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THE EARLY BIRD NEWSPAPER S U N D A Y, J U N E 2 1 , 2 0 1 5
Plan to raise water rates questioned by council RYAN BERRY
MANAGING EDITOR editor@earlybirdpaper.com
GREENVILLE – Greenville residents may soon see higher rates on their water bills if Greenville City Council’s Utility Committee gets its way. The committee submitted a report detailing the plan to the entire council on June 16. The committee was given the task of reviewing the
water rates while examining the rate structure. The committee was also asked to consider how adding a water tower would affect those rates. The committee suggested the city forgo building a new water tower at this time. A key provision of the report calls for the city to move its quarterly billing to monthly billing with a small rate increase for water. Ac-
cording to Utility Committee Chairman Roy Harrison, the minimum units billed would also be decreased. The city currently bills for a minimum of 10 units over three months. If the report is accepted and legislation approved, residents would be charged for a minimum of three units each month. However, residents using the minimum would see their bills go up by $1.32 per quarter. If approved,
residents would pay $11.24 per month provided only the minimum amount of water is used. Members of council did not voice disagreement with either provision. Several council members were concerned with the additional increase in fees pertaining to the water department. The Utility Committee’s report called for an increase in the shut off fee, which would require
residents to pay $50 to have their water turned back on if their water was turned off for late or non-payment. The current fee is $20. Plus, new businesses and homes would face a hefty increase in the tap-in fee. Homeowners wanting to build would see that fee increase from $900 to $1,350 for a 3/4inch line and from $1,575 to $2,250 for a one-inch line. Several felt these additional fees were too high.
Councilman Clarence Godwin stated if the city wants to encourage growth and build new homes it should be lowering the tap-in fees instead of increasing the rates. Council chose to table the issue until there is additional discussion on the shut-off and tap-in fees. They are hoping to hold a special meeting with the entire council to sort through the issues.
Harter named new Woodland principal BOB ROBINSON
ASSOCIATE EDITOR brobinson@earlybirdpaper.com
GREENVILLE – Jody Harter, Assistant Principal at Woodland Heights Primary School, has been named its new principal with a two-year contract beginning the 2015-16 school year. She replaces Jeff Cassell, who is taking the helm at Greenville High School. Greenville City Schools Superintendent Doug Fries brought her name before the GCSD Board of Education at its regular meeting June 18, telling her “welcome aboard.” “Not yet,” quipped Harter. “They haven’t voted on me yet!” Enjoying the levity, the board quickly confirmed Fries’ nomination, 5-0.
Jody Harter
“She had a lot of competition,” Fries said. “There were eight or nine interviews, several candidates… I’m pleased to be able to bring Mrs. Harter in as my choice for principal.” Later Harter laughed. “I was unemployed for about 10 minutes,” she said. Prior to confirming her appointment, the Board had accepted her resignation as
assistant principal. Harter has 12 years experience in education, two of them in leadership. She has a master’s degree in leadership from the University of Dayton. Prior to her year at Woodland, Harter taught for nine years at Anthony Wayne. She was born and raised in Greenville and lives in the district with her husband Todd and their three daughters, Cali, Libby and Ella. Libby is a Woodland student; Cali an East student; Ella is three years old. “I’m looking forward to next year as Woodland’s principal,” she said, “and I’d really like to thank Mr. Cassell for his support and leadership. I learned a lot from him.”
DCSO spends $100,000 on upgrades BOB ROBINSON
ASSOCIATE EDITOR brobinson@earlybirdpaper.com
GREENVILLE – “It needs to be done soon,” said Darke County Sheriff Chief Deputy Mark Whittaker, “but I don’t have a specific date.” He emphasized the point by noting one of their network switches went out over the weekend. Whittaker was referring to two servers for the Sheriff’s office, plus necessary hardware and software, that have been authorized by the Darke County Commissioners. The price tag, according to County Business Administrator John Cook, is $111,300. Darke County Commissioner Mike Rhoades said the money will come from the Capital Improvement Fund, leaving a balance of more than $400,000. “Two servers are at the ‘end of life’,” said Rhoades.
