The Amherst news-times. (Amherst, Ohio), 1999-04-07

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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
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