Amherst News-Times, 1999-06-23

              Cops to target trespassers — Page 5        City to compete for grant — Paj
Amherst News-Tim
3
Wednesday. Juno 23.  1999
Amherst. Ohio
0 cents
the
Gardeners find refuge in their yards
Work of two enthusiasts featured on agency's fundraising tour
by QLEN MILLER
morrt
Gror'
nee
News-Times reporter
When mayor John Higgins
goes home to escape politics
and the rigors of city hall, he
jumps into what his wife
Marilyn calls his big "adult
sandbox."
He doesn't build sand castles. The sandbox is his
wife's terminology for the
huge garden of flowers,
shrubs, water fountains and a
waterfall he has built into his
own haven over the last 26
years.
The mayor's garden and six
gardens surrounding the house
of Jack and Dorothy Lehman,
of 1903 Laurel Lane, are two
Amherst gardens chosen for
Lorain County's fourth annual
Garden Tour May 26 from
9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Until this year, the mayor
has been a volunteer who has
helped plan the tour. This
fear he agreed to be part of
"the scenery" at the urging of
other volunteers.
"I thought, 'why not?' It's
been part of my life, my
method of relaxation and of
being creative even since I
was a child," he explained.
His growth as a garden
started as a child as he
watched his late Irish father,
Thomas Higgins, plant flowers. He was a farmer who
taught the magic of gardening
to him.
His garden is a conglomeration of 80 perennials, 40
flats of annuals and more
than 100 different kinds of
shrubs. The garden has been
Amherst Township resident Dorothy Lehman waters one of her
six gardens, a regular duty she performs to help keep things
completely landscaped by him.
It also has a waterfall, several
water fountains and a set of
steps that wind up and
through the garden.
"If other people couldn't
enjoy it, I wouldn't enjoy it,"
he added. "I like it because I
see other people get enjoy
ment out of it."
His wife is the chief
waterer and weeder. He is the
planter aflttTSaifWcer, often
working on fertilizing or
pruning plants until 10 p<m. •
It was all bare land when
they moved into 618 S. Lake
St. nearly three decades ago.
green and beautiful.
Today, it is a showplace of
beauty and tranquility. Every
section of the one-acre garden
is special to them and has Its
own mealing**-*-'
Higgins used to be able to
devote more time to the garden prior to becoming mayor.
These days, he works on it
whenever he has time.
"But it's not work for me;
it's my relaxation, my therapy. It's definitely cheaper
and better than a shrink," he
added. "I just putter around
doing this and that, sometimes
CONTINUED on page 3
Tenney may be widened for parking slots
Pending city council approval, the
city is prepared to spend an estimated $140,000 to create as many
as 40 new parking spaces on Tenney
•Avenue this summer.
I
-, Under a plan proposed by city engineer Milt Pommeranz, Tenney
will be widened eight feet and converted to a one-way street between
•Church Street and Mill Avenue.
The street will be widened by re
moving and replacing the sidewalk
on the north side of the street, where
as many as 40 diagonal parking
spaces will be built. Parallel parking
on the south side of the street, where
six spaces now exist, will be
prohibited.
Critical to the plan is a revitalization grant for downtown Amherst to
be made by the city. The cost of the
widening project can be used as the
city's share of the grant if it coincides with the revitalization grant,
according to mayor John Higgins.
"The timing has to be just right so
what we're planning can be used as
the city's matching share by the
state (department of community development)," he explained. "If it's
done right, it wiU accomplish two
things and save us a lot of money."
Higgins said he hopes the plan
can be initiated and enacted by
council before its August recess.
The grant will be part of the city's
effort to became affiliated with
Main Street Ohio, a program that
could assist in downtown revitalization over the next several years.
The city is seeking funding from
area foundations to help hire a director for the Main Street Ohio
Program.
Additional parking in the down
town area has long been sought after
as part of revitalization. Earlier this
year, the city built eight diagonal
parking spaces along side the new
Veterans Park at Tenney Avenue
and Church Street.
The portion of Tenney between
South Main Street and Mill Avenue
is expected to become a eastbound
one-way street once the widening
project is completed.
Fourth, sixth graders tally top scores, too
by PAUL MORTON
Rl
Sj
News-Times reporter
Results of the state proficiency
tests released last week by the state
department of education show that
Amhent fourth and sixth graders are
voiding their own on the exams, according io assistant superintendent
Timothy Logar.
