Amherst News-Times, 2001-01-24

              If
I
Local judge to retire — Page 2
■
to
Amherst News-Time
■z> c x t
- X — -4
— r — —
i r
x < x --.
~ T rH
.". — j/) _1
_t •* •*
ro   _>
Wednesday, January 24, 2001
County sewer
line probably
won't connect
to city's system
Amherst, Ohio
1
It appears that the competition
surrounding the infamous "sewer to
nowhere" may be near an end, and
Amherst is not going to be the city
to service the sewer lines.
Lorain city council has heard a
presentation about an agreement to
hare Lorain service the dormant
sewer line located in Amherst
Township; however, the deal has
not been final-zed.
Lorain mayor Craig Foltin led a
presentation of the plan to connect
the sewer to his city's system last
week; the meeting, which was open
to the public, was attended by the
Lorain's city engineer and and
county officials. Council was prepared for the presentation when
each member received a copy of the
19-page sewer agreement.
The issue of what municipality
would service the sewer has been at
the top of several communities'
agendas for the past three years.
Property owners in the sewer-to-
nowhere area are currently seeking
approval for the annexation of the
land that encompasses the sewer
line that runs along state route 58
from Amherst Township the city.
The taxes generated by the annexation of the acreage would make it
financially feasible for the city to
service the sewer.
The annexation request triggered
a debate over which municipality
would receive the tax dollars for
servicing the sewer.
Several of the communities have
attempted to solve that problem by
creating a joint economic district.
Such a district would allow the
communities to share the tax revenue that is made within the
district.
If Lorain approves the agreement
and does connect to the sewer line,
both the annexation and the joint
economic district could become
moot points.
CONTINUED on page 2
V-1
rt- .     :fT'*^i-_.-K
1 "J
"•    .
p  "
1
•W   '%f
1 -
■ .           J
*,■
v
■    ■
' '■
' -'V
\v
*
-.
i
\
__
co
o
<T>
"TJ
I
o
fJ1
cu
\-\
or
Heavenly message
Mrs. Smith ot the United Church of Christ on Main Street,
searches for the right letters to complete the message she is post
ing. The church occasionally changes the sign to alert parishioners
to current church events.
City gets $400,000 in revitalization grant
by JASON TOMASZEWSKI
Newa-Tfcnas reporter
The revi__li___tic-n of downtown
Amhent lode one giant step — or
400,000 little steps — forward after
the city was awarded a huge grant
last week to begin funding projects
that could breathe new life into
businesses.
The city has received a $400,000
grant to be used to renovate the
downtown area.
. This is definitely a step in the
right direction,'' stated downtown
coordinator Greg Balbierz. "We are
fortunate to receive this money.''
Ohio governor Bob Taft made the
announcement last week that eight
Ohio communities will share more
than S3.2 million in grants to revitalize their central business districts.
The grants will be funded by the
community development block
grant downtown revitalization competitive program. That program is
administered by the Ohio Department of Development's community
development division.
The downtown revitalization
competitive program assists communities in their efforts to revitalize
central business districts, provide
downtown housing, eliminate blight,
and create and retain private sector
job opportunities for low- and
nFufcrale-mcomc resilient-.
According to Balbierz, 13 cities
applied for the grant in October.
"From the 13 that applied only
eight were awarded the money," explained Balbierz. "Amherst is the
only city in northeast Ohio to be
awarded. It is very special to everyone who worked on the application,
because this was the first time that
we applied."
Balbierz said it is rare for a first-
time applicant to receive the money.
He also slated that the aid that was
received from the Poggemeyer De
sign Group was invaluable.
"They helped three other com
munities with their «ppr
stated Balbierz. "it would have
very difficult to complete the application on our own."
The application for the grant was
more than 1,000 pages long.
While it will be some time before
the city will get the money, plans
are already made for its use. Balbierz stated that the storefronts in
downtown Amherst will be refurbished, as well as the insides of the
stores. He went on to say that some
of the money will go to bringing
several of the buildings up to code.
Earlier in the year the Amherst
Downtown Business Association
several of the downtown bus-
iticLs owners ori whether they would
take advantage of the matching offer
that is provided in the grant.
Balbierz stated that 17 of the 17
owners who were polled said yes.
These business people will receive a
dollar-for-dollar grant up to $10,000
for improvements to their stores.
