Habitat moves efforts to Delphos

Lima News, 6/21/06

 

Habitat for Humanity is making its second venture outside Lima, building two homes this fall in Delphos.

 

Community and Habitat officials announced the partnership Wednesday at one of the build sites on West Wayne Street.  The other home will be built on Clime Street, said Lavon Welty, executive director for Habitat for Humanity in Allen County.

 

Habitat has raised $33,000 of the $80,000 it needs for both homes.  The group will continue raising money as it takes the next step of finding families for the homes.

 

Pair of canal meetings aimed at fixing the flow

Lima News, 6/26/06

 

They say no moss grows on a rolling stone.  Neither a flowing canal.  But, because of a culvert break on the Miami and Erie Canal between Spencerville and Delphos, the city’s portion has grown stagnant and green.

 

City officials will meet with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and state Rep. John Willamowski, R-Lima, today to talk about remedies for the situation.

 

Later this week, Delphos Canal Commission member Sue Lang will meet with Allen County commissioners on the same topic.  Lang believes the cost of the repair is estimated at $100,000.  The Canal Commission solicited letters of support for the project and at least 30 Delphos residents sent them to the county, Lang said.

From the 7/1/06 Lima News:

 

State wants Milcor money back

By TIM RAUSCH

07/01/2006

[email protected]

 

LIMA — The Milcor property has a new owner, but the former owners may be ordered to repay the state $300,000 for closing down before meeting the requirements of its job creation tax credits.  The Ohio Department of Development made a recommendation to the Ohio Tax Credit Authority that it “clawback” half of the tax credit benefit from Holland, Mich.-based Hart & Cooley.

 

Hart & Cooley closed Milcor in April and auctioned away its remnants in May.  The company took over Milcor in January 2005 and nine months later announced it was closing the Lima plant.  Milcor received a job creation tax credit in 1994.  It was a 70 percent tax credit on a $500,000 investment for a 10-year term, creating 80 new jobs and retaining 214 more.

 

Though the credit expired two years ago, the company was required to stay open in that location for another eight years, according to Ohio Department of Development spokesman Merle Madrid.  When Milcor closed, 246 workers lost their jobs.  Milcor manufactured grilles, registers, diffusers, heat and smoke vents and products for the roofing industry.

 

MORE: http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=27241

 

From the 7/8/06 Lima News:

 

MAP/RENDERING: The City of Lima wants to apply for a $5 million grant to develop land near the Lima Locomotive Works site. The site would be readied for a synthetic gas research center after the city uses the grant to purchase 42 parcels on 14.5 acres of land.

 

City wants grant to develop research center

By HEATHER RUTZ

 

LIMA — Hoping to capitalize on niche manufacturing developed by Global Energy at the former Lima Locomotive Works site, Lima’s mayor wants to apply for a $5 million state grant to attract a research center.  The administration will ask for City Council approval Monday to apply to the Ohio Job Ready Sites program, Mayor David Berger said Friday.  The city would use the grant to acquire 14.5 acres near the Global Energy site along 4th Street, west of Interstate 75, to secure the property, demolish structures there and develop the property.

 

Global Energy, under construction, plans a December 2008 opening.  The gasification plant, the first of its kind in America, will produce electricity, synthetic gas and hydrogen.  The city can build on that unique advanced technology and prepare a site next to the plant that could be used by a research company working with the synthetic gas, Berger said.

 

The city has been working with Yocum Realty to secure options on 42 parcels owned by 25 people on the land it wants to acquire, Berger said.  The land includes homes, rental properties and vacant lots.

 

MORE: http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=27428

 

From the 7/11/06 Lima News:

 

Council agrees to grant plan

By JIM SABIN

 

LIMA — Lima City Council backed Mayor David Berger’s plan to pursue a grant for a research and development center on South Main Street.  The council, meeting at its new 7 p.m. time, voted 8-0 to pass a trio of ordinances for the center.  The center would be attached to Global Energy along South Main Street, between Third and Fourth streets.

