Amherst News-Times, 2002-05-15

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AMUIRSI, OHIO
Raw sewage leaks plague residea
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by PAUL MORTON
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Associate editor
A neighborhood composed of
streets in Amherst and Amherst
township has been declared a public
health nuisance, but only because
city, township, and county officials
want to do something about it.
Ken Pearce, commissioner of the
Lorain County General Health District, said the county health board
declared Broadway and Taylor
streets in Amherst Township and
Henry and Hall street in Amherst
city to be a public health nuisance
due to failed septic systems in the
area. He said the declaration, also
known as a resolution of necessity,
opens the way to provide sewers to
the area.
'The township trustees said if it
was declared a public nuisance, they
could apply for funding for sewers,"
Pearce said. "This more or less set
in motion an official process to get
that ball rolling."
That official process is outlined in
a letter, signed by Lorain County sa
nitary engineer Ken Carney, Amherst mayor John Higgins, and Amherst Township trustee Neil Lynch,
dated May 10. The resolution of
necessity will be forwarded to the
county commissioners with a request from the health department to
direct Carney to solicit engineering
plans for sewers.
Pearce said the need for sewers
arises from the fact that the homes
in the neighborhood are 30 or more
years old. He said the septic systems
for those homes are inadequately
sized by today's standards.
"Forty or 50 years ago we used
less water in homes, and these were
probably supplied by well water,"
Pearce said. "Then along comes city
water, and people are using more,
but they still have these small septic
tanks and leach fields that can't
handle that volume."
He said the clay soil in the area
also has a very slow percolation
rate, the rate at which waste water is
absorbed into the ground. As a result, raw sewage frequently surfaces
and  goes  into  roadside  drainage
CONTINUED on page 2
Community learning
Harris school 2nd graders pose, at left and above, during a presentation by a Junior Achievement volunteer about communities.
They created their own community newspaper.
Champ relaxes
after final round
in spelling bee
•
The jury began hearing les
timony last week in a gruesome case involving the alleged abuse of teenaged and
younger girls in AmhersL
It's been 11 months since
the Amherst Township man
accused of sexually abusing
girls in his home and office
was arrested and, the girls,
some of whom are adults
now, finally told Common
Pleas Judge Kosma Glavas
last week what allegedly happened to them at Richard
Armstrong's hands.
Armstrong has pleaded not
guilty by reason of insanity
to U counts of rape, six
counts of pandering obscenity
involving a minor, four counts
of illegal use of a minor in
nudity oriented material or
performance and one count
each of attempted rape and
gross sexual imposition.
Armstrong's attorney, James
Burge, has not denied that
Armstrong committed any of
the acts he's been accused of,
only that he did not know
the difference between right
and wrong, the legal definition of insanity.
Assistant prosecutor An-
; thony Cillo said that by denying the allegations when first
questioned, Armstrong showed
he knew it was wrong. He
also said Armstrong covered
the windows of his office
while allegedly abusing the
girls so no one would see,
another indication, according
lo Cillo, that Armstrong knew
his actt were wrong.
Cillo played videotape of
the girls perforating the acta
CONTINUED on page 3
Storms looming
Terry Phillips of Walnut Drive in Amherst hur-   the rains came,
ries to finish mowing his lawn last week before
There were some T-E-N-S-E moments during the county elementary
schools spelling bee on Sunday,
May 5.
But Adam Mellen, a fifth grader
at Shupe Middle School, found out
how it feels to be a W-I-N-N-E-R
after the final round.
The event was held at Clearview
High School were Division 1 students represented third and fourth
grades, while Division 2 students
were from the fifth and sixth grades.
After facing battle with 37 competitors, Mellen became one of two
finalists going neck and neck for the
title.
Andrew Carl, a sixth grader from
South Amherst Middle School, and
Mellen went back and forth spelling
words such as "virtues," "galaxies,"
and "exclusive." When Carl misspelled "glacial," Mellen spelled it
correctly and then also spelled "migrate" correctly to win first place in
the county.
When the spelling bee was over,
the two boys discovered that they
had both been busy over the
weekend camping with their Boy
New cop auxiliary on the street
by AMY PERSINQER
News-Time* reporter
The Amhersl police department used its auxiliary officers for the first time last
week when the two officers
were able to join regular
police on their shifts.
Ken Bring and Rich Wolf
graduated from the sheriff's
auxiliary mining school held
yearly at Lorain County Community College on April 30
after 112 hours of class time.
The class lasted about three
and a half months. Wolf said
it was a serious commitment,
but fun, toa
Bring joined Patroltuan
Mike Murphy la* Priday
night and Wolf rode along
with Patrolman Ron Brother-
ton on Salurday night
Both men indicated that
they wore pleased with their
responsibilities so far.
Wolf waa a gunner's mate
in die U.S. Navy on the USS
Forestall   He owns Rich's
Autobody. He and his wife
live in Brownhelm Township.
He laid one of ihe reasons
he wanted to be a part of
Amherst's police department
was because They're a good
of people."
urn iadkattd a lifc-
lo be involved in
polke wok.
Wolf ami. he ririfarTi"*
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Shan Patrol. Ihs Navy's ver-
Both
sion of Military Police. Bring,
who works for Lakeland Enterprises in Sheffield Township, said he considered joining the volunteer fire department. He said he didn't because his real desire is with a
police force.
Both men were considering
the sheriff's auxiliary since
their children are grown when
Amherst chief of police Lonnie Dillon approached them
about starting an Amhent
auxiliary.
The two men joined ihe
auxiliary fully outfitted and
ready for work unce city
council approved finds far
auxiliary aatmben' startup
" an qr-
*e
auxiliary.
Amherst's auxiliary doesn't
have a ret minimum for
hours worked by volunteers
and Wolf and Bring are
working with the police department to find their niche.
Right now Bring said he is
trying to keep Friday nights
open for his auxiliary work
and he would like to add one
more week night
Bring said he is inoi
oeraed whh how he could
beat help the police
"It's
Bit* MM. TBI
awM fat-
Adam Mellen
Scout troops at the Lorain County'
Joint Vocational School, working on
merit badges.
Mellen is the son of Gordon and
Susan Mellen of Amherst Carl is
the son of Jim and Jill Carl of
Birmingham.
Tha third 'place winner. Josh
White, son of Cindy Castro-White
and Jeff White, is also a student at
Shupe Middle School.
Voters give
fire levy
thumbs up
Amhent voters went to the polls
last Tuesday to show their support
far the Amhent Fire Department,
and passed a one-mill, five-year replacement levy far the maintenance
of fire apparatus.
The levy, which paaaed 602 to
393. has provided Ihe fire department with about $180,000 a year in
the past, according to fire chief
Ralph Zilch.
AH of the fends will be used to
purchase equipment, repair or
lain existSM enaipinent or
The department recently ptar-
chaaad a S37SJ0OO fire track a*
M aaWaty taXwM the favy. Zilch I
■ the levy. Zikh aaM
t has to save far M^;
and tore h afcnt
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