August 7, 2011
State report card
Schools expect ‘excellent’ rating By BRITANY BYERS ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Preliminary data from the Ohio Department of Education indicates that the Marysville Exempted Village School District will achieve 26 out of 26 state indicators for the 2010-11 school year, giving the district a minimum rating of “excellent” on the state report card. All eight district school buildings — Edgewood Elementary, Mill Valley Elementary,
Navin Elementary, Northwood Elementary, Raymond Elementary, Creekview Intermediate, Bunsold Middle School and Marysville High School — are also expected to achieve at least an “excellent” rating, marking the first time all buildings have achieved that standard in the same year. “We couldn’t be more pleased for the students and staff,” Carla Steele, director of elementary curriculum, said. “The teamwork that is stressed in our work here helped move the
district’s achievement scores to an all-time high. Our hats are off to our students and staff for a job well done.” After meeting 24 out of 26 indicators and receiving an “effective” rating last year, Superintendent Larry Zimmerman said the schools focused this year on helping students’ test scores improve. “Every building met every indicator. That See SCHOOLS EXPECT, page A2
A closer look All eight district school buildings — Edgewood Elementary, Mill Valley Elementary, Navin Elementary, Northwood Elementary, Raymond Elementary, Creekview Intermediate, Bunsold Middle School and Marysville High School — are also expected to achieve at least an “excellent” rating, marking the first time ever that all buildings have achieved that standard in the same year.
Gore PHITATHALON will run for mayor’s office
Plain City seeks CDBG funds for Uptown improvements
By BRITANY BYERS
ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By BRITANY BYERS
ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Marysville Mayor John Gore will run for re-election this November. Gore is currently serving the unfinished term of former mayor Chris Schmenk, which is set to expire Dec. John Gore 31. Schmenk resigned to take a position with the Ohio Department of Development and is currently the department’s director. Gore, who spent 11 years on Marysville City Council, said he decided to run for re-election because he is committed to the community. “We’re just a growing community and I want to see some things continue,” he said. “I think we were able to continue some things that the previous mayor started and I want to continue to try to improve on that.” Gore said his aim is to improve the quality of life in Marysville by focusing on customer service and by being fiscally responsible. He said he intends to provide “to the customers, who happen to be the citizens and the taxpayers of our community, what they deserve.” As of ThisWeek’s press time, no other candidates had filed paperwork with the Union County Board of Elections to run for mayor. Candidates have until Aug. 10 at 4 p.m. to file.
By Paul Vernon/ThisWeek
Aaron Cingle of Marysville crosses the finish line first in the PHITathalon, which ended at Union County Fair on July 30. PHITathalon is a 5-mile physical endurance race. For a slideshow of the event, visit www.ThisWeekNews.com.
After being approached by the Ohio Department of Development’s Office of Housing and Community Partnerships, the village of Plain City is in the process of applying for a $400,000 downtown revitalization grant through the Community Development Block Grant program. If the grant is awarded, the village, in partnership with the Uptown Plain City Organization and the Union County Chamber of Commerce, will launch the Uptown Building Improvement Program to provide an incentive for property owners and tenants in the Uptown district to make improvements to their buildings. The program would provide matching funds for upgrades to buildings, including new roofs, HVAC systems, fire suppression systems, plumbing, electrical wiring, ADA access and other code issues. Other possible upgrades could include upgrades to building façades, removal of false fronts, restoration of original façade designs, windows, awnings, tuck-pointing, doors, paint, signs and more. Local officials met Aug. 4 with 36 people who represented 15 building and business owners to explain the process of participating in the grant program and gauge how much interest there is in taking part in the program. “We’re very excited about this project. It has amazing potential for our community,” Mayor Sandra Adkins said. “At this point, their (building and business owners) involvement is necessary to receive the federal funding.” According to Jason Stanford, Union County Chamber of Commerce business development manager, the village submitted the first part of the preapplication in April, which allows the state to “make sure that the communities are really ready to submit for the grant and they could carry out the grant if they were awarded.” He said Plain City is currently working on the second part of that application. “When we submit our application to the state, we have to show a certain percentage of interest for that grant,” Stanford said. “So we’re trying to See CBDG FUNDS, page A6
Memorial Hospital plans $11-million expansion By BRITANY BYERS ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Memorial Hospital of Union County plans to break ground in September or October for a 23,154-square-foot addition. Melanie Ziegler, the hospital’s director of marketing, communications and development, said the estimated cost of the project is $11.373 million. She said the presence of cardiac disease prompted the need for the expansion. “It’s the No. 1 killer in the state and in our county,” Ziegler said. Memorial Hospital of Union County was built in 1952 and has not expanded its facilities since
2004, when the Women’s Health Center was added. The expansion will be built toward London Avenue and attach to the current surgery department with a tie-in to the main corridor of the existing hospital. It will be used for cardiology, endoscopy and surgery purposes. The addition is scheduled to be completed and opened by December 2012. Laurie Whittington, MHUC’s chief operating officer, said the expansion will benefit the community by “providing patients a union of outstanding physicians, the latest technology and a stateof-the-art facility.” “The design of the facility was
made with patients in mind: easy access, private post-surgery recovery rooms and diagnostic testing in a centralized location,” she said. “Our goal is to make sure that those in the community receive the best possible care in a world-class setting that is close to home.” The building’s design and updated technology, including a cardiac catheterization unit, will allow patients to receive care in Union County. “Patients will no longer need to travel out of the community to receive diagnostic cardiac catheterizations and peripheral vascular procedures,” Whittington said.
A rendering of the proposed 23,154-square-foot addition to Memorial Hospital of Union County.
“We will do cardiac catheterizations here, but we will not do open heart surgery. It’s just diagnostic catheterizations,” Ziegler said. “But it will also be a multiuse lab, so that we can do vascular work and interventional radi-
ology work, as well.” The addition’s design will eliminate the need to transport patients down the main corridor from the existing outpatient surgery rooms to surgery suites, and will thus ensure privacy and confidential-
ity, Ziegler said. A separate entrance will be provided for cardiology patients, those receiving cardiac diagnostic procedures, patients receiving See MEMORIAL, page A6