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Volume 52, No. 14
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CHESTERLAND NEWS Wednesday, November 25, 2020
Your Community Newspaper Since 1967 Coach Will Step Down for a Season Due to COVID By Jamie Ward jamie@geaugamapleleaf.com Before coronavirus cases in Ohio began setting records over the last two weeks, Bob Beutel had a straightforward answer when asked how difficult it was to remove himself from the sidelines as head girls basketball coach at West Geauga. “It wasn’t a tough decision,” Beutel said. Beutel, of course, knows a thing or two about setting records himself as a Hall of Fame high school basketball coach. But given his age — 70 years old — and a pre-existing condition — diabetes — the risk was just too high. “I’ve got people in my life that I thought about,” said Beutel, whose assistant coach and wife of 24 years also will take a leave of absence for in-person coaching this season. “We’ve had a lot of people around us who have died of Covid. Some other people have passed away from some other things. It validates the decision to take this seriously.” And confidence in the staff already in place for a team that went 21-4 a year ago also made the decision easier. Greg Dugger, a varsity assistant, will assume the head coaching duties in Beutel’s absence. Dugger has coached under Beutel for 15 years and was a member of Beutel’s last varsity boys basketball team at Eastlake-North High School. See Coach • Page 3
Chester Residents Speak Up Questionnaire Results Guide Planning Committee By Michael Gavin editor@geaugamapleleaf.com
Cleveland State University officials recently presented the data of the Chester Township resident questionnaire they conducted to township leaders. Of 4,724 questionnaires mailed, 1,654 were returned and validated — a 35% response rate, which was noted in the results as “excellent”
and a good indicator of “strong support and interest in the community and its future,” according to the data CSU’s Community Planning Program Manager Kirby Date and Project Manager Molly Schnoke presented to the Chester Planning Commission and Chester Township Trustees Oct. 27. The planning commission, led by Chairman Anthony Nastasi, has been meeting for over a year and
a half to identify residents’ issues and concerns as the committee developed the questionnaire. Planning commission members, township trustees and CSU worked together to formulate questions, which aimed to give residents a platform upon which to share their priorities, concerns and opinions with community leadership. See Survey • Page 5
ATV Riders Trespassing Along Power Lines Cause Problems By Ann Wishart ann@geaugamapleleaf.com It would seem to be common sense to most that it is against the law to ride ATVs on private property without permission of the owner. But, apparently, a lot of ATV riders don’t consider the long strips of land under power lines on Camelot Lane in Chester Township private property. They come out from Cleveland suburbs with trucks and trailers, unload their four-wheel toys and roar along the wide spaces kept clear of undergrowth by the Illuminating Company. Larry Komidar owns two parcels on Camelot Lane. His house is on one and the Illuminating Company has an easement across his acreage next door. See Trespassing • Page 9
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Larry Komidar points out trails left by ATV riders on his property on Camelot Lane in Chester Township. The trespassers like to ride their ATVs on property under the Illuminating Company power lines and sometimes destroy yards in the neighborhood, he said.