The Amherst news-times. (Amherst, Ohio), 1997-02-19

              am*
Chaplains reinact war story — Page 3      No nuclear waste in our city — Pt
<"> '-* o o
o UO x X
t~ 00 i-< t->
<=■ yi o O
3
CD   <   X   -
C n-  ,_,
oo r
3   -|
3>   O
30
<   O
.■•
Amherst News-Time
Wednesday. February 19. 1997
Amherst, Ohio
o
X
I
City settles suit
with worker; deal
kept under wrap
New park plans
start with talks;
public forum set
to gather input
by BILL ROSS
to
News-Times reporter
After five yean of haggling, the city has agreed on an out-of-
court setUemcnt in i caw concerning a woman fired from the city
auditor's office.
Although the amount or conditions of the settlement cannot be
revealed because of a gag order, law director Alan Anderson said
"The city confident this to be a nuisance case thai would have cost
mote to litigate than to settle out of-court."
Margaret Johnson, the plaintiff in the case, had been working as
a budgetary clerk in the auditor's office at city hall for more than
eight yean, when she was dismissed in May of 1
In January of that year, Jim Gammons took offic
city auditor, awl said that when he let Johnson go, he
more qualified people working in the office.
Johnson, who was pregnant at the time and believed she was
dismissed because of it, recently told the News-Times, "He (Gam
mens) was really unfair to me and I felt I should be compensated
for that.**
Johnson, who now has four children and is a representative for
Avon, said she is just happy to have the whole dung over.
When asked if she was content vith the settlement, she responded, "Not really, but I bad to take what I could get — I
CONTINUED on page 2
by BILL ROSS
News-Times reporter
City officials are hoping a partnership with the Lorain County
MetroParks — as well as private donations — will result in the creation
of a new multi-use park, probably
on land adjacent to the police and
jail facility on on N. Lake Street
Residents will be able to ask
questions, and offer suggestions,
during a public meeting which will
probably be held sometime next
month, according to safety/service
director Cookie McLoda, who is
also on the board of the MetroParks.
McLoda said the idea for a second park has been circulating for
years, with interest from both the citizens of Amherst and the city
administration.
When land for the new police facility was acquired, Sandy Bitar donated 11 acres of adjacent land to be
dedicated as public park space —
and city officials began focusing on
the area as a possible site for a park
on the west side.
One of the main concerns is
avoiding any new taxes while getting help with designs and plans for
a park. McLoda said she talked to
MetroParks director Dan Martin and
the other board members and found
that they are enthusiastic about the
partnership.
Such a partnership would mean
the MetroParks would assist in
"lending their knowledge on what to
do and how to do iL" McLoda said.
"We need someone with that sort of
expertise."
Additionally, because it would be
a joint project, some money could
be provided by the MetroParks.
"As of right now, we have not finalized any agreement and are just
waiting to see the results of the
public hearing,'' Martin said. "But if
you ask me if we are interested in
the projecL the answer is an enthusiastic yes."
The MetroParks considers a
partnership with the city to be a pilot plan," according to McLoda, because it has not entered into a similar contract before — and a successful venture could serve as a model
for other communities in the future.
Martin said that partnerships have
been tried in other areas of the state
and he feels they are the wave of the
CONTINUED on page 2
Valentine serenade
Evelyn Nowell enjoys being serenaded by the Crescent Chorus
barbershop quartet at Your Deli restaurant on Park Avenue. Nowell, who lives by herself and no longer gets out much, was being
treated to a Valentine's Day lunch hosted by her friend, Pamela
Pauley.
One man's treasure is recycled art
Broken? That's
no problem
for sculptor
by BILL ROSS
News-Times reporter
On display at the Amherst Public
Library is a rotating selection of
sculptures created entirely from recycled materials. They are fashioned
by an area man who may as well
have been the inspiration for the
saying "one man's junk is another
man's treasure.''
John Hettel approached library
director Judy Dworkin with the idea
five years ago, after the avid reader
and library regular noticed things
looked a bit bare.
Hettel has been using leftovers,
junk and just about anything that
crosses his path, to create intriguing
works of art since he was a young
boy.
His father used to bring him
scraps of wood that he would use
for building blocks, and since then,
he has always had an eye for the
unusual.
After graduating with a master's
and a bachelor's of fine arts from
Bowling Green University in 1963,
Hettel took a job teaching kids in
Gibsonburg, Ohio. "I had always
wanted to be an architect but I was
horrendous at math, so I thought
leaching would be fun,*' Hettel said
as he provided a tour of his restored
Greek revival home in Brownhelm.
One day per week, Hettel would
travel down to Helena to teach art to
200 children in grades KV2. Their
first project was making clay animals and snakes. After the clay
dried. Hettel put them in his trunk
John Hettel continues to work on one of his
many ongoing projects, using only recycled materials. Here in his back yard studio, he puts the
finishing touches on a "bunny fence" which is
made of old wood lath strips.
and drove back to Gibsonburg,
where he had a kiln.
Along the way, he was rear-ended
and when he opened his trunk, bad
thousands of pieces of broken clay.
"So I gathered them up and fired
them in the kiln anyway. Then I
brought them back to Helena and let
the kids pick out their favorite
pieces."
This "make do with what you
have" attitude is what has helped
Hettel to pursue his passion to the
fullest He is a man who lives by his
own rules, and along tbe way, has
turned a few heads and been the fo
cus of more than one wagging
tongue.
On another occasion, he had the
students construct a 10-foot gorilla
out of chicken wire, donated fiberglass insulation and wheat paste.
They all broke out in a rash and
thought it was the wheat paste —
not knowing about the hazards of
fiberglass at the time.
But the gorilla was completed in
time for an open house and Hettel
placed it inside a locked glass case
with a wax banana in its band. "As
parents started to enter the room. I
noticed someone had relocated that
banana on another part of the gorilla's anatomy — and not only that
— the key to the case was missing.''
Hettel quickly stuck black paper
over the display case, saving face —
and probably his job. To this day he
believer it was one of his disapproving co-workers who was trying to
make a monkey out of him.
After working in Gibsonburg for
a year, Hettel found a job at Huron
High School. He made an impression there — but not all of it was
CONTINUED on page 2
Former official
begins sentence
in rehab house
Sanborn does double duty
here and in Akron facility
by GLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
Former Amherst law director
Thomas Sanborn is a man
caught between two cities while
serving the first part of his sentence for stealing more than
$200,000 from five former
clients.
Although he avoided imprisonment, Sanborn now lives at
Oriana House, an Akron alcohol
rehabilitation facility. He was
sentenced to tbe center last
November for the crime.
Technically, he's under federal custody as part of the U.S.
Bureau of Prisons' Community
Corrections Program. It releases
him to work within the legal
system eight hours a day plus
travel tune to and from the city
of Amherst
Tbe remainder of his day is
spent in the Akron halfway
house under the watchful eyes of
case workers and administrators.
His law license was temporarily suspended by the Ohio Supreme Court on Jan. 24. A hearing on the possible permanent
revocation of bis license will be
held this spring or early rum-
Tom Sanborn
mer, although no date has been
set
But Sanborn still is working
at his private practice, clearing
up billing matters and doing
paperwork.
"I know the rules they (the
court) set. I cannot advise clients
or represent them in court,*' he
said. "It's a bitter pill to follow,
but I have to."
CONTINUED on page 2
1