Amherst News-Times, 1997-08-06

              j ,  ,—, _ ■ -
I   Moos follows his brother's trail — Page 6    Suit settled out of court — F
Amherst News-Time
3t   H
]
Wednesday, August 6, 1997
Amherst, Ohio
Swales may help
end one street's
flooding woes;
others examined
by KATHLEEN KOSHAR
News-Times editor
Hydrosphere Engineering, a firm
which was hired by the city to
undertake a water management project, is making waves.
The Cleveland company has already made progress in the city's
quest to get its flooding problems
under control. Mike Menoes, the
project engineer, made a presentation to city council last month and
outlined the five different projects
his crews are working on.
They include flooding problems
in the Forest Hill Drive area where
residents were surveyed about their
water problems. The company also
met with residents during a meeting
and investigated soil in the area.
Results of the flooding data
gathered include the following:
• Many houses on the east side of
Forest Hill Drive are experiencing
rear yard flooding due primarily lo a
lack of storm water runoff control
from the Ravenglass Subdivision.
Menoes said the subdivision is
higher in elevation than the existing
homes; rainwater flows downhill
flooding the backyards of residents
there.
- Several houses on Forest Hill
Drive, near the Idlewood intersection, are experiencing sanitary sewer
backup into the basement. This
problem is being caused by storm
water infiltration into the sanitary
sewer, although die exact location
has not been determined.
• Some houses on Shupc Street
arc experiencing flooding problems.
It has been reported that the creek
behind the houses frequently floods.
These problems, Menoes said,
can be corrected. His recommendations are twofold:
• A swale should be installed
along the rear and some side property lines along Keswick Court and
West Kendall Court on existing
city-owned storm sewer easements.
The swales will be ouUettcd into ex
isting yard drains that run along the
rear property lines.
• Smoke test sanitary sewer line
on Forest Hill Drive to determine
any cross connections; cross connections must be disconnected.
Also, the sanitary sewer along the
stream behind the houses on Sunset
Drive should be examined for infiltration problems.
Menoes said storm water lines
that are connected to sanitary sewer
lines put the flow under pressure,
causing the sewage to backup into
basements.
The city will also have lo determine who is responsible for any improper cross connections; in some
cases, it would be the city's responsibility to correct a problem but in
others it could be the homeowner's
responsibility.
Hydrosphere is also working on a
Beaver Creek watershed computer
model. Workers have already started
work on the project computing
drainage basin limits.
Other work that needs to be completed includes examination of soil
types, land use within the watershed
and stream lengths.
The model will help determine
the peak flows through Beaver
Creek, give the city an ability to define flood plains along the creek and
prevent problems in future developments, and help foster the creation
of a county-wide storm water control plan, among others.
Menoes explained the efforts of
the company to organize the city's
existing records. Right now, he said,
sewer and water plans can be located at city hall, the city utility
complex or in the city engineer's
office.
"This really needs to be organized
and we have to index what the city
docs have and get it into one location," he explained. At this point,
Menoes said it is not even known
what plans exist and a great deal of
time and effort is lost looking for
CONTINUED on page 2
Melissa Harmych and Libbie Ehmschwender help Mary Nichols and Russell Behm load food into a van taking supplies to a
mountainous area near Hazard, Ky. They are among 13 people
spending a week helping to clean and build school buildings
They're on a mission to aid others
by GLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
Thirteen members of St. Peter's United Church of Christ are
on a mission to help people in
southeastern Kentucky who subsist oft their fa.th and belief in
education.
The seven teenagers and six
adults departed Saturday for a
poverty stricken area in a remote
section of the Appalachian
Mountains.
"It's so remote that they warn
you not to drive in the mountains at night because it's so
steep in some places," said St.
Peter's minister of education
Mary Nichols.
The 13 will join church
groups from Greater Cleveland
that will work on a private
school. It reportedly is the only
school within 10 to IS miles of
Hazard, Ky., because no public
schools are located in the mountainous area.
The group will repair an existing school building and work on
a new building J_eing buitj. by
volunteers. ' "  ■ ■■ ■
They also took a van filled
with food for the residents there.
"We've been told it's a whole
different culture up there and
that they don't have many resources," she added.,"It's hard
to believe something like that in
this day and age, but we'll learn
more by being there."
Officially, the effort is a
workcamp to improve the school
and get it ready for a new
academic year. The facilities,
which  include  an  elementary
and high school, are run by a
woman who apparently has
stepped in where the Slate of
Kentucky has failed to tread.
The Sl Peter's UCC group
was enlisted by a Bcrca woman
who has been traveling into the
mountainous area for 27 years.
"We don't know her or the
people who we're going to help,
but we feel it's our mission to
help people who don't have the
resources to help themselves,"
Nicholas said.
The group will slay in dormitories built above a school campus. The dorms house children
who cannot travel the mountain
roads in winter.
The volunteers will have to
climb 70 steps to reach the
dorms, just one indication of
how mountainous the area is, ac
cording   to   volunteer   Russell
Behm.
The trip, which has been
planned for several weeks,
promises to be as much a learning experience for the St. Peter's
volunteers as ii will be for the
Kcniuckians receiving their
help.
"It will be a new experience
for us because we'll be meeting
people who live outside of normal society, maybe by their own
choice," Behm added. "It's hard
for us to understand when you
look at a map a sec there's a
town only 10 miles away, or
below."
The group will return to Amherst Aug. 10 with a new appreciation for what it means to live
in poverty but still seek an education to better themselves, Nicholas said.
Coaches bridge culture gap; help kids learn
by NITA OFFINEER
Nows-Times correspondent
Amhcrsl look on an inter-
n.itional flavor in mid-July
when iwo individuals came to
town lo teach some young
soccer enthusiasts the thrills
and skills of the sport.
Amherst Youth Soccer Association sponsored the Major
League Soccer Camp, which
is the official camp of the
Columbus Crew. Two local
families, the Hummels and
the Offineers, hosted the two
soccer instructors for a week.
Jack Sibajene, born in
Zambia, Africa, and Ian Williams, bom in Wolverhampton, England, shared stories of
their travels and experiences
with their host families and
several other Amherst
residents.
Sibajene has lived in the
United Stales for seven years
and is.currently residing in
Slippery Rock, Pa. Sibajene's
parents were foreign diplomats; he has traveled throughout the world, living in Russia and London. He has been
with Major League Soccer
Camps for a year. Sibajene
comes from a large family
where all played soccer at a
young age. .
Sibajene stayed with the
Hummel family — which includes five children — all ■   •
who participated in the soccer
Ian Williams, Major League Soccer Camp  chkin group
instructor, takes a water break with the' mun-
camp. Joe Hummel is president of Amherst Youth Soccer Association, and his wife,
Ginny, co-direcis the girls' in-
housc soccer program..
The other instructor, Ian
Williams, 30, currcnUy lives
in Bournemouth,.England, and
is a physical education
teacher in Poole, England, for
11- lo 18-year-old boys and
girls. He has. been with Major
League Soccer Camp for a
year, and has traveled to the
United Slates seven limes.
Williams's introduction to
Amhcrsl was a bit different
than his other irips. When he
landed at the Cleveland airport, Williams learned his
luggage wis lost. . .
Later that same evening,
Williams decided to lake a
nighutime jog in bis host
family's neighborhood to un-
CONTINUED on pag« 2
Jack Sibajene ot Slippery Rock, Pa., is coaching Brianne
Hummel, seven, on the finer points of soccer.
'
I
'        v