Amherst News-Times, 2001-05-23

              Memorial Day events planned — Page 2      Tracksters head for regionals — Page 12
Amherst News-Time
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Wednesday. May 23. 2001
Amherst. Ohio
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Jeff Toth, 13 and Terry Traster Jr., 13, are busy painting light
posts downtown.
Girl Scouts from troops 609, 771 and 608 plant flowers in the
large bed next to the gazebo downtown during Saturday's Pride
Day.
Members of the Amherst Fire Department clear away debris
from underpasses during Pride Day.
Blacksmith fair, city pride bring folks out
by YVONNE OAY
News-Times reporter
Amherst residents got their hands
dirty, and had time left over to visit
the late 19-century on Saturday.
Pride Day festivities officially
started at 9 a.m., and one hour later
the Blacksmith Town Fair also got
underway.
During Pride Day, many residents
took to the streets as early as 7 am.,
clearing debris from sidewalks and
planting flowers. The county-wide
beautification program, now in its
seventh year, celebrates the action
of citizens taking pride in their
community.
• "We have over 150 individuals
out here helping. We contacted different organizations and they told
their members," mayor John Higgins said in front of Tov/n Hall this
past Saturday. In front uf him, volunteers were busy planting flowers
and weeding beds. "A lot of these
people will go all day. It's like a social event, people get to meet each
other."
Members of the Amherst Beautification Committee, helped in planning the city's events.
"We believe in city beautiful,"
Reta Mick, of the ABC commented
as she and 16 other members toiled
in the soil, planting 50 flats of flowers at Town Hall and around town.
Other groups who participated in
this year's beautification projects included: the Amherst Rotary Club,
Amherst Garden Club, Amherst
Neighborhood Watch, Amherst Park
Board, Explorers, members of the
Amherst City Council, Freedom Nation Motorcycle Club, Boy Scouts,
Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, Brownies,
4-H Club, Leadership Lorain
County Class of 2001, Masons,
Thursday A A Group, Leo Club, and
students from Nord Junior High
School and Marion L. Steele High
School.
Projects volunteers were busy
performing throughout the day included clean up of the quadrants on
Leavitt Road at the entrance to RL
2, planting flowers at several locations, including the gazebo park on
Tenney Avenue, the post office. Office on Aging, and Maude Neiding
Park, clean up of the Old Spring
Park located behind city hall, clean
up and washing sidewalks of all
railroad underpasses, clean up around the Amherst Rotary Park, and
clean up of the playground at
Maude Neiding Park.
"I think we should call this service day. Getting out and working
for the community uufoe best thing
you can do," volunteer Dm Brown
said as he and Nicholas Brusky
planted black-eyed Susans in the
small park on Milan Avenue. About
40 of the plants were taken right out
CONTINUED on page 5
Decision on new
truck finally made
at special meeting
by YVONNE GAY
News-Times reporter
City sewer foreman Doug Jones
fell under heavy fire during a city
council meeting last week when discussion focused on the lease/
purchase of a jet vactor track.
Jones spent more than 20 minutes
addressing concerns from fourth
Ward councilmember Jennifer Wasilk. .Afterward, council voted 5-1 to
pass the item on to third reading.
But when several members of council expressed disappointment about
the decision, including Third Ward
councilmember Steve P'Simer, who
had initially raised questions about
the purchase of the track, a special
meeting of council was called for
Monday.
During Monday's special meeting, Jones once again answered
questions addressed to him by Wasilk. However, this time he produced a list of prices from five cities, along with estimated maintenance costs and fuel usage.
Afterwards, council voted on the
track and the ordinance passed 5-1,
with Wasilk keeping her vote "no."
Last week, moments before council were ready to pan the ordinance,
which would have allowed for the
leasing purchase of the $300,000
track, Wasilk asked Jones what she
considered to be key questions surrounding the truck's maintenance
costs, possibilities of using the services of other local vacuum companies, and the need to hire a full-time
worker.
Although Jones had remarked
during a council meeting held several weeks ago that the city would
probably have to hire one full-time
worker to hdp ran the two-person
operated track, he hat since re-
Blacksmiths demonstrate their crafts inside the
blacksmith shop located in back of the center.