The hardware and software is no longer supported. Whittaker expanded on that, indicating some of the servers the Sheriff’s Office has been using are 10 years old. “There are seven or eight pieces of equipment,” Whittaker added. They are used for Spillman, Microsoft products, the video system and more. “Our goal down the road is to reduce the servers to two to four.” The new servers will have more storage space than the ones being replaced. The software is also reaching its ‘end of life.’ According to Whittaker that will happen in about five or six weeks. The commissioners and Whittaker wanted to be sure the public was aware this is only one area needing to be addressed. “Sometimes there is confusion regarding the need for these servers and the need to develop a plan for radio communications,”
BOE plans meeting GREENVILLE – The Darke County Board of Elections will have a special meeting on June 22, 10 a.m., to conduct interviews for the IT Specialist position and to examine
proposals submitted for the purchase of electronic pollbooks. The Board meets at the board office located at 300 Garst Avenue, Greenville.
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said the commissioners. “These are two totally different things.” In addition to age, the increased reliance on digital records and photographs has become a storage space issue. “Every photo we take in the course of our duties is stored electronically,” Whittaker noted in a prepared statement. The department is also moving toward more digital records and fewer paper records. “We were literally running out of physical space for all of the records we have to maintain,” he said. Now they are running out of digital space on their servers. Whittaker noted the Sheriff’s Office is also keeping up with the need for proper cyber security… protecting the data and critical operating software that is maintained on site and backed up off site. The redundancy allows the office to continue operation even if something catastrophic happens to their physical location. “Just because we suffer a fire, power outage or weather related disaster at the Sheriff’s Office does not mean that we get to take a day or week off for repairs.”
Resident Ted Wonder (left) smashed a pie in the face of Pastor Paula Ulrich (center) who was the top fundraiser in the Pie Palooza challenge during the Brethren Retirement Community’s second annual Longest Day event Wednesday. Co-worker Todd Reish (right) removes Ulrich’s shower cap. See more photos from the Pie Palooza at bluebagmedia.com (Clinton Randall photo)
BRC doesn’t let rain dampen Longest Day event spirit CLINTON RANDALL
STAFF WRITER crandall@earlybirdpaper.com
GREENVILLE - Despite the constant rain June 17, the Brethren Retirement Community (BRC) was not detoured from holding its second annual Longest Day event. The Longest Day is a team event to raise funds and awareness for the Alzheimer’s Association. It is held each year on the summer solstice, the duration of this sunrise-to-sunset event symbolizes the challenging journey of those living with the disease and their caregivers. With the wet conditions, most of BRC’s activities scheduled for the day were brought indoors. While some of the 113 walkers were able to get outdoors in between the rain, others walked the makeshift track inside the facility. Combined, the participants covered more than 245 miles on the day. Brethren Retirement Community raised a total of $653.54 with the special ‘Pie Palooza’ fundraiser where the top six staff members volunteered to get a pie in face for raising the most money. Topping the list was Pastor Paula
Name cards were hung on the BRC tree in the main lobby after the rain made it impossible to light the traditional luminaries around the pond during the Longest Day closing ceremony. (Clinton Randall photo)
Ulrich who raised $135.95 and chose resident Ted Wonder to do the honors of smashing the pie in her face. In addition to the Pie Palooza, the BRC team held numerous other activities including face painting, euchre, dancing and karaoke, music, puzzles and more. With the closing ceremony’s traditional lighting of the luminaries rained out, the group creatively hung nearly 50 “In Honor Of” name cards on the tree in the lobby. Each card contained the name of a person who fell victim to the disease that affects over five million Americans. Each name on a card was read aloud during the closing ceremony at 9:07 p.m.
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Special guest Eric Van Vlyman, executive director of the Miami Valley Alzheimer’s Association, spoke to the group during the closing ceremony and thanked everyone that participated in the cause. “You guys put the fun in fundraising,” said Van Vlyman. “You are a very special group and it’s always a pleasure to be here. I hope with the money raised there can someday be a cure for this disease that affects so many!” Learn more about the Alzheimer’s Association and Longest Day event at www.alz.org. Like the Brethren Retirement Community on Facebook to see and share more photos from the second annual event.
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