Amherst News-Times, 2000-01-26

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Amherst News-Time
•
Wednesday, January 26, 2000
Amherst, Ohio
Computer installation causes headache
by STEVE BARRY
News-Times reporter
, It isn't the Fourth of July yet, but
for a while it appeared that the
Fourth of July had arrived early,
during last week's council committee meetings.
The flare up centered around the
l
Year-end
jobs top
mayor's
agenda
by PAUL MORTON
News-Times reporter
On first glance at mayor
John Higgins's state of the
city report to city council, it
would appear that the mayor
is content to coast into the
new millennium by simply
completing projects started in
1999 or earlier.
But Higgins said the city is
firing on all cylinders to get
those challenges out of the
way in order to be ready for
new challenges.
"With negotiations coming
up and Nordson a little
shaky, we want to guarantee
we get these projects done,'*
Higgins said. "You have to
finish the projects right"
Among the projects Higgins
listed in the report to be
completed are the new enclosed shelter at the Amherst-
Beaver Creek Reservation, the
new water tower, and the
new electric storage building.
Other projects, including improvements to the Jackson
Street bridge, the year 2000
street program, improvements
to the wastewater treatment
plant, and a solution to the
county's sewer-to-nowhere on
RL 58 have been on the
drawing board or in discussion during last year.
Higgins said each of the
projects relates to the threefold approach to government
in Amherst in the past several
years. He said the city has
attempted to upgrade utility
systems, improve infrastructure, such as roads and
'bridges, and improve the
-city's facilities in order to
better serve the public.
He said the strategy is
reaping benefits with 90 new
homes, with a total value of
nearly $18.4 million, built in
Amherst last year, and businesses interested in locating
here.
"Our community is growing," Higgins wrote in his report "But more importantly,
we as leaders of the city of
Amherst are at a point in the
evolution of our community
where if we invest wisely,
plan carefully, and put the
community ahead of self-
interests, the city we live in
will grow correctly and will
continue to be the secure,
friendly and quality place that
we now enjoy."
Higgins said the emphasis
in his report on what needs
to be completed deals with
his belief that if it's worth
doing it's worth doing well.
"Being an old maintenance
manager I'd like to see all
these things done right," he
said. "If you don't do them
right the first time, they'll
come back to bile you in the
end."
But he said the mopping
up from last year should take
about the first half of the
year, and he'll take the sec-
CONTINUED on page 2
city's acquisition of a computer system, the hiring of a coordinator for
the system, and access to files in the
system. The ruckus even included
accusations of possible tampering
with the city's utility system files by
superintendent Don Woodings, who
is asking the city police to investigate his charges.
The story begins in 1998 when
the city authorized $171,000 for a
new computer system. An electronic
data processing committee was
formed to establish the new system,
and Amherst city auditor Diane Eswine headed up the committee.
According to Eswine — who
found herself on the hot seat for about 20 minutes during last week's
three-hour meeting — the ordinance
authorizing the new system (to circumvent any Y2K problems) was
supposed to include an amendment
which also allowed for the hiring of
a systems/networking specialist to
set up and integrate the systems.
Former law director Alan Anderson did not write that clause in, and
Eswine didn't notice it was missing
until after the ordinance was passed.
Without the clause their was no
money to pay the person who constructed the network. So another ordinance had to be written to allow
the hiring of a systems analyst to set
up the new system.
Eswine also works for the Amherst Public Library, and when the
library upgraded to a networking
system,   library   director  Judy
Dworkin hired Tom Mason to install
and set up the new system.
Through her experience with Mason in the library, and because computers are a specialty field, and as
such do not require putting the project out for bid, Eswine gave him
the nod to install the city's new
CONTINUED on page 3
Tim Balda of Wood Works Limited displays mammoth and whale artifacts at Harris Elementary School last week.
Mammoth job keeps man busy
by STEVE BARRY
News-Times reporter
Tim Balda is a professional wood
carver.
But he started dealing in wooly
mammoth ivory and bones when he
needed something to keep his mind
occupied after the death of his
10-year-old son Jake, in 1997, who
was killed by a drunk driver.
Balda spent several days last
week at Harris Elementary School
where his son once was a student,
giving kids the chance to handle
wooly mammoth relics from 20,000
to 40,000 years ago, an asteriod
found in Argentina, and various
parts of whales.
"I specialize in ivory, because it
pays the bills," Balda said.
While much of the world's ivory
trade is illegal because endangered
animals are killed to procure the ivory, dealing in mammoth ivory is
legal, because the animals are already extincL
Most of his ivory comes from the
Museum of Natural History in Russia, where archeologists ait using
steam to cut into Siberian glaciers
where most of the artifacts are being
found, and in suprisingly good condition. Other acquistions are made
from Alaska.
Not long ago he found himself in
hot water with the Fish and Wildlife
Department. He made a purchase of
a narwahl whale horn from an officer with the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police. It had all the
proper paper work, and had even
made it through U.S. Customs without a hitch.