 

“In the history of the Department of Development, we’ve never had a grant program like this that awards grant money for speculative projects,” said Judy Cowan, regional development representative for Gov. Bob Taft.  “We’re looking to help communities to create sites for speculative development. Companies are in such a hurry now.”

 

The council agreed to apply for a $5 million Ohio Job Ready Sites grant to develop the site.  The council then agreed to contract with the Poggemeyer Design Group to begin designing the project and with Yocum Realty to pursue land options from 25 landowners on 42 parcels.

 

MORE: http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=27504

 

Board asks Grove residents for more than $9.8M for new school

Lima News, 7/18/06

 

The Columbus Grove school board will ask voters to approve the issuing of $9.8 million in bonds to build a new school.  The board unanimously decided at its meeting Monday to go to the ballot box for the bonds, which will be repaid through property taxes for 28 years.

 

An additional $200,000 will be raised annually through an income tax, for a total 0.25 percent increase.  “We feel that that share’s the burden more equally among taxpayers,” Treasurer Mark Ellerbrock said.  The income tax will last for its maximum 23-year limit.

 

Lima Stadium’s greens arriving today

Lima News, 7/12/06

 

The grass will be greener in Lima Stadium today, except it won’t really be grass.  The stadium’s new floor of ProGrass synthetic turf will begin arriving today, capping off a construction program that will open up the stadium to more events without losing the feel of a true grass field, the company said.

 

The synthetic turf and similar brands have proved to be safer and more durable than even grass fields and far better than the old Astroturf, said Bob Thomas, vice president of marketing for Pittsburgh-based ProGrass.  “The bottom line is, they’re much safer, they’re much softer, and they are much more like a well-groomed natural grass field,” Thomas said.  The company targets high schools and small colleges, he said.

Kibby Corners changes approved

By JIM SABIN

07/25/2006

[email protected]

 

LIMA — Lima City Council moved forward with a pair of demolition projects at the corner of Kibby and Main streets to clear the way for redevelopment.  The council agreed to accept the former Siferd Funeral Home at 712 S. Main St. from a private owner as a donation, and the city has already included the $9,500 demolition cost in its upcoming Community Development Block Grant request, Public Works Director Howard Elstro said.

 

Once the building is torn down, it will be paired up with an adjacent property on the southwest corner to form a one-acre parcel for new development, he said. The city also owns the northeast corner of the intersection, known as Kibby Corners.  And just south of the southeast corner, the council agreed to fund the demolition of 711 S. Main St. retroactively.  The building partially collapsed July 14, prompting the emergency demolition.

 

Full story at http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=27955

From the 8/8/06 Lima News:

 

Lima council urges reopening of LCI

BY JIM SABIN - Aug. 8, 2006

 

LIMA — Lima City Council officially called on the state to find a way to reopen Lima Correctional Institution, the prison it shut down on the city’s north side two years ago.

 

The resolution, drafted by Mayor David Berger, pointed out that the state’s prison system had 46,000 inmates in prisons designed to hold 35,000 as recently as June. It also noted that the new Department of Rehabilitation and Correction director expressed an intention to develop more space for inmates, including looking at closed-down wings of prisons that are running now.

 

"It is a rip-off of taxpayers for that facility to be sitting there idle and not being used," 2nd Ward Councilman John Nixon said. "The whole thing really seems to me to boil down to the administration had it out for the union there and wanted to show it, and I think that’s one of the most ridiculous reasons to make decisions."

 

MORE: http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=28408

 

Meijer makeover ready by September

Lima News, 7/25/06

 

Meijer shoppers are getting down the cereal aisle a little easier, but won’t be able to see the finished remodeled store until September.  For more than a month, employees at the Elida Road store have been moving shelves and widening aisles.

 

Corporate spokeswoman Stacie Behler said Lima’s Meijer has been on its list for a full-store makeover.

 

“It is designed to create an easier shopping experience for our customers.  As we’ve built stores and listened to customers tell us what they’re looking for, we’ve tried to incorporate those things when we look at an older store, like the Lima store,” Behler said.