SIMM'S
tmmm
muwi
canted that statement Last week he
told members that the city should be
"all right" if it pulled one worker
from both the street and sewer departments. He said the workers
would work 500 hours each per
year, totaling 1,000 for the year.
That was his first committee
meeting, he spoke out of turn and
Jennifer picked up on that," utilities
superintendent Don Woodings later
commented. "Now that statement
has been like a snowball. There's
been no talk of getting another
worker."
But talk of pulling workers from
both the sewer and street departments didn't decrease Wasilk's
mounting concerns, in fact, it had
only added to them.
"Now they, (the sewer) department is telling us that there are
1,000 to 1.700 man hours that we
can spare," Wasilk said after the
May 13 meeting, referring to the estimated yearly time usage of the
truck. "If that's true then why are
there so many projects that haven't
been completed around the city?"
Reiterating her concerns from a
previous meeting, during last
week's council meeting, Wasilk
questioned Jones on whether or not
local companies were looked into.
Jones stated that they had and noted
that Robinson Pipe, a Lorain county
vacuum track company, had quoted
the city a price of $130 per hour,
making the coat for usage of the
track $130,000 ID $170/100 for the
year.
"My understanding is that other
companies provided lower bids,"
Wasilk responded, stating* that she
had contacted MPW and Pour Seasons, companies which are also located in Lorain. Jones said he was
unfamiliar with MPW, and in a so-
CONT1NUED on page •
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Union members from around town and neigh-    Saturday,
boring cities support workers at Sliman's on
Machinists, Sliman at odds
over unionization process
by YVONNE OAY
News-Times reporter
"Would you buy a car from this
sort of person?"
That's the question more than 100
technicians acked wheo they joined
fat protest in from of Sliman's
Chrysler Dodge Plymouth
ship on Saturday.
Aad folks at the ca
were asking why those on the picket
line weren't Sliman employees.
Many driven who passed by the
corner of Leavitt and Middle Ridge
their fists in support of the protestors' action. The "informational
picker demonstration waa said to
be the final straw between Shmaa
and  its  mechanics and parte
employees.
According to Raymond Briggs,
representative of the International
Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Sliman has done
everything to stall the process in allowing its mechanics to unionize.
Referring to an orange copy of
literature picketers handed out,
Briggs said Sliman filed an objection toward the conduct of the election after September 2000 results
showed that workers were ia favor
of fanning a union. 7-5. After Sliman objections were overrated in
November 2000, the company began a long process of refusing to
bet-pun with 1AM, a refusal that re-
Ttopefully. this will make the
public aware that Sliman's
mgkw
Mr.'
Other blacksmiths were also on hand showing
visitors how their craft is done.
Threats
not made
in school
South Amherst
incident alleged
by YVONNE OAY
News-Times reporter
Reports of a South Amherst
Middle School student threatening
to shoot up the school are grossly
exaggerated, according to South
Amherst school superintendent Finn
Lauraen.
Laursen was referring to last
week's television and newspaper
coverage of a South Amherst
Middle School student who made
local headlines when he was taken
into police custody almost two
weeks ago.
"Reports have gotten out of hand
because we can't disclose a lot of
things about the incident," Laursen
explained. "Unforc»*iately, a lot of it
has to do with what sells papers."
Although the case is still open,
and officials are prohibited from
talking about specifics. Laursen was
able to shed some light oo the
incident.
According to Lauraen, the South
Amherat Police Department was
contacted by someone in the community who reported that a child
had been threatened by another
child the previous day. He said die
report was filed the following day
because the parties involved needed
time to think about what they should
do.
"They had aa argument and
threats were made." Lauraen explained. "It involved threats of vio-
leace widi a gun. A report waa made
Thursday maraing (May 10) and die
police showed up at the achooi that
same day. They told school officWa
Aat they had a
"We're here because Sliman's
won't negotiate a flair labor agreement," Warren Mart, vice president
of the machinist division said.
"What they are doing is (unlawful).
Dave Sample, general manager of
Sliman said he has no problem widi
the workers wanting to unionize. He
said bis only problem is the way in
which the unionization process was
"You have to do things legally."
he said, stating the reason he has objected to Ihe union is because of
questionable procedures that were
followed from the
"None of there people ere my
workers," he said, looking out at the
demonstrators diet lined the comer
of his deeknhip. "If you're going to
protest somothing, you *ouM know
CONTMUIOen