January 23, 2011
Northridge schools
Board puts income tax on May ballot By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Superintendent John Shepard said he was touched when he received a call last week from parents who noticed the tax was no longer on their paycheck, and wanted to donate the amount to the district. “On Friday, I received a call — and this doesn’t happen very often, so I might get a little emotional about it because it’s quite outstanding — but a husband and wife called me and asked to whom they would make out a check,” Shepard said.
The Northridge Local School District Board of Education voted unanimously Jan. 17 to put a 1 percent income tax on the May ballot. Twice last year the board attempted to renew an existing 1 percent income tax and both times the issue failed, resulting in the loss of $1.7-million annually when the tax expired on Dec. 31.
“They got paid on Friday and noticed it was the first paycheck that did not have the 1 percent income tax. They wanted to donate it to the district despite not having to pay it.” Shepard said the couple has children in the district. “I was shocked, surprised, proud that someone would call me and say, you know, we’re not going to miss it, so we’re going to write you a check,” Shepard said. “They have two children in
our district, both of (the parents) work, they come to a lot of activities, and they said they don’t need it as badly as you do. “That told me the type of community we live in.” Board members also approved a special meeting for 6:30 p.m. Jan. 31 to discuss cuts to be implemented this year and next year to prepare for the loss of income tax revenues for 2011. The district’s community finance
committee has been examining ways to save money throughout the fall, in areas including transportation and extracurricular activities. Among potential cuts could be eliminating high school busing, which could save $40,000 to $50,000; eliminating sports subsidies, which could save $126,000; and eliminating student club subsidies, which could save $25,000. See INCOME TAX, page A2
Village at risk of losing grants for 2 projects By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Lorrie Cecil/ThisWeek
(Above) Five-year-olds Abby Adams (left) and Keyara Rausch watch the snow fall from the window of the Mary E. Babcock Library in Johnstown on Jan. 20. Johnstown-Monroe Local Schools closed early because of the snow. (Below) Two-year-old Chloe Adams and her mother, Jennifer, work on a puzzle at the library Jan. 20.
Library begins year with new funds By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers Julie McElhaney’s year is off to a good start. After an extended maternity leave, McElhaney returned to work this month as branch manager of the Mary E. Babcock Library following the birth of her daughter. And it’s a library that is now funded by a significant countywide property tax levy approved last fall. “We already had fewer copies of books and fewer authors coming in, and we weren’t as able to provide as many things without the levy,” McElhaney said. Staffing levels at the branch will remain the same, with three full-time employees and one part-timer, but life will be a bit easier now that other branch managers will not be required See LIBRARY, page A2
Members of Johnstown Village Council learned at their Jan. 18 meeting that the village is at risk of losing more than $300,000 in grant funding for a pair of local projects. Both of the grants were previously approved. Reimbursement for one might not be forthcoming because the village completed the work too soon. The other is at risk because the work might be too late. A grant in the amount of $67,550 for the construction of sidewalks compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act at Hannah’s Memorial Park might not be available from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, despite its having been awarded in 2008 through the NatureWorks and Land & Water Conservation Fund. In a letter, ODNR said that because the work was both awarded and completed before the federal grant monies were made available by the National Park Service, the village may not seek reimbursement of the $77,805 project cost. Village administrator Jim Lenner and finance director Larry Heiser said the village was working with ODNR to attempt to recover $67,550 of the amount. But they described the effort as a long shot. “We had applied in 2008, but started work before getting the OK,” Heiser said. “ODNR is trying to help us out to try to get us those funds. We started prior to the date you were allowed to start based on the grant terms.” Council member David Keck said the grant should have been sought earlier, but he praised the administration for making the effort. “It was kind of put on the back shelf by the prior administration and sort of resurrected by Jim Lenner,” Keck said. “It’s a long shot, but well worth pursuing.” Another grant, this one in the amount of $250,000 from the Ohio Department of Transportation under the “Safe Routes to Schools” program, was threatened when the ODOT central office asked District 5 to pull the grant. But Lenner and service director Jack Liggett met See GRANT, page A2
Planning and zoning
Commission to focus on land-use map before development scenarios By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers The Johnstown Planning and Zoning Commission met Jan. 19 for its monthly work session, continuing work on its update of the village strategic plan. The commission has been working on the final sections of the plan, which includes future development scenar-
ios, goals and objectives for future village planning. The task is expected to be finished later this year when the final step, defining implementation steps for the administration to carry out the plan, is completed. Because some of the work necessary to defining alternative future development scenarios requires an updated planning map, the commission
DIRECTORY News: (740) 888-6100 sscharf@thisweeknews.com Sports: (740) 888-6054 sports@thisweeknews.com Retail ads: (740) 888-6024 kshockey@thisweeknews.com Classified: (740) 888-5003 classified@thisweeknews.com Customer Service: 1-888-837-4342
decided to spend its next two monthly work sessions in February and March updating the land use map. “Development scenarios are all about the different sections of the planning area, such as Beech Road, the northeast, the southwest,” said Jim Lenner, acting village manager. “We’re going to revisit those, but we decided we needed to do that after we complete the future land use map.
“It’s too difficult without having the map to refer to,” he said. “We’ll work on the map the next work session and maybe next two work sessions.” The commission meets the first and third Wednesdays of each month. Usually the first session is dedicated to pending business, such as zoning applications, while the second ses-
A closer look The Johnstown Planning and Zoning Commission has been working on the final sections of the village strategic plan, which includes future development scenarios, goals and objectives for future village planning.
See COMMISSION, page A2
Nemo, who was rescued from a hoarding situation, is up for adoption from the Ohio SPCA. To see a video of Nemo and Scamp, another cat looking for a home, log on to www.ThisWeekNews. com. For more information on Nemo, visit ohiospca.org.
food and wine expand your tastes Presented by:
Visit ThisWeekNews.com/foodandwine