 

Rays spending $5 million on South Cable Road store

Lima News, 7/25/06

 

In the shell of a former drug store next to Rays Signature Foods, the grocery chain’s marketing director said the beginning of the company’s $5 million expansion will begin.  “It is a little tricky, because we want to keep the store open when we’re going to spend all this time and energy to make it spectacular.  How do you do that without making the customers nuts?  They’re jackhammering while you’re shopping,” said Stephanie Skylar, marketing director for Rays Supermarkets.

 

Skylar said the answer is to start with the 10,000 square foot former Rite Aid that was next to the 890 S. Cable Road store. “We’re going to relocate all the fresh food,” Skylar said.

 

It is the third Rays store that will be remodeled this year.  The Defiance-based 13-store grocery store chain will be adding a pharmacy and wellness center to its Harding Highway MarketPlace location.  At its North Cable Road location, the company will add a wellness center and renovate its pharmacy.

Apartment residents fed up

Lima News, 8/3/06

 

Four years ago, residents near Hope and Nova streets were promised nice, new apartment buildings.  They were promised paved parking lots and a playground.  They were promised clean, well-maintained apartments that would replace the run-down, rodent-infested buildings that were there before.   

 

And when Waterford Townhomes officially replaced the Hope-Nova Apartments, it appeared the promises had been kept.  But Stacy Cramer, Kathy Allen and other residents say that’s not true.

From the 8/11/06 Lima News:

 

 

Shreefer looking for answers on LCI

BY HEATHER RUTZ - Aug. 11, 2006

 

LIMA — Democratic statehouse candidate Dennis Shreefer wants definitive answers from three government leaders about reopening Lima Correctional Institution.  Shreefer is sending letters to Senate President Bill Harris, House Speaker Jon Husted and Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director Terry Collins, he said at a news conference Thursday.  He wants a “yes or no” answer about opening the prison, closed in 2004.

 

In July, state prison officials said they were looking for ways to address overcrowding, but that reopening LCI was not a current option.  The prison was stripped of nearly everything inside when it closed two years ago so beds, office equipment, kitchen equipment and other things needed would have to be brought in.

 

MORE: http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=28475

 

From the 8/12/06 Lima News:

 

SITE PLAN: The Johhny Appleseed Park district unvieled plans for a new park on Friday.  The new park on Roush Road north of the Ottawa River will be created from a renovated farmstead. The farm itself was not in the Lauer family; the family is honored with the park’s name only. The homestead will feature farming techniques of the Depression and World War II eras.  (Lima News graphic by NATE WARNECKE)

 

Johnny Appleseed unveils new park plan

BY HEATHER RUTZ - Aug. 12, 2006

 

BATH TOWNSHIP — When complete, a new addition to the Johnny Appleseed Metropolitan Park District will be a lasting legacy to the Lauer family’s contribution to the parks. Park officials presented the master plan for Lauer Historic Park District Friday at a lunch that also honored Anne and the late Dr. Harold "Dutch" Lauer.

 

While Anne served as many years as a park commissioner and was one of the people who spearheaded the idea of a park district, Dutch contributed to the parks financially and with many volunteer hours, district Director Kevin Haver said.  The new park on Roush Road north of the Ottawa River will be created from a renovated farmstead. The farm itself was not in the Lauer family; The family is honored with the park’s name only. The homestead will feature farming techniques of the Depression and World War II eras, said architect Phil Enderle.

 

Full story at http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=28517

 

From ODOD, 8/14/06:

 

TAFT ANNOUNCES BUSINESS GRANT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 14, 2006

 

Columbus, OH -- Governor Bob Taft today announced that a $200,000 Business Development Grant has been awarded to aid in the growth and development of business and the creation and retention of jobs in Ohio. The State Controlling Board today approved the grant, which is administered by the Ohio Department of Development(ODOD).

