Amherst News-Times, 1997-01-15

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Amherst News-Time
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Wednesday. January 15, 1997
Amherst, Ohio
City hall's going to pieces, from the top d
by DIANA HOUGLAND
News-Times reporter
Remember the song "London
Bridge is Falling Down?"
How about the new one "City
Hall is Falling Down?" It isn't actually, but it very easily could if the
city doesn't take some preventive
measures immediately.
While renovatior plans for city
hall were not on the agenda for the
committee meeting which was held
on Monday, Jan. 6, a discussion of
preliminary plans for use of the old
post office was on the agenda.
Mayor John Higgins used the de-
tcrating condition of the city hall
roof to introduce his idea for the im
mediate use of the post office: he
wants to lease out the post office
building to help pay for repair bills
to city hall.
Higgins acknowledged the fact
that city hall is overcrowded, and
that it is an inconvenience to employees and customers alike. Bui, he
added, safety is a primary concern
and can no longer be put off. Prior
ity number one is the roof of city
hall, including the bell tower, the
stacks and the copper flashings, or
what remains of them.
"Preliminary inspections of this
building show that the roof, bell
tower and stacks are not good. The
bell tower is beginning to be a
safety item." Higgins said. "The two
10x12 beams that support the bell
tower are wood-rotted and are starting to deteriorate. The stacks are not
mortared anymore, and about one-
third of the copper flashings are
missing, the rest is pitted and will
not keep out the elements. This
building was built in 1884 and it
still has the original shingles and
copper flashings. We need lo make
the roof structurely sound."
POW to powwow
with a president,
Tarnowski's war
venture in books
by JOHN DONDERO
News-Times reporter
In 1942, Zemo Tarnowski
shared his water canteen with
a superior officer, both prisoners on an overcrowded ship
headed toward Japan. Ten
years later, just he and President Dwight D. Eisenhower
shared a coffee pot in the
Oval Office.
In retrospect, sharing water
with a Marine lieutenant had
more significance in his life
than conversation and coffee
with the nation's supreme
commander.
Photographs of Tarnowski
and accounts of his ordeal,
his strength in facing thorn
and his courage in overcoming them made him one of
the featured subjects in two
books. "Laughter in Hell" was
narrated by two survivors, Lt.
EJL. Guirey (USN) and Tech.
Sgt. H.C. Nixon (USMC) and
written by Stephen Marek. It
was published in 1954 by
Caxton Printers, Ltd. of Caldwell, Idaho. The second book
details the contributions of,
"America's Weather Warriors,
1814-1985" published by the
Texas A&M Press."
The book which Tarnowski
feels is the best one written
about the ordeals of that time
is one in which he is not
mentioned but contains 12
years of research and documentation by an Englishman, Gavin Daws. The title
is "Prisoners of the Japanese"
and was published by
Morrow.
Tarnowski, a Grafton native
now living in Amherst, was
an Aerographer First Class on
the island of Corregidor when
it was overrun by Japanese
forces in 1942. As a climato-
logist in the U.S. Navy, he
experienced ferocious questioning by his captors who
wanted to know as much as
possible about weather conditions in that area of the Pacific, since it impacted troop
landings and air support.
Twice he faced a firing squad
and twice he was able to
avoid death because he was
the only person who had the
information the enemy wanted
and he was of no value to
them dead.
He unleashes a hearty
laugh and said, "No blindfold,
no cigarette. Hell, it was nothing like the movies." Then
after enjoying the fact that he
is alive to recall the moment,
he continues, "I was an altar
boy in Grafton and I remember the smell of incense.
When they stood me in front
of those firing squads, loaded
their rifles and prepared to
kill me, I swear I could smell
CONTINUED on page 8
Zemo Tarnowski, bottom left with glasses,
and some of his fellow prisoners listening to
their only record, "La Paloma," at a Christmas
party in 1944.
