Amherst News-Times, 1997-07-30

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Donor program nets award — Page 5 School reform masks low cash — Pi
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Wodnosday. July 30.  1997
Amherst. Ohio
City council hires
lawyers to fight
own law director
in court hearing
by GLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
City council members and administrators have hired three law firms
to represent them in the lawsuit filed
against them by city law director
Alan Anderson.
Anderson is seeking an injunction
against council, mayor John Hig-
gins, treasurer Kathleen Litkovitz
and auditor John Dunn to prevent
them from contracting with the
Cleveland law firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey as bond counsel.
Because Amherst is a statutory
city, Anderson contends only he has
the authority to select a bond
counsel to handle the sale Of
$500,000 in bonds for renovation of
city hall.
Council and city officials claim
they have the right because Anderson has no experience in dealing
with bond counselors. In addition,
the city previously has contracted
with Squire, Sanders & Dempsey
for bond counsel services.
With the exception of council
member Bob Sisler and Dunn, city
officials have hired the Elyria law
firm of McCray, Muzilla, Smith and
Betleski to represent them during an
Aug. 22 hearing in Lorain County
Common Pleas Court.
Sisler has hired Elyria attorney
Chris Rothgery and Dunn has retained assistant city law director
Steven List
Council members formally approved hiring McCray, Muzilla,
Smith and Betleski during Monday
night's finance and council meetings. As approved on emergency,
the ordinance allows it to spend up
to $10,000. Any further expense
will require additional council action, Higgins explained.
Anderson surprised council Monday when he announced he is suing
council as a group, not as individuals as he originally had intended.
A hearing originally was to be
held before judge Kosma Glavas
July 25 but was rescheduled because
city officials .were not served with
copies of the suit until July 23, according to Higgins.
The city officials' respective attorneys requested the delay because
they want more time to review the
suit and plan their cases, he
explained.
CONTINUED on page 3
Schools to skip
expansion levy
and ask voters
for PI approval
by GLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
School district voters won't
sec a second attempt to raise
money for school expansion and
renovation on the November
ballot.
Instead, they will vote on the
school district's two-mill permanent improvement levy on the
Nov. 4 general election ballot.
Voters earlier this year re-
jectcda request for approval of a
3.954 bond issue for additional
classrooms and renovations.
The school board decided
Monday to delay a second attempt to pass the bond issue until sometime in 1998.
Based on discussions with the
board, superintendent Howard
Dulmage said it is more important to renew a two-mill permanent improvement levy.
Passed in 1992, the five-year
levy generates $450,000 a year
needed to maintain the school
district's five schools and fleet
of school buses.
Despite a booming national
economy, Dulmage said the
board doesn't think voters are
likely to be receptive to two
school issues on the same ballot.
The bond issue was defeated
during the May primary by
nearly a 3-to-l margin. It would
have raised $16.7 million for the
construction of new classrooms
and other facilities needed to eliminate overcrowding in the
schools.
"We feel putting two issues
on the ballot just wouldn't be
justified or prudent at this time,"
Dulmage explained. "The time
is just not right given what's
happening with the local
economy."
The September closing of a
portion of the Ford Motor Com
pany assembly plant in Lorain is
likely to have a detrimental effect on the economy and the
opinions of voters, he added.
'There's a lot of questions
and uncertainty in people's
minds about what is going to
happen," Dulmage said. "The
van plant (in Avon Lake) is not
affected, but questions remain
about it, too."
Dulmage said the board has
not decided when it will make a
second attempt to pass the bond
issue, although it will be in
1998.
Dulmage said renewal of the
two-mill levy will not increase
taxes but will provide enough
money to buy at least two new
school buses yearly and finish
the replacement of heating and
air conditioning units at Harris
Elementary and Nord Junior
High schools.
Five units need to be replaced. In addition, federal environmental regulations require
an 8,000 gallon gas tank for
school buses at the Washington
Street bus garage to be replaced
with a new tank.
"It's an expensive replacement, but the EPA says we have
to meet new regulations," Dulmage said.
None of the funds can be used
for administrative or teacher
salaries.
"We have a good record of
maintaining the buildings we
have. We cannot let our buildings deteriorate," he added.
In the meantime, Dulmage
said school administrators will
closely watch increasing school
enrollment and class size.
Nearly 3.700 students were enrolled last year and at least 115
additional students are expected
to enter the school district in late
August.
Hot dog
singers
They look tentative
about the whole thing
but either of these
young ladies could
someday have a
$20,000 college scho
larship based on their
ability to sing the Oscar
Mayer wiener song or
bologna jingle.
About 50 kids turned
out in the parking lot of
the Rini Rego store to
try their hand at the
microphone. The
wienermobile has been
traveling throughout the
United States this summer in hopes of finding
the next star to grace
the Oscar Mayer
commercial.
Some read of it,-others live history
A good skirmish in old-time
outfits is what they look for
by NITA OFFINEER
Matt Maple
Competition in
, 36, is involved in the Camp Sherman Skirmish
Chillicothe last year
News-Times correspondent
Some people read, study and
watch movies about history; others
live it.
While not giving up the comforts
and luxuries of modern-day conveniences such as grocery stores and
penicillin, some Amherst residents
practice the art of preserving history
in an unusual way. These people
target-shoot in local and national
competitions using original and reproduction guns from the Civil War
era.
They include Matt Maple, 36, an
engineer at the Cleveland Engine
Plant, and Craig Sutorius, a history
teacher at Nord Junior High School.
Maple and Sutorius are members of
the 110th Ohio Voluntary Infantry
Group based out of Dayton, which
is part ot the North-South Skinnish
Association.
As participants, they are required
to wear authentic-looking uniforms,
some with original items, and with
clothing and equipment which they
made themselves, including leather
goods and hats.
"Many guys reveal hidden talents
of designing and sewing parts of
their uniforms," Maple explained
adding, "Many are Civil War buffs
and collectors of the equipment, as
well."
Maple has been with the North-
South Skirmish Association for almost six years. His father was a
"skirmisher" in the late 1950s to
1964, which was how Maple was introduced to the shooting of Civil
War era guns.
"Wc went camping with and were
taken all over the place with my
dad. I wanted to sec why my dad did
it (shooting)," Maple said.
"The whole thing originally got
started in 1950," Maple continued.
'At the last Confederate Veterans
reunion, two men decided to do a
demonstration with Civil War rifles.
Two teams with five guys each shot
at breakable targets. It was so much
fun, it just caught on."
Now, most events have teams of
eight people that shoot at 16 targets
from either 50 or 100 yards away.
Sutorius explained that from 300
yards a man is the same size as a
clay pigeon is from 50 yards. The
winner is the individual or team that
completely shoots out their designated targets in the shortest amount
of time. Different types of guns are
used, some authentic, some reproduced, such as muskets and carbines. Breech-loading, which is
frohi the back of a gun, and front
muzzle-loading techniques are used
at different times during the
competitions.
CONTINUED on page 3
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