A federal grand jury returned a one-count indictment Thursday charging a 22-year-old Medina man with possession with the intent to distribute and distribution of crack cocaine, said Steven M. Dettelbach, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

Medina police arrested Jeimil A. Henderson, 22, of the 700 block of North Broadway Street, in August after Medina County Drug Task Force agents reported witnessing a drug sale.

After entering the Medina County Jail, officers reportedly found almost an ounce of crack cocaine — the equivalent of about five teaspoons — hidden on Henderson and he was charged with trafficking in crack, a second-degree felony.

That charge was dropped and federal charges were pursued. A U.S. attorney agreed to accept the case and file charges against Henderson as a career criminal, Greg Hubbard, director of the Drug Task Force, said last month.

Henderson has been convicted of four felony drug charges since 2010. Previous felony drug charges in Medina County include trafficking in marijuana, MDMA (Ecstasy) and methamphetamine.

Hubbard has said Henderson’s arrest was made in cooperation with Medina Police Chief Patrick Berarducci’s “broken windows” campaign to eradicate heroin and other hard drugs from the streets.

The “broken windows” idea is that aggressively enforcing building codes, litter and trespassing laws and other quality-of-life regulations reduces more serious crimes

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Next week Medina County will cut a half-million-dollar check to the county Fiber Network. The loan is required because the network has failed — at least up to now — to attract enough customers to be financially self-sufficient.

The subsidy was triggered in June when the network’s cash reserves dropped below $1.2 million after making a scheduled $600,000 payment on $14.4 million in bonds used to construct the network.

Medina County isn’t the only local government on the hook for backing the bonds, issued in 2010 by the county Port Authority. The cities of Medina, Brunswick and Wadsworth and the villages of Seville and Westfield Center also agreed to provide the financial safety net for the network.

The county is responsible for $242,916 of the total $523,802 loan needed to shore up the reserve fund.

The county has agreed to pay the full amount on Oct. 31 and will send invoices to the municipalities — ranging from $5,238 for Seville to $66,174 for Brunswick — during the first week of November.

The remaining $110,212 will be paid by Cascade Capital, an Akron-based private development corporation that also agreed to guarantee the bonds.

More money likely will be needed next year. That’s because the Fiber Network’s reserves are expected again to dip below the $1.2 million threshold in December, when another $600,000 installment on the bonds is due.

It wasn’t supposed to go this way. When the idea of using bonds to finance the Fiber Network was proposed in 2010, public officials downplayed the need for public subsidies.

“The financial plan for the project is conservative, and it shows the fiber ring can pay for itself based on initial customers,” County Commissioner Steve Hambley wrote in a letter-to-the-editor, published by The Gazette in June 2010.

In explaining his support for the network, Hambley predicted the project would generate jobs and tax revenue.

“This project is the best hope for job creation, business growth and retention, as well as meeting the communications infrastructure needs of our business and public agencies,” he wrote.

Hambley did acknowledge the possibility that some government subsidies might be needed in the first five years, but promised that any money would be treated as loans to be paid back with interest.

In interviews earlier this week, Hambley placed much of the blame for the Fiber Network’s financial shortfalls on ONECommunity, the Cleveland nonprofit corporation hired in 2010 to install and lease the 151 miles of 144-strand fiber optic lines designed to provide businesses and local governments with high-speed Internet service.

Hambley said ONECommunity was marketing its own $44 million network, which runs throughout Northeast Ohio, and didn’t do enough to promote the Medina County Fiber Network.

“ONECommunity was selling their fibers first, and Medina County’s second,” Hambley said. “They were getting the bigger contracts and they were underselling our assets.”

County Commissioner Adam Friedrick, who serves as the county’s liaison to the network, said David Corrado was hired by the Port Authority in January to market the network.

Corrado is the former director of ONECommunity’s program management office.

“Dave has the knowledge and the contacts, he’s absolutely the guy to be handling this,” Friedrick said.

Corrado said sales of leases on the network have increased by “500 percent” since he took over in January. But he declined to provide revenue figures.

“I don’t give out those numbers because the network is made up of commercial and public entities,” he said.

“The private entities aren’t really willing to share their statements publicly.”

Corrado did say the network had four Internet service providers leasing the network and expects three more to sign on by the end of the year.

Although Corrado said future sales are looking better, he doubted the new revenue will be enough to eliminate the need for more loans from the county, cities and villages.

“December is probably going to require us to utilize the bond reserve fund also,” Corrado said.

Seville Mayor Gene Sulzener wasn’t mayor when the fiber optic network was approved and isn’t happy his village is being billed $5,238 as its share of the loan.

“I wasn’t really convinced this was something we wanted to be obligated to,” he said. “Five-thousand dollars isn’t a lot of money, but it does distract from other things we could be doing.”

The loan money is coming from a variety of sources because the agreement requires that only nontax dollars be used.

Sulzener said Seville will tap income from a community reinvestment area agreement.

“If we need more money, we can look at using the fees we collect from zoning,” he said.

Medina County Administrator Chris Jakab said the county will use grant money from First Energy for the electric aggregation program and casino revenue from the general fund.

Brunswick Finance Director Todd Fischer said the city agreed in 2010 to use video service provider fees to pay its $66,174 share of the loan.

