Amherst News-Times, 1998-11-11

              Parks caretaker to retire, again — Page 2  I City plans utility building — Page 16
kmherst News-Times
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November   11,   1998
Amherst,  Ohio
(     ncil figures it's cheaper to pay EPA fine
gingly agreed to
emment $12,020
ispute over PCB
P'
to
violations.
City council was expected to authorize the expenditure at its Nov. 9
meeting. The alternative is to challenge the longstanding violation in
court and pay more money in legal
fees, according to law director Alan
Anderson and u.liiies superintendent Don Woodings.
"You're talking at least eight to
10 years of fighting this in federal
court," Woodings explained. "It is
an option, but not a very good or
inexpensive one. This should be our
Final closure on this."
The city contends the settlement
is the least expensive way out of a
legal mess that began in 1982. That
year the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordered the removal of any materials containing
even the smallest amount of PCBs,
which are considered toxic indust
rial pollutants.
Amherst was placed on a list of
1,800 public and private sector violators because the toxic agent was
found in oil used to maintain electrical generating equipment, including
transformers and capacitors.
PCBs were normally added to the
oil so it did not break down under
extreme heat and cause electrical
equipment to malfunction. The city
is now free of them, Woodings
added.
Over the years, Woodings said
the city has spent more than
$100,000 to comply with whatever
the EPA has ordered or suggested
during the complicated removal and
clean up process. It has involved the
removal of some transformers, the
purchase of shipping containers and
contracting with hauling companies.
The process included testing every transformer in service. Federal
regulations required oil with even
the smallest amount of PCBs to be
removed. If this could not be done,
the transformers had to be destroyed
using a complicated procedure
created by the government.
"We did everything they told us
to do and we still have to pay to get
out from under this convoluted
mess," a frustrated Woodings said.
The $12,020 is not a Tine, rather
what he described as "a final settlement" that will be paid to finance a
special steering committee which
oversees the cleanup. It consists of a
group of private company executives and high priced attorneys contracted by the EPA and U.S. Justice
Department.
'This really irks me, too, because
somebody is getting rich off taxpayers' money," Woodings said. "It's
caused us a lot of headaches, but
they never do anything easy or
inexpensive."
The EPA also refused to provide
CONTINUED on page S
Boy's interest
in family home
leads to award
from historians
by QLEN MLLER
News-Times reporter
Members of the Amherst
Historical Society are marveling over the thoroughness and
complexity of research done
by nine-year-old Matt Nahorn.
Rather than spend his summer playing baseball, the son
of Diane and William Nahorn,
of 46900 Cooper Foster Park
Road, became a researcher
and historian when he uncovered litde known information
about his home and Jacob
Shupe.
His historical journey began
with interest in his own
home. The Nahoms always
knew their house was old but
weren't exactly sure how old.
After all, its foundation is
made of sandstone and beams
cut from tree trunks.
.   They guessed it was built
at least ISO years ago.
It was Matt who discovered
it was built more than 180
years ago by Shupe, who is
generally considered Amherst's founder and first
settler.
Larry Fuhrman, chairman of
the historical society's preservation committee, said he felt
Nahom's research was a significant contribution because
of the information it
uncovered.
His work was recognized
recently by the historical society when it presented him
with a landmark plaque at an
Oct. 28' membership meeting.
The award culminated
hours, days and weeks of research written by the youngster, but not his passion to
know more about area history.
"What he's done is abso-
CONTINUED on page   3
Youthful historian Matt Nahorn is presented a landmark plaque     search into his family's 187 year-old home,
by Larry Fuhrman of the Amherst Historical Society for his re-
Mayor to speak today
at Veterans Day fete
The American Legion Post #118 will host Veterans Day ceremonies today at 11 a.m. at the legion hall at Middle Ridge Road
and Elyria Avenue.
Mayor John Higgins will be the speaker, and the Amherst
Honor Guard will be present
Coffee and donuts will be served in the social hall immediately
following the ceremony. The event is free and open to the public.
Amherst Township voters' reject levy
Amherst Township plans for a
fire department were extinguished I
by voters Oct. 3 by a nearly 3 to 1
margin.
According to unofficial election
results, 1,565 residents voted
against the proposed 2-mill levy
while only 574 people cast favorable ballots.
The resounding defeat leaves
township trustees with only one alternative: to finish negotiations Cora
new fire service contract started
more than a month ago with the City
Of Amherst.
The levy was placed on the ballot
by trustees David Urig and Ron
Leoni in August after the city announced it would increase the cost
of the contract from about $46,000
to about $110,000 a year.
The levy met strong opposition
from trustee Dennis Abraham and a
group of residents, who questioned
the wisdom of creating a township
fire department They cited lack of
planning and said it was a poor reac
tion to Amherst's proposed $64,000
contract increase.
The township has fire service
contracts with Amherst and South
Amherst. The city fire department
serves the northern and central portion of the township and South Amherst serves the southern portion.
About $20,000 of the contract
would be set aside annually for five
years for the purchase of a new
pumper-tanker to serve a rural area
without fire hydrants.
Amherst safety service director
Shcrrill McLoda said continuation
of the contract talks was put on hold
by the trustees pending the outcome
of last week's election.
She now expects them to begin
talking again within the next tw«£
weeks. &
Amherst officials agreed to give
the trustees a 60-day extension to
the contract which expired Oct 1.
Only about 20 days remain in the
extension, mayor John Higgins said.
Painter to brush up skills
on city hall reproduction
by QLEN MLLER
News-Times reporter
The last thing Terry Anthony expected when she
gave away two of her paintings was a commission for a
third work from mayor John
Higgins.
After selecting two landscapes from an art exhibit at
the Amherst Public Library,
the impressed chief executive
asked her to dp a painting of
Amherst's historic city ball.
When finished, it will hang in
either his office or city hall.
There's only one catch. It
will be done for Ave, tort of
a community service.
Anthony. 60. wiD start by
taking photographs of the
building. She'B have to wail
until the iraflnlrhng that now
aurround. city M £>*£ ,
and repairs to the bell tower
are completed.
"I want to make sure nothing is blocking my view
because this is the first time
anyone asked me to do something like this," the Amherst
artist said. "It's an honor.''
It won't be her first building. Even though her forte is
landscapes, she recenuy completed an oil psMnng of Lorain's historic lighthouse
A 20-year resident of Amherst, Anthony's palntingi
for the library art exhibit on
display through the end of
the month.
Sac's already given two de-
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hunting.- a kndscape technique mmyamapmm by the late
Bob Rasa, aa artist snd
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on public
An assistant social worker
at the W.O. Nord Center, Anthony never imagined she had
art skills. Then, one day, she
wanted to turn the ceiling of
her family room from a
Southwestern motif into a
sky.
While shopping at a craft
store, she became hooked on
a demonstration given by Do-
loris Pease who. to her surprise, also turned out lo be
from Amherst.
MI just couldn't turn amy.
What she was doing reafty
-I had
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to leach »e and that was
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