 

Alpla, Inc. (Alpla), located in Fort Shawnee (Allen County), will receive a $50,000 Business Development (412) Grant for costs associated with the acquisition of machinery and equipment.  Alpla is a 100 percent subsidiary of Alpla GmbH u. Co KG, an Austrian company, and is a supplier of plastic containers and a creator of plastic packaging solutions for customers through its own standardizing technologies.  The company uses technologies related to extrusion blow molding, stretch blow molding, injection blow molding and injection molding for its products.  Alpla has recently negotiated new contracts to provide plastic containers and bottles and proposes to purchase $10 million in machinery and equipment and construct a 105,000 square-foot facility that will house extrusion blow-molding operations to manufacture high volume bottles.  Additionally, Allen County will receive a $200,000 Roadwork Development (629) Grant to complete public roadwork improvements in support of Alpha, Inc's new manufacturing facility in the Fort Shawnee Industrial Park.  Allen County will construct a 2,000 lineal-foot public roadway to connect the Park to the Foreign Trade Zone business area. Ohio is in competition with Indiana for this project, which is expected to create 30 jobs within the first three years of the project's initial operation.

 

The Business Development Account (412) is a grant program to assist companies and communities that are creating or retaining jobs in Ohio.

 

http://www.odod.state.oh.us/newsroom/releases/1633.asp

 

Landowners in Blanchard watershed being assessed: $2 fee will be used for routine maintenance

Lima News, 8/5/06

 

Landowners in six counties that live within the 90-mile watershed of the Blanchard River can expect a $2 per-parcel assessment in 2007.  The maintenance assessment is part of the Blanchard River Stream Enhancement Program, which was funded in 1995 through the state and assessing landowners in the watershed.   

 

In a July 25 letter to commissioners of the other five counties in the watershed, Hancock County Commissioners said the maintenance fund balance is $14,281.01.  They also said the collection would bring in about $85,000.

From the 8/30/06 Lima News:

 

Shreefer one for three on LCI letter response

BY HEATHER RUTZ - Aug. 30, 2006

 

LIMA — One state official has responded to Democratic statehouse candidate Dennis Shreefer’s request for information about a closed prison, and two only confirmed they received his letters, Shreefer reported Tuesday.

 

Shreefer wrote Ohio Senate President Bill Harris, Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted and prisons Director Terry Collins in early August asking what their intentions were with Lima Correctional Institution. At a news conference Tuesday, Shreefer held up Collins’ letter, along with the green post cards he received back from Harris and Husted’s office, postal confirmations from the certified letters he sent, showing they were received.

 

Shreefer said he would make reopening LCI as a prison or for some other use, his top priority, should he be elected to the 4th District. He announced plans for an advisory council that he would establish if elected, and a list of 10 people he would ask to serve on that council. Most of the people on the list were not aware of it, Shreefer said.

 

http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=29061

 

From the 8/25/06 Lima News:

 

State official surprised by P&G center size

BY TIM RAUSCH - Aug. 25, 2006

 

LIMA — After a three-quarter of a mile walk around what’s been done so far, the Ohio Department of Development’s assistant director was struck by the size of Procter & Gamble’s new distribution center on Reservoir Road.  The $100 million facility should be done by the spring of 2008.  It will be the largest automated warehouse in the world.  The warehouse will encompass more than 1 million square feet.

 

PROJECT SCHEDULE

Procter & Gamble’s completion schedule for its 1 million-square-foot distribution center:

 

December: Building under roof

January 2007: Start shipping from the low bay section

May 2007: Shipping from first module of high bay section

January 2008: Production area start up

Spring 2008: Completion

 

http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=28869

 

Approved bond issue would build new Elida High School

Lima News, 8/16/06

 

School board members voted Tuesday to put a 7.7 mill bond issue on the November ballot.  The bond will raise $41 million for a new high school and renovations to the middle school.

 

The district is involved in the Ohio School Facilities Commission’s expedited program, meaning it can begin a project before money is available from the state if it can raise the local share.  The district is responsible for 64 percent of the project.

 

The total project cost is $44.49 million.  Treasurer Joel Parker said the district is only asking for $41 million because it will use $2 million from interest earned from the bond issue. It will also use some permanent improvement money.  Parker said the district will eventually receive about $18 million from the state.  That will be used for the second phase of the project.