But Fischer said he wants additional documentation on the finances of the Fiber Network before asking city council to appropriate the money.

“We will review the documents and compare it to the agreement council passed,” he said.

Medina City Finance Director Keith Dirham said his city also has enough non-tax money in the general fund to pay the city’s share of $57,903.

“Our permits, licenses, fines — all those are non-tax dollars,” Dirham said. “I was advised that as long as our non-tax expenditures don’t exceed our non-tax revenue we’re okay.”

Wadsworth’s share of the loan is $20,679. City officials referred questions about financing of the loan to Services Director Robert Patrick, who did not return calls seeking comment.

Westfield Center established a fund to back up the Fiber Network with a loan in 2010 when village officials agreed to back the bonds.

Village Fiscal Officer Debbie Runser said the village will pay its $20,679 share of the loan with money from the water plant sold to Medina County in 2007.

“After we sold the water plant to Medina County, we set money aside,” she said. “It’s in our general fund and it’s set aside for this purpose.”

Contact reporter Loren Genson at (330) 721-4063 or lgenson@medina-gazette.com. Follow her on Twitter @lorengenson.

How the $523,803 loan to the Medina County Fiber Network is shared

• Medina County — $242,916
• Brunswick — $66,174
• Medina — $57,903
• Wadsworth — $20,679
• Westfield Center — $20,679
• Seville — $5,238
The remaining $110,212 will be paid by Cascade Capital, an Akron-based private development corporation that also agreed to guarantee the bonds.

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Attorneys representing a Brunswick developer said they’re considering legal action after a request to install a large lighted billboard on property facing Interstate 71 was rejected by the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals earlier this week.

At a meeting Tuesday attended by several hundred residents opposed to the sign, the zoning board ruled against Twenty Acres of Woods LLC, which wants to install a 14-by-48-foot sign at the edge of its industrial park property with lighted billboard displays facing both northbound and southbound traffic.

Twenty Acres of Woods brought its proposal to the zoning appeals board in 2011 and 2013 but withdrew their requests on both occasions.

The owners need to get a variance from the city to construct the signs because a city sign ordinance prevents tall and lighted signs from being constructed on city property. The ordinance protects tall freestanding signs near the intersection of I-71 and state Route 303, but doesn’t extend up to the property at the north end of the industrial park.

Anthony Vacanti, an attorney who represents Twenty Acres of Woods, said the ordinance violated his client’s constitutional rights.

“You can’t just regulate a property for no reason,” Vacanti said. “I think we could assert a constitutional challenge to the city’s ordinances, particularly the sign ordinance.”

Vacanti gave a presentation on Tuesday to Brunswick’s board of zoning appeals in asking for the sign to be constructed. He provided testimony from a constitutional law professor, studies showing the light would have minimal impact on the neighboring community, and nine letters of support from local businesses.

“We did want to show we had studied the impact of the lighted billboard on the community,” Vacanti said. “We want to be good neighbors.

“We’re not asking for this sign in a residential neighborhood. This is an industrial park, which allows for many different uses.”

In the end it wasn’t enough. The board voted unanimously against Twenty Acres of Woods, which is owned by Dave LeHotan and Cal Wible.

LeHotan and Cal Wible have pushed for the lighted sign since 2011. They bought the property, which is zoned for commercial use, in 2003 from the developers of the industrial park. LeHotan’s business, All Construction Services, is on the property.

LeHotan said the property is one of the few places along the I-71 corridor where a lighted sign is permitted.

He said state laws have tough restrictions on most signs along interstates for areas that were incorporated after 1959. While the city of Brunswick was incorporated in 1960, the Twenty Acres of Woods Property was incorporated in 1926 as part of a

Brunswick Township. Later, the property was annexed into the city.

LeHotan said a sign can’t be placed further south in the industrial park because the Ohio Department of Transportation has regulations that prohibit lighted signs near exit and entrance ramps.

But the sign has faced strong opposition since the beginning from homeowners in the Benjamin Farms subdivision, which sits just north of Brunswick’s industrial park.

Since the first proposal in 2011, the homeowners have argued construction of the sign will lower property values and create light pollution.

“This sign doesn’t benefit the citizens, it will lower our property values,” said Lou DeCuzzi, president of the Benjamin Farms Homeowners Association.

DeCuzzi said uncertainty over whether the billboard will be constructed have made it difficult for residents to sell their home, and could drive down prices.

“One woman said they disclosed it at her title closing,” DeCuzzi said of one his neighborhoods newest neighbors. “She said they wouldn’t have bought the house if they knew the sign was going to be going there.

DeCuzzi and hundreds of homeowners from Benjamin Farms attended the appeals board meeting on Tuesday night. He said he thinks the city appeals board made the right decision.

“I think the city is genuinely trying to make the city better,” he said. “They did a fair job and they listened to both sides and they asked many questions.”

Vacanti, the developer’s attorney, said his clients have 30 days to file an appeal in court once they receive the rejection of their request in writing. Vacanti said they haven’t received that written notice yet.

If they appeal, the appeal would be filed in Medina County Common Pleas court and a judge would weigh the facts of the case.

“Appealing to court and asserting a constitutional claim against the city is still a viable option for us,” Vacanti said.

Contact reporter Loren Genson at (330) 721-4063 or lgenson@medina-gazette.com. Follow her on Twitter @lorengenson.

