BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT B1
Your Community Press newspaper serving Bethel, Chilo, Felicity, Franklin Township, Moscow, Neville, Tate Township, Washington Township E-mail: clermont@communitypress.com T h u r s d a y, M a y 2 0 , 2 0 1 0
Rosemary Wildey at Wildey Flower Farm in Monroe Township
Vol. 111 No. 19 © 2010 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Memorial is for Gold Star Mothers
The Gold Star Mothers Memorial was dedicated Saturday, May 8 – the day before Mother’s Day. More than 100 people were in attendance. FULL STORY, B1
Bethel students build coasters
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Playground to be repaired
By Mary Dannemiller
mdannemiller@communitypress.com
A risk management representative has determined several pieces of playground equipment in Burke Park need repairs. The representative from the Hylant Group, the village’s liability insurance carrier, inspected the park Tuesday, March 16, and just released the findings, said village Administrator Travis Dotson. “This is a service they provide to help us be proactive,” he said. “Overall, there were several minor issues pointed out which will be
addressed and corrected. The first issue which will be addressed at public works committee and corrected as quickly as possible is the playground equipment at Burke Park.” The swing sets and slide both need work and there are bolts throughout the structure which are sticking out too far, Dotson said. “The belt swings on the swing sets are showing wear and will need to be replaced,” he said. “There were some bolts which need to be trimmed off as they protruding out farther than they should.”
The slide will have to be replaced, the village administrator said. “The last section of the slide has a broken piece of plastic at the top edge which has left a bit of a sharp point at the spot of the break,” Dotson said. “The slide we have has been discontinued so we will need to replace the entire slide as opposed to just buying a new end section.” Fiscal Officer Angel Burton said the village can afford to make repairs to the equipment because the money will come from the Burke Park fund, which has a bal-
ance of about $38,000. “The estimated cost of playground repairs is $5,116, so there’s money in the fund for the repairs this year,” she said. Dotson also said the equipment is not a large risk to children and the problems will be fixed as soon as possible. “In the short term, the risk of injury is low,” he said. “We will be correcting the issue with the bolts immediately and I will see if one of the public works guys can round out the broken plastic, at least until the new slide can be purchased.”
While Miranda Poklar and Taylor Carpenter were eating pretzels in language arts class, they got an idea for a roller coaster – make it like a pretzel. Good thing they had to make roller coasters in science class. FULL STORY, A6
Share Memorial Day event info
Cupid shuffle
If your organization or community is planning a Memorial Day event in Clermont County, send the information to the Community Press so it can be included in a list of activities. Send the information to Editor Theresa L. Herron at therron@communitypress.com or fax it to 248-1938 or mail it to 394 Wards Corner Road, Suite 170, Loveland, Ohio 45140, by Friday, May 21.
Students and dates at Felicity-Franklin High School’s prom do the “Cupid Shuffle.” The prom was May 8 with the theme of Bow Ties and Boots. For more from the annual formal dance, see page A8. KELLIE GEIST/STAFF
Vote for Sportsman
Our readers created the ballot and now it’s time to vote for the 2010 Bethel Journal Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year. In just the first day of voting, readers cast more than 20,000 ballots. Let’s keep it going! Go online to www.cincinnati. com/preps and find the yellow and green Community Press Sportsman of the Year icon on the righthand side of the page. Find your ballot by newspaper and vote as often as you like through June 10. On the ballot for the 2010 Sportsman of the Year: Louie Schaljo, Bethel-Tate; Chris Shouse, Felicity-Franklin. Sportswoman of the Year candidates are: Autumn Schellenberger, Bethel-Tate; Montana Wear, FelicityFranklin. For the Postmaster
Published weekly every Thursday. Periodical postage paid at Bethel, OH 45106 ISSN 1066-7458 * USPS 053-040 Postmaster: Send address change to The Bethel Journal 394 Wards Corner Road, Suite 170 Loveland, Ohio 45140 Annual Subscription: Weekly Journal & Sunday Enquirer In-County $18.00; Weekly Jounral only all other in-state $20.00; Out-of - state $20.00
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Burke Trust approves survey funding By Mary Dannemiller mdannemiller@communitypress.com
Bethel has been awarded funding from the Burke Trust Commission to send a survey to residents and business owners. The money will cover the village’s costs for printing, postage and other supplies for surveys about the village’s zoning code and a possible Plane Street revitalization project. “The Burke Trust has approved $2,000 for the community survey and I just want to thank them for that,” said village council member Janice Ireton. Mayor James Dick also said he was grateful to the commission members. “These are the first steps in beginning to start to put together
the long-term plan for the village,” he said. “This is a way to economically and efficiently take that first step.” Results from the survey will be used to determine if the village’s current zoning regulations need changes and how downtown Bethel should look, Dick said. “We’re talking about doing an overlay district to make sure that area looks and feels separate from the rest of the village,” Dick said. “Where the restaurants are needs to have a much different feel than the older buildings. If you look at the zoning code, it doesn’t distinguish an area in the town and this would put another layer on there.” The survey will be sent to every home in the village and every business from West Street to
East Street and will come with a post-marked envelope, the mayor said. “I can’t give a date right now as to when it will be sent out because the planning commission needs to review the original survey,” Dick said. “There may be a couple of questions that are kind of out of date. They’ll probably meeting within the next month and I’m sure once they make the necessary changes, things will happen fairly quickly.” As it is now, the survey is comprised of about 25 questions including a section where respondents can write out longer answers. “We tried to encourage a high rate of response by making the surveys not terribly long,” Dick said. “It’s basic questions about
how things work and if they could work better.” The survey also will be anonymous, which is why it’s not being e-mailed to residents, the mayor said. “As far as doing it online, we looked into that but the problem is you’re generally not going to include everyone in the community by doing it electronically because there’s a segment of the population that’s not open to doing things online,” Dick said. Dick also said he hoped community members and business owners would participate. “This is the point where your responses actually have a direct link to making changes or keeping things the same,” he said. “It’s a good chance for community members to have direct input.”
Severe storm hits Felicity By Kellie Geist kgeist@communitypress.com
A tornado warning was issued for Clermont County today, May 13, and some large hail fell in Felicity causing some concern at school. According to a report from the Clermont County Communications Center, a “pop-up thunderstorm” passed through the village. Felicity-Franklin Local School District Superintendent Glenn Moore said the weather sirens went off around 1:50 p.m. “It was pouring down rain and there was
some large hail. It wasn’t round like a golf ball, but it was probably as big,” Moore said. “It was steady hail for a while.” All students were taken to tornado safety areas until about 2:10 p.m., when the severe weather lessened. Moore said the school keeps up with tornado drills, so the move went smoothly. Moore said the storm did not cause any damage to the school building, but some sewers were backed-up. The Clermont County Communications Center reported a tree down over Neville Penn-Schoolhouse Road.
PROVIDED.
Anita Brill of Felicity submitted this photo of the hail that fell in and around Felicity May 13.