Amherst News-Times, 1997-09-03

              New student council at school — Page 3     Players host awards fete — Pi
Amherst News-Time
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Wednesday, September 3, 1997
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Amherst, Ohio
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Judge to rule next week on bond counsel fl
The controversy over who has the right to hire a bond counsel
for the city — city council or law director Alan Anderson, is expected to be settled next week.
Lorain County Common Pleas Court judge Kosma G lavas is
expected to issue a written ruling Sept. 5 based on arguments presented by both sides Aug. 22.
The hearing was scheduled nearly a month ago after Glavas
declined Anderson's request for judgement in the case without a
hearing.
Anderson is seeking an injunction against mayor John Higgins,
city council, treasurer Kathleen Litkovitz and auditor John Dunn to
prevent them from naming the Cleveland law firm of Squire, Sanders and Dempsey as bond counsel.
On the recommendation of Higgins, council appointed the law
firm to sell $500,000 in bonds for the renovation of city hall at a
July 14 council meeting.
Anderson contends state law gives him the authority to name a
bond counsel while Higgins and council claim they have the right
because of Anderson's inexperience in handling bond matters.
In addition, Anderson said he favors the Cleveland law firm of
Calfcc, Halter and Griswold, which he said will cl
Squires, Sanders and Dempsey. Council said it pre!
firm because of previously satisfactory dealings with the company.
Higgins, council members and other administrators named in the
suit have been angered by it and a letter sent to them by Anderson
prior to the July 14 council meeting.
The letter warned of pending legal action by Anderson against
them if they approved Higgins's recommendation. Many said they
regarded the letter as a threat.
Keeping tabs: city
hall callers will get
personal attention
from mayor's line
by GLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
There arc days when mayor John
Higgins and his secretary Sally
Cornwcll gel a bad case of
"telephonitis."
It's nol lhat ihey mind answering
the calls, but often the phones just
don't stop ringing from the time
they walk into the office until 5 p.m.
Their call count is accurate. Corn-
well keeps a record of every one,
including who called and when.
Usually, the mayor's office gets
between 25 and 35 calls a day. But
between them, they've answered as
many as 63 calls in one day, most of
them complaints, questions and
even demands for instant service —
by the mayor himself. Less than half
are city business.
Many residents don't know who
or where to call, so they often use
the mayor's office as a kind of a
"call for action center," sometimes a
sounding board.
Some calls involve questions or
complaints about city services. Although they can be frustrating, Higgins doesn't mind them as much as
he does those he can't help resolve
or over which he has no control.
Take the time a woman called to
complain that there was a rambunctious raccoon in her backyard. She
demanded that Higgins — not the
police, fire department or a county
animal control officer — come over
and get rid of it "right now."
Higgins recommend calling an
exterminator or the county animal
control officer, although a mischiev
ous thought did cross his mind.
"Sometimes, what you're thinking and what you say arc different
things," he explained. "I thought
well, maybe I better take another
one over to keep it company."
That would have been politically
incorrect.
And then there was the time a
woman called to complain something was dead in her house. A few
things ran through the mayor's
mind, one of which he wisely didn't
ask.
"1 wondered about when the last
time was she saw her husband, but I
didn't know if she was married and
I never want to be offensive to people," he admitted.
He didn't ask. Instead, he advised
her to call the Amhcrsl police.
He never did find out what
caused the smell.
At least 20 calls a week are requests for other phone numbers people can't find in the telephone directory or arc loo lazy to look up, like
the numbers of ihe street or water
departments. They arc listed.
Often, callers want to know the
name of so and so in the Ohio Attorney General's Office, the county
commissioner's office or even the
U.S. capitol.
Cornwcll tries to keep a complete
up-to-date list of phone numbers of
key county, state and federal offices,
but not every government employee.
"If we did, we'd have to have a
Rollodex six feet round, maybe
more. You'd have to have something you could turn with a crank,"
CONTINUED on  page 2
Mayor John Higgins fields one of dozens of
calls, both unusal and unusual, received at his
office daily. If his secretary can't answer the
phone, the mayor often grabs the ringing line
himself.
Ladies lounge in luxury every two years
by GLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
Every two years, nine Marion
L. Steele High School alums
leave their husbands at home
and their worries behind for a
week of reminiscing, sightseeing, card playing and enjoyment
of each others' company.
Since 1993, Amherstonians
Sylvia Kovach Zilch, Lani Cen-
drosky Hart, Anne Firago Harmych and Marsha Hution Dun-
lop have been taking seaside
vacations every two years with
five women who also graduated
with them in the Class of '63.