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Medina City Councilman Bill Lamb, at large, says he will introduce legislation requiring rental properties to register with the city and be inspected on a regular basis as early as January.

Lamb said the legislation will be a key step in revitalizing the city’s older neighborhoods.

“In looking at the big picture the largest problem is the decline in livability in the rental properties,” he said.

“The city does not know how many houses are empty, which houses are foreclosed or which houses are rentals.”

Lamb said he will work closely with the administration to develop legislation that is not “overreaching but would meet the goals of creating a safe, clean and maintained neighborhood so people aren’t living in unsafe and unmaintained situations.”

He said he has come to this conclusion after canvassing the neighborhoods and holding meetings geared toward neighborhood revitalization.

“The issue I keep hearing is, ‘I don’t know what to do, I have lived in this neighborhood for years and look at what is next to me,’ ” he said, citing that many of the people who he has talked to live next to homes that are not being maintained.

“It just really upsets me,” Lamb said. “I hear from City Hall that there is no money, and the Medina County Board of Realtors does not want to help me.

“My sense always is that we are building a future here. We can do better.”

Rental registration would also come with a regular rental property inspection.

Lamb said rental registration legislation is just one part of how the older neighborhoods can breathe new life.

“I want to look at creating neighborhood associations,” he said. It won’t totally fix a neighborhood but at least you will know who your neighbors are.”

Lamb will hold his next neighborhood meeting Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. at the Salvation Army, 425 W. Liberty St.
Raymond Cox III, a professor in the Department of Public Administration and Urban Studies at Akron University, will speak about issues in neighborhood decline and what causes the decline.

Contact reporter Andrew Davis at (330) 721-4050 or adavis@medina-gazette.com.

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This year’s Medina County Big Tree winner is a Sharon Township tulip poplar with an average crown spread of 63 feet. NANCY JOHNSON / GAZETTE

The search for Medina County’s biggest tree has ended and the winner is a towering tulip poplar located on Scott Cowan’s 20 acres in Sharon Township.

Cowan, founder and owner of Century Cycles with locations in Medina, Peninsula and Rocky River, said he was thrilled his tulip poplar won the contest.

“I have to tell you, I’m always really excited about the Big Tree contest,” he said. “I look forward to it every year.

“It makes me feel good that I’m a part of conserving Medina County’s trees.”

Sponsored by Medina County Soil and Water Conservation District and The Gazette, the Big Tree contest features a different tree species every year. Last year’s winner was a sugar maple located in Granger Township’s Allardale Park.

This year the tulip poplar was in the spotlight. The 2014 champion is 132 feet tall with a circumference of 155 inches and a leafy crown spread averaging 63 feet.

According to Cowan, the fast-growing poplar is renowned for its tulip-like flowers in the spring and its bright yellow leaves in the fall.

“You can see the yellow mat of leaves underfoot,” Cowan said as he walked his land with Jim Dieter, a staff member of the conservation district.

Dieter estimates Cowan’s tulip poplar is about 148 years old, meaning it was a sapling in 1866 — when Andrew Johnson was president of the United States and the infamous Jesse James gang made news when they robbed two Missouri banks in broad daylight.

Ten acres of Cowan’s land is covered with trees. The shady stretch of woods is home to two other Big Tree champions: in 2006, a 226-year-old American Beech with a circumference of 120 inches won the contest and in 2009 a 183-year-old Wild Black Cherry with a circumference of 115 inches took the prize.
Cowan said he is proud to have won three times.

He bought the property in 1997, moved into his newly built home in 1999. In September 2013 he married Anna Roberts.

“We were married on the front porch and had a party in the barn,” he said.
Dieter pointed out Cowan’s land is unique to the area.

“It has four different tree species on a 10-acre plot — cherry, beech, poplar and maple,” Dieter said. “It’s rare to have that many species growing together, plus the trees vary in age — from 200-year-olds to saplings.

“The property is just small enough that it was never logged and none of the species crowded the other species out.”

Cowan said he has viewed 1950s-era aerial photos of the land. “It was a farm back then. I could definitely see crops.”

Dieter believes the woods were likely a cattle-gazing area. “The trees would have provided shade for the cattle.”

Before that, the land was probably a hunting ground for Native Americans. “People have found arrowheads back here,” said Cowan.

Dieter said the land is high above the Wolf Creek watershed valley, and would have been a natural habitat for a variety of hunting animals.

Cowan will receive the Big Tree award plaque tonight at the 70th annual Soil and Water Conservation District meeting and banquet to be held at University of Akron’s Medina County University Center.

“We’ll also present awards for conservation stewardship and education,” Dieter said.

“I’m glad the Big Tree contest is held every year,” Cowan said. “It’s a way to recognize the trees of Medina County and to get people interested in conserving them. It’s important, because when the trees are gone, they’re gone.”

“Everybody who has won the Big Tree contest has been proud they owned the champion tree,” Dieter said.

“Through conservation and other factors, we’ve gone from the turn of the century when only 13 percent of Ohio land was forested to today, when more than 30 percent of the land is forested.”

Contact reporter Nancy Johnson at (330) 721-4065 or areanews@medina-gazette.com.

