factors. The strategies most be updated every three yean in order for a dry lo be eligible for a grant The Bowling Green firm is t'a CMS ao the city can CMP money to *r low or fixed The nay is . „./r »• ar *\ ^reis1^^ • ffiffir •'.». »aa«aasi\aa^ai»aaaaaaaiaaasaaaaa«i
Object Description
Title | The Amherst news-times. (Amherst, Ohio), 1999-04-07 |
Place |
Amherst (Ohio) Lorain County (Ohio) |
Date of Original | 07-APR-1999 |
Searchable Date | 1999-04-07 |
Collection | Amherst News-Times |
Submitting Institution | Amherst Public Library |
Rights | Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests or more information, go to http://www.ohiohistory.org/images/information |
Type | Text |
Format | newspapers |
LCCN | sn84028333 |
Description
Title | The Amherst news-times. (Amherst, Ohio), 1999-04-07 |
Place |
Amherst (Ohio) Lorain County (Ohio) |
Date of Original | 07-APR-1999 |
Searchable Date | 1999-04-07 |
Submitting Institution | Amherst Public Library |
Rights | Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests or more information, go to http://www.ohiohistory.org/images/information |
Full Text | IIIWMIIWIi Ml ■ I She's the lady with the decorations — Page 2 MLS Theatre on stage — P. Amherst News-Time Wodnoscl.'iy. April 7. 1C)(-)(1 Amherst. Ohio Commissioners OK annexation bf acres eyed for by OLEN MLLER N«w8-Tim*>s reporter I. While expressing regret about the diminishing amount of Amherst Township land, the Lorain County Commissioners unanimously approved the annexation of 57 acres of township land near Rl 58 into the city last week. • Commissioner Michael Ross seemed to express the feelings of fellow commissioners Betty Blair and Mary Jo Vasi when he congratulated township trustee David Urig on his opposition to annexation during an April 1 public hearing. In the end, however, the commissioners sided with property owner Richard Rice, who said he could not develop his land without water and sewer lines provided by the city. No one in the audience thought once JEDD the commissioners would approve the annexation petition signed by Rice and nine other adjacent property owners without a review of the information presented. But Ross noted the township could not provide the necessary utilities for development "I believe the general good of this territory will be improved by immediate access to water and sewer," he . Also in question was a small island of land the county engineer's office suggested be added to the 57.2-acre area by amending the petition. It involved property on the east side of Rt. 58 that essentially is located near the downramp off a bridge over the Conrail Railroad tracks. CONTINUED on page 5 Washington Street widening to help, ease traffic woes . The widening of part of Washing- ion Street by three feet this week will help alleviate a parking prob- lem that has plagued the area around Marion L. Steele High School for several years. Under an agreement worked out with the city, the school board will pay $11,025 to have 31 parallel parking spaces built on the east side of the street They will cut into the curb lawn. The additional spaces will be constructed along a 644-foot area between a parking lot at the north end of Powers Elementary School and the entrance to the Amherst Church of Christ, according to* school district supervisor of buildings, J rounds and safety Kenneth lowacki. , The widening has been approved by both the Amherst Board of Edu- rm and city council, and will oc- this summer. This should help the parking situation a lot, but it won't solve it entirely," Glowacki said. I Parking around the high school has been a problem for several yean. Some students who drive to and from school now park on Cornell Street south of the high school or partially on the curb lawn along the east side of Washington Street The former has drawn complaints from residents living along Cornell Street while the curb lawn along Washington Street is lined with tire tracks and ruts, Glowacki explained. Under the change, the three-foot curb lawn will be paved over and parking bumpers installed to ensure students don't park on the street walk. A portion of the cars still will be on the street, although the widening will prevent them from being a possible traffic hazard. Glowacki said he explored the cost of installing diagonal parking along the east side of the street, a solution that would have created 40 spaces. This would have meant installing a new sidewalk and and in- cresed the cost by about $9,000. "It would cost us a lot more just for a few additional parking spaces. It wasn't worth it," he added. The project also includes some work on one of the parking lots on the north side of Powers Elementary School. The additional parking will require students to enter from Cleveland Avenue and park facing north. It also prevents them from having to back out into on-coming traffic, something that could not have been avoided if the diagonal spaces had been chosen, Glowacki added. Bus driver asks judge for chance to change plea on rape charges The former Amherst school bus driver charged with raping four giris over a period of several months wants to change is plea to aot guilty by reaeon of inanity. i Documents changing the plea of Andrew Bishop from not guilty to totgufltybyi ilsd with the Lorain QManty Com- toc* Pleas Court last week. . Judge Marie Betleski ia expected to nile on the request based on evi- submioed by Bishop's attorney, Thomas Dougan. The attorney is asking the court to hove Bishop tayctaoJofaCaaUy evaluBtad to ' arine if be is competent to stand Ready, set, search Above, a generous Easter Bunny gives a springtime maiden some of his candy and eggs during the annual Easter egg hunt at Maude Neiding Park. Nearly 1,000 people jammed into the park for the annual scramble Saturday which was sponsored by the Amherst Leos and Lions clubs, including this young family below. Try, try again.... for CHIP monies The city is hoping to qualify for a Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP) grant it failed to receive last year because of an error made by a, consulting group it hired. The city is seeking $510,000 in CHIP money available through a federally- funded Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) administered by the Ohio Department of Development The city failed to receive a similar grant last year because a consulting group it hired lo apply for the grant made an error in its application. Many small cities like Amherst hire consulting groups with expertise in helping to apply for federal grants. Most do not employ anyone with the necessary knowledge or have community development departments capable of handling the complicated projects, according to mayor John Higgins. "It's a very complicated and complex process that you've got to have a certain amount of experience in doing," he explained "It's the kind of thing where you have to have every V dotted and every 't* crossed or it gets rejected.'' This year the city has hired another consulting firm that promises to do a better job. Puggemeyer Design Group, a Bowling Green design, planning and engineering firm, will not charge the city a $5,000 fee unless the CHIP application is approved. Low and fixed income homeowners are those who qualify for assistance under the CHIP. The grant provides money for nine different functions: home rehabilitation, $297,000. home repair, $36,000; home- buyer down payment assistance, $34,000; homebuyer counseling, $1,500; home maintenance education, $600, home evaluation/reduction, $36,000; and relocation, $2,000. It also sets aside $94,600 for administration and implementation and $7400 for mandatory update of the city's Community Housing Improvement Strategy (CMS). City officials said they have no idea how many low- income residents might be eligible for assistance under the program. The firm makes CHIP applications for 14 communities including Amherst It also does updates for their mandatary CMS, an overall analysis of housing in the city by demographics, economic status and other factors. The strategies most be updated every three yean in order for a dry lo be eligible for a grant The Bowling Green firm is t'a CMS ao the city can CMP money to *r low or fixed The nay is . „./r »• ar *\ ^reis1^^ • ffiffir •'.». »aa«aasi\aa^ai»aaaaaaaiaaasaaaaa«i |
Format | newspapers |
LCCN | sn84028333 |
Tags
Add tags for The Amherst news-times. (Amherst, Ohio), 1999-04-07
Comments
Post a Comment for The Amherst news-times. (Amherst, Ohio), 1999-04-07