LocaL PostaL customer ecrWss/eDDm
Volume 51, No. 7
stanDarD Postage & Fees PaiD WiLLoughby, oh Permit 42
CHESTERLAND NEWS Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Your Community Newspaper Since 1967
Chester, Neighboring Fire Departments Receive Large Sum of FEMA Grant Funds By Emily Crebs editor@geaugamapleleaf.com The Chester Township Fire Department and neighboring departments are receiving $890,774 in grant funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant program.
The funds will be used to purchase communications equipment such as portable, vehicle-mounted and station-base radios for the six different departments, Chester Township Fire Chief John Wargelin said. “This helps us do our job better. We’re thankful to FEMA for giving us this grant and we know that
it will benefit not only the safety of our firefighters, but also our residents and our ability to respond and communicate clearly with neighboring departments,” Wargelin said in a phone interview Aug. 17. Other departments included in Chester’s application were Munson, Hambden and Russel townships in Geauga County, Kirtland and Wil-
loughby Hills in Lake County and Pepper Pike in Cuyahoga County. The departments give mutual aid to each other on emergency calls and are in need of replacement radios. Wargelin explained Chester’s department was the lead agency in the grant application. He spent See Grant • Page 3
Nov. Election Will be Safe, Zeigler Says By Amy Patterson amy@geaugamapleleaf.com
If you’ve ever wondered why, with so few elections taking place each year, the Geauga County Board of Elections is open yearround, Director Pete Zeigler would say he wishes there were even more days in a year to cover their workload. “The amount of energy it takes to organize an off-year election, even a small election, is unbelievable,” Zeigler told the League of Women Voters during a Zoom presentation July 30. While the Ohio Secretary of State is predicting an extremely high turnout of 70 to 75 percent for the election, Zeigler said the best way to keep voters safe and avoid large crowds is to vote early. Nearly 1,000 people are involved with pulling off a successful election in Geauga County, Zeigler said, from poll workers to night setup workers. It also takes a dedicated full-time staff and large vital core See Election • Page 5
The West Geauga Schools Board of Education held a virtual meeting Aug. 10 and addressed some community feedback regarding the school’s reopening.
West Geauga BOE Fields Concerns, Questions on Schools Reopening By Emily Crebs editor@geaugamapleleaf.com As the start of West Geauga Schools’ academic year steadily approaches, the community is raising concerns, suggestions and questions to district officials regarding reopening in the fall.
The virtual West Geauga Schools Board of Education meeting Aug. 10 began with Superintendent Richard Markwardt voicing feedback received since the July 27 meeting — when the restart plan was unveiled. While the board only reviewed
the feedback, Markwardt said the West Geauga restart task force would consider the input within the next week. “We said (when the reopening plan was introduced), it was an evolving plan,” Markwardt said. See Schools • Page 10
facebook.com/chesterlandnews @chesterlandnews