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Director Daniel Doty conducted the Men of Wadsworth Chorus at their first concert Sunday celebrating the Wadsworth bicentennial at Trinity United Church of Christ, 215 High Street. (KATIE ANDERSON / GAZETTE)

After an audience of nearly 200 people gave them a standing ovation, the Men of Wadsworth Chorus knew what to do for an encore — a rousing version of the gospel song “Amen.”

The 4 p.m. concert at Trinity United Church of Christ, 215 High St., was part of Wadsworth’s bicentennial celebration.

“The rest of the bicentennial events never really focused on music,” said the Rev. Daniel Doty, the chorus director and senior minister of Trinity United Church of Christ.

The concert, presented by the choir of 27 men, was American-themed and began with the “Star-Spangled Banner.”

Accompanist Amy Sauriol played along side the 27-member Men of Wadsworth Chorus that performed their first concert Sunday in celebration of the Wadsworth bicentennial at Trinity United Church of Christ, 215 High Street. (KATIE ANDERSON / GAZETTE)

“With it also being the 200th anniversary of the national anthem, it just seemed right for it to have an American theme,” Doty said.

Ellis Cope, of Wadsworth, was one of the group’s baritones. He said he suggested the idea of forming a men’s chorus to Doty in May.

“We hope to get 40 men to participate in the future,” Cope said. “We just have a good time.”

Doty, who is an operatic tenor with a bachelor’s degree in music education, organized the group and directed them through 10, 90-minute rehearsals before their first concert Sunday.

“The camaraderie of the group has been really great,” Doty said. “They’d really like to keep going.”

Doty said the group may do a love song concert for Valentine’s Day or an Irish-themed concert for St. Patrick’s Day next year.

Members of the chorus say they are up for the challenge.

Gary Barnard, a baritone who was born and raised in Wadsworth, said he used to sing in college but hadn’t sung in a long time.

“I decided to give it a try,” he said. “I think everyone really enjoyed it.”

Lowell Nofziger, also from Wadsworth, is a first tenor in the chorus. He said he has a background in classical singing and has performed with orchestras and choruses over the years.

“This was extra special because it was fun to see where we started, and after 10 rehearsals, what we became,” Nofziger said. “We were pretty rough at first.”

Doty said the concert also was part of the church’s Trinity Concert Series. He said the church brings in musical groups from all over the country for spring, fall and Christmas concerts every year.

The Christmas concert will be at 2:30 p.m. Dec. 14 and will feature a jazz trio.

Contact reporter Katie Anderson at (330) 721-4012 or kanderson@medina-gazette.com.

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Chippewa Lake photographer Matthew Platz captures the beauty of autumn in its colorful glory in a photograph reminiscent of a painting by the famed French Impressionist Claude Monet. The photo was taken at Spencer Lake in Spencer Township. (MATTHEW PLATZ / PLATZ IMAGES)

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Nearly 500 two-legged runners and several hundred four-legged companions braved a chilly morning Saturday to participate in the second annual Paws for the Cause 5K to benefit the Medina County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Both the 5K and a mile Fun Run started and finished on Medina’s Public Square. Participants — the two-legged variety — ranged in age from 3 to 75. For results, see medinacountyspca.com/site/page/paws.

(DAVID KNOX / GAZETTE)

(DAVID KNOX / GAZETTE)

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The Gazette was runner-up for Ohio’s best daily newspaper under 75,000 circulation in the 2014 Ohio’s Best Journalism Competition, sponsored by Society of Professional Journalists chapters in Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland.

The Gazette’s sister paper, The (Elyria) Chronicle-Telegram won first.

The staff of The Gazette won 10 individual awards.

Managing Editor David Knox and reporters Loren Genson and Nick Glunt took first place in K-12 education and investigative reporting, for “School District in Crisis,” a series of stories about the controversial contracts awarded former Medina Schools Superintendent Randy Stepp.

Knox, Genson and former reporter Kiera Manion-Fischer won first in social issues reporting and second in public service journalism for “Anatomy of a Teen Suicide” about the death of a 14-year-old Claggett Middle School student.

Manion-Fisher won first place in minority issues reporting. Genson and Glunt won second in children’s issues and medical and science reporting for “Amish battle hospital” for their coverage of an Amish family who went on the run after a judge ordered them to get chemotherapy for their 10-year-old daughter who had cancer.

Genson also won second in government reporting and Glunt won second in criminal justice.

Copy editor Scott Kline won first in best headline writing.

The Chronicle-Telegram won first place for best photographer for the work of Kristin Bauer, and second-place for best reporter for reporter Lisa Roberson.

The Columbus Dispatch was named best newspaper over 75,000 circulation. The Plain Dealer took second place.

The awards were presented at a luncheon Saturday at the Idea Center, 1375 Euclid Ave., Cleveland.

Contest categories included publications with circulation of 75,000 or greater, publications with circulation of fewer than 75,000; radio, television, online, trade organizations, and colleges; $2,000 in scholarships are awarded in the college division. Entries were for work done in 2013 and were judged by out-of-state SPJ chapters.

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Medina County’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.0 percent last month — the lowest in nearly seven years.

The September labor market report, released last week by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, found 90,700 county residents had jobs in September — an increase of 1,200 compared to September 2013. Over the same period, the number of unemployed residents shrank to 4,800, down from 5,800 the year earlier.