Balda was sure the purchase was
perfectly legal. He purchased the
piece, but after doing some checking, the Fish and Wildlife Department confiscated the $800 horn, and
handed him a stiff fine on top of it
"You really have to be careful dealing in this field, there are a lot of
people smuggling in ivory that is illegal, and if you make a mistake, it
can bite you," he said.
Balda is understandably angry,
because the purchase was well documented (or so it appeared) and
had gotten through customs, who
Students of Rebecca Karrer and Karen Anderson's fourth grade classes examine mammoth
teeth,  Ivory
Elementary.
and  whale  baleen
should have intercepted the horn it it
was contraband. The fine was
merely a slap on the wrist compared
to the 10-year jail sentence that
could have been handed down.
Because Balda is on the straight
and narrow with the business, and is
in constant contact with the Fish and
Wildlife Department to double
check such purchases, they hit him
with a very light sentence.
Only the Inupiat or Aluet Indians,
better known as "eskimos" are allowed to cut or process whales or
any parts of them. The two tribes
have immunity from laws governing
whale harvesting because where
they live, there is nothing else for
the tribes lo eat, and it has been part
of tribe social life for centuries.
But even they can only harvest
one or two whales a year, and they
mu« do ao io the old way of
made harpoons, from seven-man
fishing boats — not a particularly
safe way to acquire food for your
family, he told students.
Every part of the whale is used.
Their religion honors the whale and
to waste any part of it would be a
"sin." The baleen from the mouth of
the whale is sawed apart and used
for craft items the tribe sells to
tourists.
The whale baleen he shows to the
school children came from a 90 foot
Bowftn Whale taken in a whale hunt
last spring. He is allowed to have
the baleen, but if he cuts it or makes
anything out of it, its 10 years in the
slammer.
Most of the ivory is mammoth ivory, and several of the pieces he had
on display last week were huge. The
one mammoth tusk weighed 110 lbs
(estimated at 180 lbs when the big
bull was alive) and was nine feet
long. Each mammoth had two of
these, which means the animal had
nearly 320 lbs of tusk on his head to
lug around.
The huge tusk has already been
sold to Mammoth Lakes Resort in
California for $12,000. A smaller
tusk was sold for $9,000. Balda estimates that the artifacts on his display table would be valued at
$30,000.
Most of the ivory comes in as
broken pieces, which is of little
value to collectors, but is in high demand by knife and jewelry makers,
and as the object for an art form
known as scrimshaw. Balda cuts up
the smaller pieces and sells them to
piano, guitar and violin companies
for inlay work on the- instruments.
Even mammoth teeth are valuable. Smaller ones go for about $50
while the largest tqetb can fetch
$800. *
Amherst
eyes way
to annex
O for sewer
The Amherst Township "sewer to
nowhere" may soon become the
"sewer to somewhere" according to
information from the county commissioners office.
The latest proposal by county engineer Ken Carney would split the
sewer to nowhere into districts, with
Amherst, Lorain and the airport
each taking responsibility for part of
the system.
"Everything west and north of the
intersection of RL 58 and Rt. 113
would come to Amherst," according
to mayor John Higgins.
The city of Lorain and the regional airport would share the remainder of the county's sewer to
nowhere system. A small sewage
treatment plant and retention pond
would be installed at the airport to
handle the increased affluent
discharge.
Originally Amhsrst wanted to annex all of the sewer property from
Rt 58 to RL 113 to help defray
costs. The county engineer proposal
allows Amherst to annex 85 percent
of its original goal
At the present time, about 3,900
Amherst homes are tied into the
Amherst sewer system, with about
500 to 600 residents still using septic sewer systems. Accepting all or
part of the county's orphaned sewer
system would significantly increase
die amount of affluent running into
Amherst's system.
The mayor has contended for
some time that people who use the
system should help pay for the system, the concept being, "no representation without annexation".
In recent meetings with the EPA,
the mayor has informed the News-
Times that "the EPA is demanding
Amherst, do more (to the system)
than originally called for. This is going to increase the cost of the
project"
Geologically speaking, running
an interceptor line io tie the county
system into Amherst's system could
have additional expense. Solid
sandstone bedrock and quicksand
are frequently found in the area, and
either or both would become a
nightmare for contractors installing
the interceptor, and could considerably raise the cost beyond projected
estimates.
Complicating matters even
further is the unknown financial setback the city will experience as a
result of layoffs at N rdson Corporation. Nordson is one of the city's
largest tax revenues.
To compensate, the city is looking into other revenues to ensure
Amherst remains financially solvent. If the city is allowed to annex
along Rl 58, the tap in and impact
fees associated with hooking into
the sewer system would help defray
some of the losses.
The city and county have done
studies that project discharge rates
from the sewer to nowhere, during
the next 10.20 and 50 yean. Based
on those findings it is determined
that the price tag for die interceptor
to Amherst will be split 60/40 between the county and Amherst, with
the city paying 40 percent of the
coat If the county engineer's proposal receives the commissioners approval, then actual coat studies will
be done.
But before acting on the engi-
have asked Carney to further define
the
Harris