Amherst News-Times, 1998-08-12

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Amherst News-Times
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August  12.  1998
Amherst, Ohio
50 cents
stomers zapped by higher electricity bills
H MILLER
tes reporter
untitles superintendent Don
Woodings thinks city electric customers shocked by high June
electric bills should blame Mother
Nature and the federal government
rather than the city.
Woodings said his office has re
ceived hundreds of complaints about higher than usual June bills received by customers last week.
Many blamed the utilities department for a mistake until they look at
the Power Purchase Adjustment, a
section of the bill showing the cost
of buying electric from a supplier.
That cost went sky high in late
June because a severe storm and tornado disrupted First Enegry service
from the Davis Bessie nuclear
power plant near Port Clinton and
damaged a generating plant operated by American Electric Power
(AEP) in eastern Illinois. AEP supplies power to western and pari of
southern Ohio.
First Energy and AEP had to buy
10,000 megawatts of electricity to
make up for the temporary loss of
the two facilities around June 20.
Both outbid AMP-Ohio, Amherst's municipally-owned electric
system's main electric supplier, for
the purchase of what is called short-
term interruptable power.
As a result, First Energy and AEP
received electric power for a few
days that would have been available
to AMP-Ohio and Amherst
Normally, the purchase would
have not been much of a problem if
temperatures had not soared into the
nineties between June 24-26. Amherst's electric use dramatically rose
and reached an all-time peak use record, according to Woodings.
The city could have experienced
forced "brown outs" if AMP-Ohio
had not "scrambled to make up for
the power that was lost to us during
the interruption,'' he explained.
Thinas got worse due to a federal
agency's policy. At the same time,
the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) temporarily
lifted a cap placed on the price that
a power supplier can charge for
electricity.
"This hurt us more than anything
else and hurt a tot of smaller cities
like us," he added.
CONTINUED on page 7
Local library's
in good shape;
documents, too
says expert
by GLEN MLLER
News-Times reporter
The Carnegie section of the
Amherst Public Library is one
of about 88 architectural and
educational gems that's being
well preserved, according to
an authority on libraries built
by steel magnet Andrew
Carnegie.
Mary Ellen Armentrout, a
librarian with Otterbein College in Westerville, gave the
message to library director
Judy Dworkin last week while
viewing the 92-year-old-
building.
Armentrout is in the process of doing extensive research on Carnegie libraries
that began two years ago
with funding provided by the
college. Her research involves
photographing and collecting
the histories of each as she
travels throughout the state
inspecting them and interviewing staff members.
The research is being done
because most of the Carnegie
libraries soon will be a century old and have been a major part of library history in
Ohio and elsewhere, Armentrout said.
"It's just something I want
to do and they (Otterbein
College) think U important,"
she explained.
Based on her research, she
said Amherst also "is miles
CONTINUED on page 6
- •.* •/
Carnegie library building researcher Mary Ellen Armentrout
shows library director Judy Dworkin a unique feature of the Am
herst building's blueprints during a meeting in the 92-year-old
building.
■
Home building craze starts
to slow after plant closes
Residential building in Am-          June through September                Lorain last year,
herst is slowing down accord-       traditionally have been the                  A large number of workers
ing to a report submitted by         peak home building months             accepted transfers to a Ford
the building department.                over the last five years. Only          truck assembly plant in Louis-
Fifty three homes were              seven new homes were started         ville, Ky. Even so, many
built in the city last year              in June and July of this year           waited until spring or the end
compared to 72 in 19%, 80         compared to an average of 14         of the 1997-98 school before
in 1995 and % in both 1994        for the same two months                 placing their homes on the
and 1993.                                    since 1993.                                     market, according to area
This year, 26 homes have             Building department secret-           realtors,
been built or started as of            ary Kaye Browning blamed                 The amount of existing
July 31; mayor John Higgins         the decline on a higher-than-           homes on the market have in-
and the city's building depart-       usual number of existing                 creased by about 18 to 20
ment don't expect to see the         homes that are for sale in the         percent over last year because
number of new homes being         Amherst and Lorain area.                of the Ford plant closing,
built to meet the numbers ex-       Most have been put up for                "So this means the market
perienced in recent building           sale since the closing of the
boons.                                         Thunderbiid assembly plant in             CONTINUED on page 9
NEW HOUSES ■ AMHERST BUILDING DEPT.