The year-over-year comparison is considered more valid because — unlike the national, state and metropolitan employment statistics — county figures are not adjusted for seasonal factors, such as the decline in construction work with the onset of winter and layoff of retail workers after the holiday shopping season.

The county’s labor force — the total number of residents with jobs or looking for work — was 95,500 last month, an increase of 100 from a year ago in September, according to the report.

Medina County’s unemployment rate of 5.0 percent was slightly below Ohio’s 5.1 percent and the national seasonally unadjusted rate of 5.7 percent.

The last time the county’s jobless rate dipped to 5 percent was November 2007 — one month before the start of the Great Recession. The county’s unemployment rate peaked in January 2010 at 9.4 percent.

The report showed Ohio’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.6 percent in September, down slightly from August’s 5.7 percent. The adjusted U.S. rate was 5.9 percent, down from 6.1 percent in August.

Ohio’s total employment was 5,408,000, an increase of 16,000 from August.

The jobless rate declined from August in 79 of Ohio’s 88 counties, ranging from a low of 2.9 percent in Mercer County, in the far west of the state, to a high of 10.1 percent in Monroe County, along Ohio’s southeast border.

Medina County’s 5.0 percent jobless rate tied with three counties — Geauga, Carroll and Allen — for 40th best among Ohio’s 88 counties.

Jobless rates improved in all five of Medina’s neighboring counties: Lorain (6.5 percent, down from 6.9 percent in August 2013), Cuyahoga (6.4 percent, down from

7.0 percent), Ashland (4.6 percent, down from 4.8 percent), Summit (4.8 percent, down from 5.0 percent), and Wayne County (4.1 percent, down from 4.3 percent).

Contact David Knox at (330) 721-4065 or dknox@medina-gazette.com.

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A new two-mile bike trail will connect downtown Wadsworth to the 85-mile Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail that runs from Tuscarawas County to Cuyahoga County.

The city of Wadsworth was awarded a $372,185 grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Clean Ohio Trails Fund, allowing the city to build the trail that will connect to trails in Norton and Barberton.

The project will start with a new trailhead at a downtown parking lot and run southeast, following South Boulevard and Ohio Avenue to Miller Park. From the park it will continue along Chestnut Street to South Boulevard and Durling Drive, where it will run parallel to the railroad and end at a Silvercreek Road trailhead.

“The City of Wadsworth has been looking at implementing a trail project for some time, and we are very excited to obtain this funding to move forward with the first major trail in Wadsworth,” Mayor Robin Laubaugh said in a prepared statement. “This grant opportunity is a great example of why community planning is important to the future of a community.”

Laubaugh said City Council’s Multi-Modal Transportation Plan, adopted in 2010, includes bike trails in the city and a multi-use trail following an abandoned trolley line from downtown to the corporation limit at Silvercreek Road.

“That plan served as the basis of our application to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for this award,” she said.

The city applied for the grant in 2011, but didn’t receive the grant until it was considered in later funding cycles.

The city is expected to receive the money in April and have 15 months to complete its portion of the 10-foot-wide asphalt trail, according to reports.

Harry Stark, assistant director of public service and economic development director, said the trail will bring recreational and economic benefits to Wadsworth.

“People walk and bike from their homes, and new residents look for properties near these trails,” he said in a prepared statement. “Business owners, also, look to locate in cities with vibrant recreational opportunities.”

Contact reporter Katie Anderson at (330) 721-4012 or kanderson@medina-gazette.com.

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On Saturday, members of the Weymouth Preservation Society unveiled an Ohio Historical Marker at the site of the Weymouth School, built by members of the community in 1925. (LOREN GENSON / GAZETTE)

A plaque from the state of Ohio now marks the historical importance of the Weymouth School in Medina Township which was the first county supported as the first school for disabled students in the state of Ohio.

The Ohio Historical Marker plaque, which was unveiled Saturday, honors community members support of the school.

Built in 1925, it was a public elementary school until 1956 when St. Paul’s Episcopal Church began using the building as school for disabled students, doing so until the 1960s

In 1960, voters approved an operating levy to support the school, which would later become the Medina County Board of Developmental Disabilities’ Achievement Center in Granger Township. The achievement center moved from the site in 1992.

Susan McKiernan is president of the Weymouth Preservation Society, which has a museum in the Weymouth School, 3314 Myers Road. (DAVID KNOX / GAZETTE)

Society President Susan McKiernan said when the society filed an application to receive the plaque she included a 64 page letter outlining the history of the school.

“It was so important to me that it was the first school that served handicapped children,” she said.
The Preservation Society now uses the school building as a museum, preserving the history of the Weymouth area.

McKiernan said it’s remarkable that the school was able to operate as a first-through-eighth-grade elementary school until the 1950s.

“They wanted to them to start attending Medina Schools, but the people here really loved their community school,” she said.

The society has preserved a museum with artifacts from the school and even tracked down the names of most of the teachers who taught there.

McKiernan said when the school was built in 1925, residents brought their tools and horses and helped assemble the roof and other structures.

The school was built three years before electricity lines were connected to the Weymouth area.

When electricity did arrive in 1928, it would take another several years for the building to get connected to the line.

“They couldn’t afford the electricity, so the students produced plays to raise the money,” McKiernan said.

