Amherst News-Times, 1999-01-13

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First baby of '99 takes her time — Page 3   I Trustees give up on suit — Page
Amherst News-Time
i
Wednesday. January  13.  1999
Amherst, Ohio
Baby, it's cold,
and slippery...
but we're warm
to the challenge
Even though the first blast of
winter sent residents slipping and
slidding,' most Amherstonians
braved the frigid temperatures and
met the last winter of the 20th Century head on.
Officially, the Jan. 2-3 storm
dumped a little more than six inches
of snow on the area, but it wasn't a
problem. The sleet and rain that fell
afterward were a different story.
Amherst police reported a dozen accidents over the four to five day period, a little more than normal but
not a significant increase.
Plow crews quickly disposed of
another three inches of snow that
fell Jan. 6 with no problem.
Unfortunately, several people
went skating without ice skates on
their way to their cars or mailboxes.
Amherst Hospital officials reported
10 people visited the emergency
room where most were treated with
broken wrists. A few sustained fractured arms or legs.
Hardware and grocery stores in
the area reported a run on salt by
residents, who later learned they had
wasted their money. Salt won't
work below 17 degrees.
For the future, city utilities superintendent Don Woodings recommended calcium chloride, which
was used on city-owned sidewalks.
It works by effectively 'rotting" the
ice, causing it to become honeycombed to die point a solid shore of
ice will break like glass when hit
with a shovel, he explained.
After the calcium chloride is
spread, he advised waiting two or
three hours before going to work on
the ice.
"It's like hitting glass with a hammer," Woodings explained.
Icy sidewalks were one reason
superintendent of schools Robert
Boynton decided to give Amherst
kids two extra days of holiday vacation Jan. 4-5.
But it was mainly the frigid temperatures that closed schools. They
dipped to -3 Jan. 4, the day kids
were supposed to return to class.
Because of the wind chill, which
Water jug
estimates
were high
A 750,000-gallon water tower to
be built off Middle Ridge Road will
cost the city about $200,000 less
than originally catimattid.
City council agreed Dec. 21 to
appropriate $819,000 for a aew
high tower to eliminate water pressure problems on the city's west
side. The pressure fluctuations are
caused by differences ia elevation
between the northwest aad southwest sides of the city.
The lower will be built by the
Chicago Bridge and Iron Co. (CBI),
of Plainfield, HI. at a cost of
$744X100. $2167)00 less than an engineer's estimate. A 10 percent contingency fund brings die cost to
£819.000
Work is expected to begin in late
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could have proved harmful to younger children, Boynton said he decided to keep the schools closed Jan.
5.
With the help of the city, Boynton
said he and school district buildings
and grounds supervisor Kenneth
Glowacki spent part of Jan. 3 making sure school parking lots and
sidewalks were cleared of snow.
He was ready to resume school
on schedule Jan. 4 until the ice
storm and frigid temperatures intervened on behalf of the kids.
The icy conditions and cold temperature didn't stop the city utility or
street crews. Every city snow truck
and plow was pushed into service
and city street crews worked rotating shifts to make sure the trucks
were consistently in use, Woodings
said.
All 10 of the city's two and a half
ton dump trucks with snow plows
were put in use as were three
smaller trucks with plows.
About 75 tons of road salt were
spread with a mixture of limestone
grit, which is used to give motorists
better traction on icy roads when
temperatures fall into the teens.
Even though the city has 125 tons
left, Woodings said the city has received 150 tons more and another
150 tons was scheduled to arrive
Jan. 11.
Everything went smoothly until 5
pjn. Jan. 4 when a water line on
Cleveland Avenue broke, a common
occurrence in cold weather. It was
the wind chill which dipped to -30
overnight that slowed repairs down.
Workmen had to change their wet
gloves and stop work several times
to warm up, Woodings said.
The job finally was completed
shortly before 4 am. the following
morning.
"But overall, things went pretty
smoothly. We started getting prepared for winter in November,'' he
explained. It was just a lot colder
start than we could ever have
imagined."
S'no doubt
Dava Anderson shovels snow from his driveway, a task dozens of Amherstonians have
found themselves doing over and over since Jan.
2. Sore and stiff backs have become a common
malady, according to Amherst Hospital officials.
should ba finished by the following summer.
A device for adding a radk> so-
tenna to the top of the tower will ba
included. Mayor John Higgfcs taki
it can be used to replace the city's
existing radio tower if nnrrisary.
The existing antenna is located in
of city halL
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Residents moved
from Nord facility
after complaints
by QLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
Pressure from Hidden Valley neighbors has forced the
W.O. Nord Mental Health
Center to close a home for
several mentally challenged
women and put it up for sale.
The women were quietly
moved out of the home at
820 Deer Run Dr. two weeks
ago following meetings with
Antoni Sulikowski. Nod Center executive director, and
placed in other Nord Center
residential facilities.
Oae of the neighbors, Daniel Orr, said Sulikowski aad
his staff met with neighbors
Dec. IS to CiBsBtn their raa-
eariier this year.
Sulikowski said me first
to relieve
from both the residents and
Nord Center staff that
prompted the dwritJon
"Our primary interest is
that our clients have a happy,
safe, therapeutic and supportive place to live in," he
added. "We feel there are
more appropriate places,
places with more elbow room
for them."
Rather than keep clients in
the compact Hidden Valley
neighborhood, Sulikowski said
the Nord Center wants to
purchase or lease a home ia
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by QLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
Amherst kids who get into
trouble have a chance at rehabilitation through a police
program created to keep them
out of the juvenile justice
system.
Created nearly 10 years
ago, the Juvenile Diversion
Program offers first offenders
the opportunity to work off
traffic or minor criminal offenses in community service
projects developed by the police department or, in a few
cases, the city.
Depending on the severity
of the offense, it is an alternative for kids under 18 who
have gone astray because of
peer pressure, lack of family
guidance or the urge to test
authority.
"We don't find innocence
or guilt, but try to show kids
where they went wrong, get
them to admit their mistake
and learn from it," patrolman
Les Carrender said. "It gives
kids an opportunity to set
things right without having to
face a judge or court authorities who pass judgement on
them."
It also keeps young offenders out of the court system
and prevents them from having a criminal record.
A parent accompanies their
child to the police department
where Carrender leads a discussion about why the offense
was committed and lets them
"see how things can be corrected so it doesn't happen
again."
Their punishment, or "pay
back program" as Carrender
calls it, usually is community
service at the police department under his supervision or
another officer's
"Parents like it because it
keeps them and their kids out
of juvenile court and lets the
child, not their parents, pay
for what they've done," he
explained.
Conversely, it is the parents
who pay fines imposed by
juvenile court authorities, not
the child or a teenager.
Projects include washing
and waxing police cars, lawn
work around the police department or other jobs developed by Carrender or LL
Lonnie Dillon, the program's
director.
In die past two years. Car-
render has put some offenders
to work during Pride Day, the
city's annual spring cleanup
snd fixup day.
The service projects usually
last four to eight hours, although some youths have put
in as much as 16 hours, including those with minor drug
infractions.
But not all first-time offenders are accepted into the
program. It is usually up to
the arresting officer to recommend whether a juvenile
should be placed ia the program, although the final say
remains Dillon's and often
depends on the severity of
bat usually
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