Balbierz went on to say that he
hopes the local businesses would
not be discouraged from exceeding
the $10,000 matching grant mark.
Balbierz is hoping for local construction companies to help with the
storefront  renovations.   Balbierz
feels that this will maintain the architectural integrity of historic
downtown Amherst.
One stipulation that comes with
the grant is a timeframe in which the
funds must be used. Balbierz stated
that the city has a 22-month period
to spend the money.
Applications for the grant are reviewed by the Ohio Department of
Development staff based on factors
including program impact, strategy,
feasibility, and financing, as well as
community distress. The applications are required to demonstrate the
ability to effectively and efficiently
implement an ongoing downtown
revitalization program.
Speedway to become NASCAR short track
by JASON T0MA8ZEWSKI
Newt-Times reporter
Local fans of the hit movie
"Days of Thunder" are counting the days until April 14.
That is when the biggest
name in stock car racing is
coming to South Amherst
Tbe National Association
for Slock Car Auto Racing
(NASCAR) announced last
week that they will be bring-
, ing the NASCAR Weekly
Racing Series to the Lorain
County Speedway.
President of the Lorain
County Speedway, Kevin
-poonexna, made the announce-
meat at a press conference in
Westlake last week.
This will bring more ex-
'- posure to us on a local regional, and national level,"
stated Bonnema. "People
everywhere associate stock car
racing with NASCAR."
Tom Deery, vice-president
of NASCAR, stated "Kevin
Bonnema and hit family have
' made a -JgnilVant investment
and many improvements at
Lorain to create a great racing venue within the Cleve-
' land market. We are very
thrilled about their interest
'.' and pretence in the NASCAR
'.' Weekly Racing Series."
The deal that brought NAS-
, CAR to Lorain County Cor
[j. the first time wasn't struck
overnight According to tbe
33-year-old Bonatmt, it look
several years before the
speedway would fall under
NASCAR jurisdiction.
"NASCAR contacted us about two years ago," stated
Bonnema "They told us that
they had heard about the Lorain County Speedway in Day-
tona, and that we had been
doing a great job. They said
that they would like to add
the speedway to the Weekly
Racing Series."
Bonnema stated that he was
hesitant at first about making
any changes to the operation
of the traclc
"I purchased tbe track in
the fall of 1997," explained
Bonnema. "In the time since
then we have made considerable improvements lo the
track." Some of those improvements included laying
down a new asphalt surface
on the track, adding 2300
new grandstand teats equipped
with backrests, and an improved pit area. When tbe
dust settled bom all of the
construction Bonnema had
spent more than $400,000
ova a three-year period.
However, that investment began to pay off.
"We have been very profitable fat the list few yean,"
stated Bonnema about his reluctance to alp with NASCAR. "I thought 'If it ain't
brake, don't fla it.'" •
However die idea at having
c-tted w___ die Lorain County
Speedway was inticing.
"I decided it would be the
best thing for everyone involved," stated Bonnema.
NASCAR officials spent the
first half of the 1999 season
inspecting the track and the
operation of the speedway.
According to Bonnema, NASCAR makes sure that any
track that is in consideration
for their sanctioning meets
NASCAR regulations before
signing any deal
"They come in and check
the track and make sure that
all of our officials are familiar with NASCAR rules," explained Bonnema. "That way
everything is ready to go
once the deal is signed."
NASCAR only signs their
contracts on a year-to-year
basis, however, Bonnema
plans to make this a long-
term engagement
While the Cleveland market
for motor sports isn't very
big, Bonnema believes that
the addition of NASCAR will
change that.
"Cleveland is a big sports
town," stated Bonnema. "But
they like their sports lo include a ball However, there
are racing fans here, the Indy
race at Bute Lake Front Airport draws a lot of people
every year."
One aspect of the NASCAR addition that will certainly put people in the seats
is the big money that can
now be won.
Bob DuVal. NASCAR short track promotion* dlractor addressee the media at a press
oor-erenoe tmoudng NASCAR's partnership
NASCAR it host to a
points champion every year.
Every driver who pHticipates
la NASCAR tvea-l it
with the Lorain County Speedway. Opsrig Day
at the speedway is April 14.
awarded various points for
finishing higher in
races. The driver
most points st ti
the
of the
is the
According to
S points winner
CONTINUED en
last
look