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Zemo Tarnowski
Tarnowski as a Lt. Commander assigned to the Pentagon. It was during this period of service that he briefly
met with the president over
weather conditions.
Tarnowski as an enlisted
man from LaGrange in 1941.
The townspeople saw his enlistment as "laziness" and "an
effort to avoid staying in town
and working."
Mediation hearing
set in discrimination
grievance from cop
by QLEN MILLER
Readers' choice
Kathy Kurish and her kids, Brian, six, and Carrie, four, pick out some good reading material
from the shelves of the Amherst Public Library to
get them through the winter weeks ahead. Kurish
said she brings the kids to the library about once
a week; their favorite time is storyhour.
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Newt-llmae reporter
A mediatioo heating has bora set in a federal lawsuit filed
agauut the Aniherst Police l*psrmiem
tor Rivera.
The suit was Ska early it* year aftwattenipts to settfc Rivera's
grievances agaimtpolircct^WUliam
Dillon oat of court tatted.
The rwiliatico hearing wW be b^
U being held in an attetnptmis^
ved in a mediation tearing held last November, according to Riv-
Tbe suit charge* the police depsrtnv i with civil rights and
abuse of process viciaaVms against Riv  i, hut does not seek any
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COMRNUtO on page S
Higgins also acknowledged the
fact that this would not be a quick
fix, and it would have to be financed
over several years.
And as for moving into the post
office? There just isn't enough money to move and renovate at the
same time according to the mayor.
CONTINUED on page 2
Builder's
back with
new plans
for homes
by DIANA HOUGLAND
News-Times reporter
When builder Bill Perritt left the
city council committee meeting on
Dec. 2, he took with him plans for a
cluster-home project which had
been unanimously rejected and had
brought many anti-cluster residents
to their feeL However he planned to
return with a new and better idea for
single family homes.
Last  week,  Perritt once  again
stood in front of the city council
building and lands committee, this
time with the new and improved
plans he hoped would be accepted
by council members. The new plans
call for 97 single family residences,
known as Cooper's Run, to be built
on the land located at S. Lake Street
and Middle Ridge Road. They are to
be similar in design lo the Fairfield
Estate home*.
Much to Perritt's dismay, getting
approval on his new proposal was
not as easy as he had hoped it would
be, as the flooding problem in Amherst is weighing heavily on everyone's mind, especially Mayor John
Higgins'.
Councilman John Dietrich looked
over the blue prints Perritt produced, and then informed him that
he would like to see something
showing storm water dentention before giving him the go ahead for the
project.
An engineer contracted by Perritt
told council that "to be honest, we
don't have enough information to
give you a detailed analysis."
"We are not about to approve a
plan until we know where the water
is going," council president Wayne
Whyte said.
Perritt stood his ground, reminding council members that they have
not had any trouble with Fairfield
Estates, and that he would not damage his reputation by ignoring any
problems that might come up.
He just wanted council to approve
his preliminary plans based on the
ordinances that are applicable now,
and not wait until die reports that
Higgins has ordered concerning
flooding have come in. When council stilled appeared to back off the
approval, Perritt asked them "Can I
ask for a committment in 30 days?*'
Higgins responded by telling him
that he made an unfair request He
could not guarantee when the results
would be in, but he is hoping in about six weeks. He assured Perritt
that council is not out to deter him
personally, but that they just want to
confirm that his detention plans are
correct
After close to an hour of discussion regarding the Cooper's Run
preliminary plans, Higgins recommended tabling the subject until
more information is known.
But Alan Anderson, city law director informed the council that as
long as Perriu's plans meet with the
current ordinances, they could not
legally deny preliminary approval
based on what could be the mayor's
hunch that a possible problem could
exist
Anderson also pointed out city
council would have to pass the plans
on three separate readings, and then
if the mayor still wants, he could
vse his veto option. Tbe time that it
would take to paas the three readings could be the length of time
CONTINUED on page t
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