The Amherst news-times. (Amherst, Ohio), 1995-02-22

              Wtmt - Serving the Sandstone Capital of the World since 1874 Wednesday, February 22, 1995 988-2801 350 EMIS report Data draws district picture through facts by Kathleen Koshar Amherst educators do more with less. That is the conclusion assistant superintendent Tim Logar has after reviewing the latest Education Management Information System (EMIS) report released by the Ohio Department of Education. The total amount of money spent per student in Amherst is lower than the state average as is the total tax valuation per pupil. But students in Amherst score higher on tests and fewer high school students drop out of the educational system compared to state averages as well as in group comparisons. These facts are just a few tidbits available for the public's perusal in the EMIS report. For the past three academic years, the state has required all Ohio school districts to report various information to the state in order to provide comparison data on such topics as teacher salaries, property valuations, and expenditures on pupils, among others. The information is gathered under a state mandate Senate Bill 140 passed in 1989. While gathering such information is not new, this is only the second time that EMIS reports have been made available to the public. The report reflects information gathered in the 1993-94 school year and compares Amherst to state averages as well as a group average. . Amherst is placed in group three, one of nine statewide classification groups. There are 108 Ohio school districts in group three including three other Lorain County districts: Avon Lake, Avon and Columbia. The group includes those districts that are considered low agriculture dependent, above average median income, low percentage of Aid to Dependent Children recipients and above average commercial valuation. The report shows that Amherst spends less per year to educate students: $5,066, compared to the state average of $5,216 and the group average of $5372. What does that mean for the district? "It's important when we go to the taxpayer and we're asking them to fund the school district with tax levies," Logar said. He said it is also important when comparing test scores among like districts. "Look how much higher we are (on scores) than the state and we spend less to do that Where our money is going is toward instruction," he added. Amherst teachers do earn a few thousand dollars more than the state average and a little more than $1,000 over the group average. Logar said the teacher salary range in Amherst is $23,192 for a new teacher with no experience to $48,982 for a teacher with 27 years CONTINUED on page 2 City, twp. face suit Crash victims seek millions by Karln Connelly The city and Amherst Township not only split responsibility for maintenance of Akerman Road, the two municipalities are both faced with a $20 million lawsuit following a 1993 car accident on the road in which a young girl was severely injured. Frank and Catherine Norcross, 751 N. Ridge Road, are suing the city after their five-year-old daughter, Alyssia; was a yasscnger in a car that hit a tree when the driver, Stacey Desantis, lost control. Desantis, who was 18 at the time of the accident, was driving the child and the little girl's babysitter, Amy Smith, when the accident oc-cured on Aug. 6, 1993. The Norcross' daughter received permanent and severe brain damage, as well as other injuries, in the accident, according to the suit filed last year. The formal complaint states that hospital, medical and treatment expenses for the child are expected to exceed $2 million. By law, cities are responsible for keeping streets open and in repair through care, repair and maintenance. According to the complaint, the accident was caused in part by the city's failure to maintain the road CONTINUED on page 2 41 - l&iuJf i 1 rT VriWA : If 9 '3 4 At" n " . fc? k A J0-" , 'r r Xi m W I x 3h. ' if From football to fables Story time is even more fun for Judy Guise's second grade class at the athletes now bring their story books and read to Mrs. Guise's class Powers Elementary School as members of the Marion L Steele football twice a week. Junior Jason Brown reads his story to the class while junior team visit. The football players and second graders met through a pen pal Chris Slatt looks on as he waits his turn, program that started earlier this year. As a continuation of the program, Primary race is underway for city jobs by Karln Connelly The race is on for the May party primaries. Party candidates who are running for office in the May election were required to file with the Board of Elections by Thursday, Feb. 16. The mayoral, president of council, law director, and council positions are all up for election this November. There are three people running for mayor. Democrats John Higgins, 618 S. Lake St, and Arthur