.According to the results of the
f-"r tof*— by fourth and sixth grad-
irs in March, the percentage of Am-
lent fourth graders who passed the
eata declined in four of the five
letted. But Logar said the
io which the percentage
corresponded with the
In which the state proficiency
rtandard had been raised.
Although they're down, it's be-
they raised the bar," Logar
Mid.
j Io ihe writing portion of the test,
(the fourth graden improved four
percentage points over last year,
wilh 84 percent pasting this year.
Writing wet the only aree in which
ihe paatii-g grade was not raised this
rear.
Even with the declines, Logar
said ihe fourth graden ttill met or
the awe standard of 73
in few sections of
4m Grade
Advanced
Amherst
1999
1998
1997
1996
State Totals
Local %
State %
Writing
84
80
89
93
65
27
16
Reading
82
88
79
96
60
5
4
Math
70
71
63
81
51
17
12
Citizen
89
96
89
98
71
41
25
Science
75
77
66
79
53
23
15
All
51
58
48
70
32
2
1
6* Grade
Advanced
Amherst
1999
1998
1997
1996
State Totals
Local%
State'/*
Writing
90
94
88
82
80
37
23
Reading
62
85
83
88
53
24
18
Math
75
69
60
58
52
8
7
Citizen
88
84
74
79
72
10
7
Science
62
74
57
S3
47
1
2
All
43
4°
45
41
33
0
0
Rezoning
angers
property-
owners
The rezoning of 42 acres
of land which extendi from
Rt 58 west to the former
American Legion property,
was delayed by city council
June 14 until changes sought
by the ownen can be re*
viewed by the planning
commission.
At question is the amount
of land abutting the highway
that will be commercially
zoned and how much will be
zoned R-l for residential
development
Plans previously recommended by planning officials
call for the commercial segment to be 476 feet deep
with about 1,200 feet fronting
Leavitt Road.
The ownen, Elyria car
dealer Nick Abraham and David and Rose George, told
council they were not contacted by the commission about their plans, which call for
the commercial segment to be
about 300 feet deeper.
At the suggestion of the
partners' attorney, Garrett
Murray, council sent a rezoning ordinance back to the
planning commission tor
reconsideration.
A factor in the request for
the additional 300 feet it the
city's requirement for construction of a marginal road,
parts of which already exist
on other nearby land.
"When you consider the
space needed for that we
wanted more room in the rear
so there it sufficient room for
commercial enterprises," Abraham explained.
Under the ownen' suggested change, the general
business section would be
zoned C-l and be more than
700 feet deep. The change
still would leave land about
1,200 long by 900 feet deep
for residential development in
the rear portion of the
property.
The land was annexed into
the city from Amhent Township about 12 yean ago but
retains township zoning. The
frontage ia zoned general business and the rear portion
township residential, or R-l-1.
The Georges own a separate 21 acres to the north that
runs behind Middle Ridge
Road residents from the former American Legion property to near Rt 38.
To the south it more former township general business
land owned by a third party.
It abuts the turnpike.
Together, the three commercially owned lands create a
U-shaped commercial area.
Under Abraham and die
Georges' plans. Murray said
the buffer between the commercial and retidentially
zoned areas could os a
creek that is a tributary of
the Beaver Creek.,
a-> ea a. -       _t_m^_
unacuffleeneer nancy
Brown arid aay
A|    wpassedthei
r\    Hw lest Paly 7
^t^eaPSaW    mtrameM      a^*f  m^a^aamaMm**a   tM~m   mwmmmw   mWaat*
iP ^mammaas*mmW ^atotr a^ammmma WMmWmm*mm mm  wmmw
The proficiency tests are composed of tests in the areas of writing, reading, math, citizenship, and
science. They are administered to
studenu at the fourth, sixth, ninth,
and 12th grade levels.
Students are also given ihe ninth
grade proficiency tests starting ia
the eighth grade and are given die
opportunity to intake she foiled tec-
tioni twice a year until all five sections mb pasted. Studenta must past
all rett-one of lha ntoth grade teat hi
to
addition, starting ia the   ihe largest declines fines last year.   fcU>
2001-2002 school year, achooit wiU      "to the tixth grade, although we   leadtoi
be required to hold back studenti   wade tome improve-nenu we didn't   Logar
who have not pasted die reading
portion of lha fourth grade proficiency test Bighty-two percent of
hit the -nark in science and reading,
iwe'O
ia fos area taat
to flooded tjaataaaaaj.
M Cowger
Si
■
r«-K'^%:a!*-J6r -.x-^TT-
?\*l!t (*•,-* ™
%*   i.