McKiernan said Weymouth’s older schools also have remarkable histories.

The second and third schoolhouses built in 1829 and 1840 are now residential homes that sit near the current school site.

“The only school house we are missing is the log cabin home that Eliza Northrop taught in,” McKiernan said.

Northrop was the first female teacher at the first school in Medina County in 1817.

Contact reporter Loren Genson at (330) 721-4063 or lgenson@medina-gazette.com. Follow her on Twitter @lorengenson.

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City Council’s Finance Committee authorized Mayor Dennis Hanwell to sign two fair market value estimates for easements involved with the second phase of the reconstruction of West Smith Road.

With Hanwell’s signature, the city will be able to authorize consultant Smith & Nejedlik Inc., of Independence, to proceed with the easement acquisition process.

The consultant firm has completed estimates for two properties on West Smith Road between the Wheeling and Lake Erie railroad tracks and State Road totaling $10,350.

Smith & Nejedlik estimated the first property, owned by Gowe Leasing Limited, at $950 for one temporary easement and one permanent easement.

The second property is owned by the Post/Coleman Family Limited Partnership and was estimated at $9,400 for two temporary easements and one permanent easement.

Once signed, the city will then have to submit the easements back to the Finance Committee for the funds to be appropriated.

The easements will be used to widen State Road 6 to 8 feet as part of the West Smith Reconstruction project.

City Engineer Pat Patton said the easement on Post/Colemen Family’s land would cause damage to Standard Welding’s parking lot.

“I think Standard Welding is the most expensive easement we have,” Patton said.

The finance committee also approved a $300 dollar temporary easement for the A.I. Root Candle Company.

The easement will allow the city to reconstruct the existing grading on West Smith for 18 months

The Finance Committee will approve additional easements for the West Smith Road Reconstruction project as they are acquired.

The $1.9 million project was approved by City Council as part of larger, $6.5 million project to upgrade roads in the city’s industrial area.

In other action

The Finance Committee approved $30,000 to renew their membership with Main Street Medina.

“We have had another increase in people visiting the city this year” Matt Wiederhold, executive director of
Main Street Medina, said.

Wiederhold said the city will see a return in their investment over $1.3 million, which is larger than the return last year.

Contact reporter Andrew Davis at (330) 721-4050 or adavis@medina-gazette.com.

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SULLIVAN TWP. — Black River Local Schools has re-opened their campus this afternoon and winter sports parent and team meetings will take place as scheduled at 6 p.m.

The district buildings were closed this morning after district officials received a bomb threat via email.

Superintendent Chris Clark said the school received the email and immediately contacted the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office.

“Once we talked to the sheriff, we learned the process of sweeping the building and clearing it would be time consuming and we made the decision to close the school,” Clark said.

Clark said the threat was made at the high school level, but the district closed all the schools because the complexes are on the same site.

Parents received text messages notifying them that elementary students would not be picked up by the bus, and that middle school and high school students already en route to the building would be turned around and sent back home.

Parent Deborah Petruzzi, of West Salem, said her children reported that there were sheriff’s deputies and SWAT team members at the school when the bus arrived to turn around.Petruzzi said she was pleased with the way the district handled the closure.

“They let us know what was going on and we were given some time to prepare,” she said. “I’m happy they closed it — they put the kids first, safety first.”

The Ashland County Sheriff’s office conducted a sweep of all the school buildings did not find any explosives.

“We’re going to continue the investigation into who made the threat,” said Lt. Scott Smart with the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office.

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A joint meeting of the city councils of Medina, Brunswick and Wadsworth will be 6 p.m. Monday at Medina City Hall, 132 N. Elmwood Ave.

The councils will discuss county issues including the Central Processing Facility, tipping fees, the Community Housing Improvement Program, casino revenues and ways to collaborate to save money on high-cost services.

The county plans to award a new bid on its Central Processing Facility operating contract next week. County commissioners set a “tipping fee” for trash collection, and some residents have argued that the tipping fee should be lowered.

This is the first year all three cities are teamed to apply for the housing improvement funding, which will be administered by the city of Medina.

The idea for a joint council session was first proposed by Medina County President John Coyne, who said he didn’t think a joint session had ever been conducted.

“I feel like we can work together to provide better services for our taxpayers,” Coyne said.

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A bill for Brunswick’s share of storm clean-up services for residents has been negotiated down to $39,000.

The invoice — to be paid to Republic Waste Services with city refuse funds — will cover the cost of emergency Saturday collections and dumpster availability after flooding on May 12.

“This is a substantial compromise over what was initially proposed,” Service Director Pat McNamara said.

McNamara said the first invoice Republic Waste sent the city was about $20,000 more. McNamara said city Law Director Ken Fisher was able to negotiate a lower price after talking with Republic officials.

“They were reasonable when I talked to them and understood Brunswick was hit worse than most other communities,” Fisher said.

The invoice will help pay for Saturday garbage removal to homeowners with Monday and Tuesday pickups who were unable to clean up their homes by Tuesday morning. The invoice will also pay for four dumpsters in each of the city’s four wards to offer a place for homeowners to take items destroyed by floodwaters.

Finance Director Todd Fischer said the city applied for Federal Emergency Management Agency funding to help cover clean-up costs but has not yet received notice whether the city had enough people affected by the floods to qualify for those funds.