Kop-penhafer, 1244 Old Oak Road, will compete for the party nomination. Robert Dinallo is running alone on the Republican ticket Democrat Wayne Whyte, 520 Sunrise Dr., is the sole candidate for . president of council. He is currently a councilperson-at-large. Republicans Alan Anderson, 715 West Martin Ave., and Faye Sutton List 719 Terra Lane, will run against each other in the primary. Incumbent Tom Sanborn, 128 Woodhill Dr., is running as a Democrat Three councilpersons-at-Iarge will be elected. John. Dietrich, 355 Candy Lane, Diane L. Eswine, 161 S. Leavitt Road, David Kukucka, 550 Terra Lane, and Joyce Mackin, 824 S. Lake St arc running for the Democrat nominations. Republicans John Dunn, 163 N. Lake St, Peter Kastanis, 108 S. Leavitt Road, and Dann W. Swift are on the ballot CONTINUED on page 2 Turnpike Commission bulldozes railroad plan by Karln Connelly The Ohio Turnpike Commission is moving ahead with original plans to build an interchange at Rt. 58, foiling the Lake Erie Railway Association's plans to continue building their scenic and commercial railroad along the old Lorain and West Virginia Rail line. After listening to arguments from both sides of the issue on Feb. 13, the commission decided they could not delay the project any longer. Turnpike commission chairperson Umberto P. Fedeli said in a statement issued after the decision, "Any further delay would be unwarranted and imprudent." The railway association was asking the commission to modify the interchange plans to include a bridge over the old rail line. Current plans bulldoze over the line. With the support of Lorain County Commissioners, the association presented the commission with a financial plan to build the bridge. Their plan would have been funded by $2.1 million in county-backed bonds. At first, critics of the railway plan expressed worry over whether the association could pay back the bonds. If they were not able to pay back the bonds, the responsibility would land on taxpayers. Now they are saying the feasibility of the whole project is lacking. Rt 58 was designated as an interchange site in March, 1993 after a public meeting was held in Amherst to get business and resident feedback about the project according to commission spokesperson Joseph Rice. Currently there are 24.2 miles be tween gates 7 in Sandusky and 8A in Elyria. Rice said, "What we're doing is shrinking the distances between interchanges." He said the commission has been talking about interchange expansions for the last 15 years. According to Rice, last April the commission offered to put up $1 million to build a bridge over the rail line if the association could come up with the other $2 million for the estimated cost of the project The association was not able to come up with the money by the deadline. "We bent over backwards for them," Rice said, "$3 million is a lot of money." Fedeli said the commission has tried to accommodate the association's needs on three different occasions. He said the association has never been able to meet the commission's requests. Estimates of what the plan changes could cost varied considerably from the original $3 million estimate. Executive director of the commission, Allan V. Johnson said that at this point the modifications would cost a minimum of $4 million. Attorney Bob Ellis, representing 12 property owners near the interchange site, estimated that the revisions could cost at least $10 million. He also questioned the financial success of such a railroad. The commission was further convinced to go ahead with their plans by John Piatt, a rail transportation expert with the Ohio Department of Transportation, who said there is already adequate rail transportation in Lorain County. He estimated the JAmZS w. shocknessy ohio turnpike s.r. 58 interchange GRAPHIC SCALE I 1 1 ,1 Xl'lfffj ill I ! ! S a fi&i!lJ !Ji LA uo johmw rT ! d il "" """ I Z. 1 Wm onus m, muiuM cw ijj fcnn jl a union a nuitXS- j j grSJtf-- oiwntiWl k I ' " III LOT 34llj"T4 rJ r- h JMM ItWBUL-' 4Ji T OOWUmTO MIM WOW '",l,l"U oLj 1 SjP Z This map shows the general layout of the Rt. 58 turnpike interchange. Construction on the project is expected to begin later this year. modifications to run around $9 million. After hearing the arguments, Fedeli said in his statement, "Under the present circumstances, the commission believes that the proper course is to continue with the original plan for the interchange." Rice said that with everything continuing as planned, construction could begin as early as the end of the year. Capital costs for construction of the interchange are $8.4 million, while overall costs will run about $11 million. The commission will need to acquire 49.8 acres of land. Occupancy on the land right now includes residential homes and commercial lots. Estimated road user cost savings will be $1.1 million annually. Savings are figured based on how much CONTINUED on page 2 IV