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
JAN
6
6
1
1
5
4
FEB
a
3
2
2
0
2
MAR
4
7
3
8
7
5
APR
6
10
5
11
8
6
MAY
7
13
9
5
7
2
JUN
7
5
8
2
3
3
JUL
12
8
11
9
8
4
AUG
11
8
L_       6
7
0
SEP
13
14
7
9
5
OCT
5
1
12
15
I          3
NOV
13
9
14
, _3
4
t-
DEC
4
12
2
nfl
g
TOTAL
96
96
80
72
53
26
HISTORY.XLS
City considers tenants in its new space
by GLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
The city hopes to make
money on the purchase of the
San Springs Building by subleasing two or more basement
offices.
Mayor John Higgins said
he is in the process of negotiating lease agreements with
the Amherst Public Library
and the Mustache Mug Hair
Styling Salon. The beauty
shop currently is located in
the building.
A third, a public agency,
reportedly has expressed .interest, but Higgins said he preferred not to identify it until
negotiations can begin.
The library wants to use a
room in the building for storage space and hopes to buy
or lease a driveway behind
the structure for access to a
new library entrance.
He would not provide information on lease income
until talks are finalized.
Several other private businesses have expressed interest in leasing space, aJthough
Higgins said he has not yet
had time to pursue talks with
"I don't want to get too
involved in tubleaiing or
leasing until all the work on
city hall is done and we
know for certain how much
space we will have available
in there (me San Spring
Building)." he explained.
The city scquired the build
ing at 10S Park Avenue two
weeks ago under a $272,000
leaserpurchase agreement It
will lease the building for
four months before becoming
its owner.
The city plans to move city
hall offices into the building
on Sept IS while the historic
S. Main Street building is being reroofed at a cost of about $400,000.
Once the renovations pe
complete, he said the auditor's and treasurer's offices (a
addition to the building department are likely to restate
in the Sao Springs BalMtng
The city ■tiUtioi JnpsrWiW
now on Park Avenae emeejh ■
ally will be diaii,ll.*iJ sad
more offices moved into saa
building as watt. Oft*
will be set aside for city files
and a possible conference
room.
The mayor's and safety service director's offices will be
returned to city hall along
with an office for the clerk
of city council.
A citittn'i effort to raise
money for city hett renovations was saaouaood in the
spring before city cooncU decided to sire a load underwriting company, ft hi arranging fiaaacsaf and * V hire a
for eta itroofing
•      an other city capital
»*•
not be
wH
be used to renovate the badly
deteriorated second floor of
city hall, once a community
auditorium.
Authoriiation to transfer
and appropriate funds for the
roof work will be done during a special Aug. 17 city
council meeting.
A community develefraent
block grant will be sought for
a cement floor innovation of
city hall's basement, once the
police deparanent. It will be
used to store city records
moved from the San Springs
Building, he said.
Tee assyor said renovation
of the hairmeai for city offices would have been more
cosily thai the pufdasas of
the San
Township
planners
eye future
of land use
by QLEN MLLER
News-Tints* reporter
A small group of Amherst Township residents is learning the trials
and tribulations of how to create a
successful planning process that will
help give the township an economic
boost into the next century.
Started five yean ago, the Citizens for Economic Growth (CEO)
consists of nine people dwHrsftftd to
careful planned economic growth, a
process that previously had not existed in the township.
"Things had tended to be belter
skelter because zoning here was decades old." CEO president Allen Al-
grim explained. That's not conducive to good planning let alone attracting business these days."
The group was created by a former township board of trustees in
1993 to assist it in planting and development. The trustees felt she
CEO could get some things done
that they could not because of lack
of time  or  other  township
bat
of its
The private group is not
with nie township
oo^s k^to Srustee
work.
"They don't ran us, but we do
keep them up lo dale and what
we're doing.- Algrim Hfhtinil
"It's up to us to figure what slang*
we can do in
good for it and
auLbhnshaU
of its work sad
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