Contact reporter Loren Genson at (330) 721-4063 or lgenson@medina-gazette.com. Follow her on Twitter @lorengenson.

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Loren Genson and David Knox | The Gazette

Annette Ehrlich

Mike Kovack

The former information technology manager for the Medina County Auditor’s Office has sued county Auditor Mike Kovack, accusing him of firing her in retaliation for reporting to authorities that he misused his county-owed computer and other office resources.

Annette Ehrlich filed the lawsuit Friday, alleging Kovack violated the Ohio Whistleblower Act by disciplining her, putting her on paid administrative leave and ultimately firing her.

Ehrlich had accused Kovack of using office materials to print campaign literature and asking her to delete “thousands” of pornographic files from a county-owned laptop.

Named as defendants in the suit, in addition to Kovack, are Chief Deputy Auditor Joan Heller, Medina County and the county commissioners.

Ehrlich was fired Sept. 26 after a heated confrontation nine days earlier. Auditor’s office employees reported Ehrlich had come to the office while on paid administrative leave and asked for her personnel file.

In her lawsuit, Ehrlich seeks reinstatement of her job, back pay and both compensatory and punitive damages “for intentional infliction of emotional distress.”

Neither Ehrlich nor her attorney, Theodore Lesiak, could be reached for comment.

Kovack’s attorney, Steve Bailey, denied Ehrlich was fired because she was a whistleblower.

“What she was terminated for had to do with the outburst in the office and because the working relationship had become impossible,” he said.

Bailey called the lawsuit a politically motivated attack on Kovack, a Democrat who has served as auditor since 1993 and is up for re-election next week.

“They tried the sheriff’s department, it didn’t work; they tried the (state) Ethics Commission; it hasn’t worked; now they’re trying this,” Bailey said. “It’s just another step in the same political conspiracy to fire Mike Kovack.”

Ehrlich first reported her accusations to the county sheriff’s office in March. Erie County Prosecutor Kevin Baxter was appointed to handle the case after Medina County Prosecutor Dean Holman recused himself.

In response to an email Monday, Baxter wrote that he didn’t know when his investigation would wrap up.

“As of the sending of this email, the investigation is not yet complete and I do not know when I will receive the completed investigation,” he wrote.

Ehrlich’s conflict with Kovack’s office began March 7, according to the lawsuit, when she emailed Kovack to protest his decision to bar her from attending a training seminar. She said she was going to go anyway, which Kovack deemed “insubordinate and disrespectful” in a written reprimand.

Prior to her email, Ehrlich’s personnel record contained only positive work evaluations.

On March 18, Ehrlich made her first accusations of improper conduct in a memo to Kovack. Three days later, both Ehrlich and Kovack contacted the sheriff’s office about her allegations.

The allegation went public July 1, when the three county commissioners sent a letter to Holman asking for an investigation. Commissioners Steve Hambley and Adam Friedrick said they were unaware the sheriff already had begun an investigation.

Commissioner Pat Geissman said the allegations against Kovack were brought to her attention by Anne Murphy, who had become friends with Ehrlich while working in the auditor’s office. Murphy resigned in 2013 to take a job with county Treasurer John Burke.

All three commissioners and Burke are Republicans. Kovack is challenged in the Nov. 4 election by Republican Keith Dirham, Medina’s city finance director.

Two days after the allegations went public, Ehrlich requested leave through the Family Medical Leave Act after learning her mother had been diagnosed with cancer, according to the lawsuit.

Ehrlich also cited personal reasons, according to her personnel file.

“I am requesting Family Medical Leave starting ASAP,” she wrote in an email to a supervisor. “Frankly, I am very frightened at this time, and the past three months have taken a heavy toll on my health. I fear for both my physical and emotional safety, especially since I now know that Dean Holman shared all of the investigation information with Mike Kovack in order to protect him and manipulate the results of the ‘investigation’ completed by his appointed buddy.”

While on leave July 9, Ehrlich also sent another email accusing Heller of telling visitors to the auditor’s office that Ehrlich was “trouble and needed to go.”

Ehrlich was scheduled to return to work Sept. 3, but Kovack placed her on paid administrative leave.

On Sept. 18, Ehrlich went to the auditor’s office and asked for her personnel file, sparking the confrontation cited by Kovack as the reason for her firing.

In the lawsuit, Ehrlich stated she had been told by Gazette reporter Nick Glunt “that the Auditor’s Office contacted him to request that Glunt make a public records request to obtain Ehrlich’s Auditor’s Office employment file” and that it would contain “interesting and defamatory” information about Ehrlich.

Ehrlich made the same claim in an email sent to Glunt on Sept. 22. Glunt responded that day and told her she was mistaken.

“I never indicated the Auditor’s Office contacted me with information about your records,” Glunt wrote. “I made the request on my own after we spoke with you the first time about the allegations about Auditor Kovack. It’s standard procedure to make requests for personnel files after a public employee makes allegations against their employer.”

Glunt explained in his email response that “the motivation for requesting such records is to see what led to the allegations — for instance, it would be noteworthy if allegations came with no history of discontent in the office, and it’s equally noteworthy if an employee had a rocky relationship with the employer.”

Glunt added that he did not receive Ehrlich’s personnel file until Sept. 16 — several days after requesting it.

