July 21, 2011
Dublin Counseling Center
Nonprofit braces for cuts, greater needs The center is expecting a reduction in Medicaid funding, but the amount remains unknown. The new two-year state budget went into effect July 1. “What they have done is, they are instituting cost-containment measures, and so they’re limiting the number of services clients can receive both annually and on a daily basis,” Rinaldi said. “Some of our patients with the highest needs are restricted with the num-
By JENNIFER NOBLIT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
The Dublin Counseling Center is bracing for cuts. The local nonprofit organization that offers mental-health, alcohol and drug outpatient services could see reductions in state funding. “The main source of funding from the state that’s going to be impacted is Medicaid,” executive
director Julie Erwin-Rinaldi said. The Dublin Counseling Center’s annual budget is slightly more than $1.2 million annually, Rinaldi said, adding that about 40 percent comes from Medicaid payments.
Read next week’s story about how the recession has affected the need for services from the Dublin Counseling Center. ber of services they need. It’s all done with cost containment (in mind), not people’s needs. We have a large outreach program for those who are on Medicaid. We’re restricted in the level of
service we can provide to them.” cord Counseling in Westerville and the Center of Vocational AlWorking with a smaller budget ternatives led to a program for The counseling center has young adults ages 18 to 25 who sought to address funding cuts recently were discharged from through partnerships. psychiatric hospitalization. Ri“All across the board, we’ve naldi said the program worked to tried to open access to our serv- keep the young adults from being ices. We wanted to be able to say readmitted by providing such yes instead of no,” Rinaldi said. short-term treatments as med“We’re being creative. We’ve part- ication, vocational assistance and nered with a lot of organizations.” See DCC BRACES, page A2 One such partnership with Con-
Siren, police contracts approved
ARTS FAIR
By JENNIFER NOBLIT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
not have,” he said. “Not a lot of people know how to pitch a business in under two minutes.” David Feng, who will be an eighthgrader at Sells Middle School in the fall, said the networking event taught him to “take an initiative. “You have to learn to talk to people and communicate,” he said.
Jerome High School soon will host a new emergency warning facility. Dublin school board members last week approved an agreement with Dublin that will place a solar-powered emergency siren on about nine square feet of land at Jerome High School. “It’s similar to what we have at Coffman (High School),” said Jim Davis, director of buildings and grounds. A site at Jerome High School was chosen, Davis said, to serve the school and some homes in the area. The closest siren couldn’t be heard in the school or some of the nearby homes, he said. The city will install and maintain the siren, the agreement said, and the primary term of the agreement is 10 years, with an option to extend the contract for 40 more years. The siren is proposed to be placed near the football stadium. The siren will alert nearby people with a tone and inform them through voice. In other school matters, the board approved a contract for school resource officers at the high and middle schools. Dublin City Schools splits the cost of having a police officer posted at middle and high schools with the city. “It’s a great partnership,” Superintendent David Axner said, noting that the officers provide both safety and education. “We’re very fortunate.” The cost of three resource officers at each high school is $308,754, including benefits. Two officers at two of Dublin’s middle schools is $205,836 with benefits. The district will pay $154,377 for high school resource officers and $102,918 for middle school officers. A rental agreement with Ohio State University was also approved to hold graduation at the Schottenstein Center for 2013 to 2015. The district will pay $28,763 to hold its three graduation ceremonies there on June 8, 2013,
See BUSINESS SKILLS, page A3
See BOE, page A2
By Eric George/ThisWeek
Ian Maur looks at paintings with his sister, Carley, at the Dublin Arts Fair held July 15 and 16 at Sells Middle School. The fair is sponsored by the Dublin Area Art League.
Camp returns to teach business skills By JENNIFER NOBLIT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Jelly meant more than lunch for 20 middle-schoolers participating in Dublin’s entrepreneur camp. The campers used the lunchtime event at the Dublin Entrepreneurial Center last week to practice networking and to pitch their new “companies” to other entrepreneurs.
The camp, sponsored by the DEC and Dublin Parks and Recreation Department, is in its second year and has 20 middle school participants. Seven returned from the inaugural year. “We have a lot more businesses involved this year,” camp supervisor Bryan Arnold said. “We kept a lot of the same stuff, like this (networking event).” The second year brought a few
changes, though. This year, students will build their own websites for the products they create in groups of four, in addition to marketing and creating a business plan. Networking might not seem like the most useful skill for a middle school student to master, Arnold said, but it gets them out of their comfort zone. “It’s a skill that a lot of people may
Mezzo Restorante and Bar opens in BriHi Square By JENNIFER NOBLIT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Historic Dublin’s newest restaurant officially opened last week, but general manager Michael Holland said several patrons had been in before then. Mezzo Restorante and Bar opened at 12 W. Bridge St., bringing traditional Italian fare with some local twists to BriHi Square. A private-public partnership between Dublin and Stonehenge Co. brought BriHi Square to the historic district, Holland said, and the opening of the two-story Mezzo has been highly anticipated.
“We were doing dozens of tours in the evening after training,” he said. “We would do dinner for 130 after training.” Another Mezzo sits at the Creekside development in Gahanna, but the Dublin location is different, Holland said. “The Gahanna (restaurant) is a little bit smaller. It’s on one floor and seats 175. Here we’re upwards of 230,” he said. “We share probably 60 percent of the menu or a little bit more, but we’ve added items for both the Dublin area and local products, Ohio-grown products.” The BriHi Square site was too
good to pass up, he said. “This is a very nice square that they built here, and traffic is second to none,” Holland said. “So much is offered here, but so much isn’t here, so we can offer a more family-friendly place. … You can see and be seen on the square (on the patio).” The two-story restaurant has a bar and “casual” atmosphere downstairs, with a more formal dining experience upstairs, Holland said. The restaurant also features patio seating for 60 and a private room By Eric George/ThisWeek that could seat 40 for dinner. Even before opening, Holland Executive chef Ben Geltzer, front, and general manager Michael Holland are running Mezzo See MEZZO, page A3 Restorante and Bar, 12 W. Bridge St., in BriHi Square.
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