They are Pal Kocsis Kinzer of
Lorain, Donna Miller Prichard
of Lima, Judy Godspeed Willard
of Versailles, Ky., Karen Chum
Norris of Columbia, Md., and
Jane Plott Cobos, of Bryan,
Texas.
The trips started in 1993 with
a gathering in Ocean City, Md.
after the women decided all the
work and effort they put into organizing a 30th high school
.reunion wasn't worth it, especially when the turnout was
small. |
It was disheartening to say the
least.
"We just got burnt out and decided we didn't want the hassle
The nine classmates gather ip front of a
marina at Camden, Me. while sightseeing
near Booth Bay Harbor. From left in the top
row are.Donna Miller Prichard, Lani Cendro-
sky Harj, Pat Kocsis Kinzer, Marsha Hutton
Dunlap, Jane Plott Cobos. At front from left
are Anne Firago Harmych, Judy Goodspeed
Willard, Karen Chum Norris, and Sylvia Kovach Zilch.
any  more  bul enjoyed  being
together because wc all have
something in common," Zilch
explained.
1   The solution has  become" a
tradition lhal has lifted their
spirits and eased their minds.
The nine women, who decided
they wanted lo stay in close
touch, thought it would be better
to lake vacations together.
. Husbands are forbidden..They
stay at. home, work or do the
house work, according to Zilch,
the owner of Zilch Florists.
"None of us want our husbands on these trips because
they arc an escape from real life
and act as therapeutic renewals
for us," she adds. "(There's) nobody to wait on or answer to."
So far, the vacations have
been to seaside resorts every
other year. In 1995, Zilch says
they laid in the sun, loafed,
shopped till they dropped and
played poker into wee hours of
the morning in a rented beach
condo al Top Sail Beach, N.C.
This July, they shopped again,
went sightseeing and look a
windjammer cruise while visiting Booth Bay Harbor, ME.
Two years from now, they'll be
sightseeing in Galveston, Texas.
Some day, they plan to take
an inland vacation, but that's
four years in the future when
Zilch thinks more of them arc
likely lo be grandmothers. So
far, only three of them — Dun-
lab, Prichard and Norris, are.
They haven't started to plan
for the 2001 vacation, although
a few have wjsh lists. Dunlap
kind of likes the idea of venturing to the Sedona Valley near
Phoenix, Az. but will settle for
the ocean.
"Everybody seems to like the
water. It's relaxing but we're
CONTINUED on page 3
A planner
could aid
in city's
future
by GLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
The need to control growth, update cily development codes and
secure grants for revitalization and
other projects has prompted the city
to consider hiring a consulting
planner.
Pending city council approval,
mayor John Higgins said he hopes
to contract with a Lakewood planning service within the next month.
He will introduce his plan lo council
al its Sept. 8 meeting.
The need for a planner is long
overdue considering the city's
growth and need to updaic its building or zoning codes, some of which
are outdated, he explained.
Rather than hire a full-lime or
part-time planner, Higgins hopes to
save money by contracting for one
on an as-needed basis.
"It's kind of a try-and-see thing,"
he explained. 'This way, we can see
just how busy he is and how much
demand there is for his services before we consider something in the
future."
Higgins said neither he, council
members or other administrators are
experts on planning, grant writing or
how to update city codes, some of
which he thinks are "obsolete."
A person with grant writing skills
is badly needed. Avon Lake, a
comparably-sized city, has received
more than $2 million in stale, federal and private grant money while
Amherst has received 533,000 this
year.
"No one here has the expertise. If
you don't dot all the I's and cross all
the T's, they'll get pitched out just
on form alone," Higgins said.
The grants will provide money
for revitalization, including the renovation of the second floor of city
hall and older downtown buildings.
Changes in development codes
are equally important because those
which regulate zoning and planning
within the cily have not been significantly updated since 1973.
Amherst has been growing steadily since 1990, but Higgins said no
major effort has been made to control development by updating
zoning.
Even though new home construction in the city appears lo a have
slacked off, the revisions arc needed
to ensure proper development To
dale, home building within the city
limits is aboul 40 percent less than
last year, according to the cily.
"We wanted things to be more
controlled. A planner is the person
who can give us advice on how to
accomplish this," Hjggins said.
The decline in home building is
partially due to an Octr^er 1996 to
April 1997 ban that was initiated in
an effort to update city storm water
drainage control plans. Higgins said
he has no idea how many homes and
new businesses may be built in the
future now that the ban has been
lifted.
Currently, the planning commission only deals with the traffic impact of development. Higgins thinks
it should do more because factors
such as sewers, utilities and fire
control also need to be. considered.
Sewers are especially important.
"We've bad problems with them
because  we've  connected  new
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