“It took a few days because Auditor Kovack had asked the Prosecutor’s Office (to) handle the request so they could redact your personal information (like Social Security Numbers, etc.) from the records,” Glunt wrote.

Ehrlich did not reply to Glunt’s email.

Contact reporter Loren Genson at (330) 721-4063 or lgenson@medina-gazette.com. Follow her on Twitter @lorengenson. Contact David Knox at (330) 721-4065 or dknox@medina-gazette.com.

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Christmas is eight weeks away, but it isn’t too early for some to think about buying a holiday tree, especially if it benefits a good cause.

More than 300 people already have registered for the eighth annual Festival of Trees Nov. 6 at Weymouth Country Club in Medina Township.

“This is the biggest crowd we’ve ever had,” Marsha Pappalardo, co-chair of the event, said. “The word is finally out about who we are and what we do.”

The festival, which will feature live and silent auctions of Christmas trees and other holiday decorations, will raise money for the Medina County Women’s Endowment Fund.

The fund, established in 1998, provides grant opportunities to community organizations that support women and children in the county.

“We always think of Medina County as being a wealthy community, but there’s a lot of need out there,” Pappalardo said. “It’s important to people that they know their money is staying local and helping people in their community. People are trying to take care of their own.”

The trees, decorations and other auction items, donated by area businesses, bring a magical atmosphere to the country club, Pappalardo said.

“When they walk in with all the twinkling lights, people just hesitate a moment because it just takes your breath away,” she said. “It’s a beautiful evening and it helps so many in the community.”

The event raised $14,000 last year, but coordinators are shooting for $20,000 this year.

“This festive event is the perfect way to kick off the holiday season,” Tammy Daubner, co-chair of the festival, said in a prepared statement. “Guests can start their holiday shopping as they bid on highly sought-after auction items and gift packages, while ultimately supporting women and children in Medina County.”

The festival begins at 6 p.m. The $40 tickets, which include dinner, can be bought at www.akroncf.org/FestivalofTrees or by calling (330) 376-8522.

Contact reporter Katie Anderson at (330) 721-4012 or kanderson@medina-gazette.com.

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A 1 p.m. crash Wednesday at state Route 303 and Station Road in Liverpool Township sent a Brunswick woman to Medina Hospital.

Francis Nasiatka, 50, was driving a Kia Soul east on Route 303 when Dylan Bruce, 20, of Columbia Township, who was driving a Toyota Scion south on Station, pulled out in front of her, Ohio Highway Patrol Trooper Dan Jones said. Jones said Nasiatka was taken to the hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries. Both vehicles were totaled. Bruce was cited for failure to yield, a patrol dispatcher said. (BRUCE BISHOP / GAZETTE)

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The Ohio Patrolman’s Benevolent Association and city are searching for common ground on hours and pay in a new contract for the Medina Police Department’s 10 dispatchers.

In an Oct. 8 report, Susan Grody Ruben, a fact-finder for the Ohio State Employment Relations Board, rejected a request from the dispatchers to work four, 10-hour days as part of a new three-year contract.

City Council accepted the fact-finding report Oct. 14, but it was shot down shortly afterward by the Ohio Patrolman’s Benevolent Association, the union representing the dispatchers.

“The union rejected it,” Mayor Dennis Hanwell said. “We are trying to work it out with them again without going to arbitration.”

Daniel Leffler, the attorney for the OPBA, said he is hopeful the union will be able to come to terms with the city sometime next week.

“I think we are going to be able to resolve it with the city before having to go to conciliation,” he said.

He said the union and the city are going to resolve matters on a number of issues, including medical insurance and wages as well as the shifts.

The union proposed the change in shifts “on the basis that their dispatch jobs are so stressful, they need three days off per week to decompress.”

Ruben wrote in her report that she was mindful of the employees’ concerns but that “the city legitimately pointed out that if the employees find their jobs stressful, it is inadvisable to extend their 8-hour shifts to 10-hour shifts.”

The proposal would put the dispatchers on the same schedule as the patrol officers. The city agreed with the union in May to allow the officers to work four, 10-hour days.

Ruben said the city would have to hire four additional dispatchers to accommodate for a shift change.

“A four day, 10 hour schedule for this bargaining unit would appear to require significant additional hiring by the city,” Ruben wrote. “Requiring a four day, 10 hour schedule by contract would be a significant change that should be accomplished only by bargaining.”

The fact-finder recommended the same health care proposal for the dispatchers that the police bargaining units agreed to earlier this year.

Under the proposal, dispatchers would pay a premium contribution of 12 percent if the employees satisfy a wellness screening and 16 percent if they do not.

The proposal would increase co-pays for doctor visits, prescription drugs and emergency room visits.

Ruben also weighed in on wage increases over the next three years.

The union proposed a 4 percent increase in 2014 and 1 percent in each of the following two years, while the city proposed 1 percent in 2014 and 2 percent in the following two years.

The fact-finder suggested 2 percent increases over the next three years.

“The city is in good financial shape, especially compared to many other Ohio municipalities,” Ruben wrote. “The city has been able to maintain its financial condition through careful budgeting.”

The wage increases are in accordance with what the patrol officers bargained for in May.

Contact reporter Andrew Davis at (330) 721-4050 or adavis@medina-gazette.com.

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