 

Thayer Road construction begins this fall

Lima News, 8/30/06

 

The replacement and widening of Thayer Road, needed with Procter & Gamble’s new distribution center, will begin this fall and be finished in two phases.  The first phase, with an estimated $613,000 cost, will begin in October and be finished by December, county Engineer Timothy Piper said Tuesday.

 

That section will run from the railroad tracks south to Reservoir Road and include the intersection with Reservoir Road, Piper said. Everything but the top finishing course should be complete this year, Piper said.

 

In phase one, peaks and valleys in the road will be removed to increase sight distance and the road will be widened two feet on both sides.  The second phase will run north from the railroad tracks to state Route 81 and be constructed in the spring.

Group interested in Allen East Middle School building

Lima News, 9/13/06

 

A group is interested in turning part of the middle school into a community building, but it will likely need to make a decision soon.

 

Russ Conkle, a member of the 20-member group, which includes Harrod Village Council members, said the idea is to use 44,000 square feet of the newest part of the building for the center.  The portion of the building includes the library and gymnasium.

 

Conkle said the center could include Harrod village offices, a library, exercise or weight room, reception hall and possibly an area for law enforcement.  Other social services offices and historical society offices could also be included, as well as reception areas to be rented for use by the public.

 

Rite Aid dumps plan for proposed store

Lima News, 9/16/06

 

The first test of Allen County’s new Access Management plan has quashed plans for an Eastown Road business.  The proposed Rite Aid store, one of four stores in the works for the county, was to have gone up next year at the corner of Elm Street and Eastown Road.  But a county plan regulating the placement of business driveways has halted the project.

 

“We are withdrawing our proposal due to the inability to obtain the convenient curb cuts,” said Ashley Flower, Rite Aid spokeswoman.  Flower said she was unaware of any alternative sites for the proposed store.

 

Problems arose last week when the county’s Access Management board rejected a request from Rite Aid to let them place an entrance within the required 500 feet of the intersection. Jerry Good, vice president of the Allen Economic Development Group and a member of the access board, said the Rite Aid decision was the first test of the plan.

 

“There’s always that first project that comes along that’s trying to do something that doesn’t meet with the regulations. Some people are going to be unhappy with it. But I would challenge anybody to go to any other community to look at their access management rules and regulations. There’s nothing being asked here that’s different from what’s bring asked of people in any other community,” Good said.

 

From the 9/19/06 Lima News:

 

Law firm remodeling downtown

BY HEATHER RUTZ - Sep. 19, 2006

 

LIMA — A law firm is breathing new life into one of downtown’s grand buildings.  The Marquette, at 540 W. Market St., was built in the early 1900s as four luxury apartments and owned by Lima banker E.B. Mitchell.  By the end of the year, it will house the new offices of Huffman, Kelley Becker and Brock.

 

The building, with its grand front stairs, columns and balcony, was designed by Thomas McLaughlin.  A Lima graduate who earned a degree in architecture from Columbia University, McLaughlin returned home and designed some of Lima’s most famous structures, including Memorial Hall, Elks Club and Lima Locomotive Works garage.

 

Full story at http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=30028

 

From the 9/15/06 Lima News:

 

Estimates differ on reopening LCI

BY BOB BLAKE - Sep. 15, 2006

 

LIMA — There may be new life ahead for Lima Correctional Institution.  What it would cost is up in the air.  "LCI had $37 million in upgrades up until the point they closed it," state Rep. John Willamowski, R-Lima, said. "They’d have to bring the furniture back, turn the utilities back on, fix any damage that might have happened as a result of closing it. There’s new electrical work, new plumbing, new roofs, new guard windows. The place is virtually brand new. It’s just sitting there." 

 

Willamowski said reopening the facility shouldn’t cost much more than the $25 million it was costing the state to operate it since the biggest cost — the contract of the employees — remains the same as it was when the facility was shuttered.

 

Andrea Dean, spokeswoman for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said the estimate being used by the department is far more than $25 million to reopen the facility.  "Our ballpark estimate is between $70 million and $90 million, and that would be to reopen and to operate. That’s the same figure the governor’s office was using a week or so ago," Dean said.  "We do not have a contingency plan nor are we developing any to reopen the Lima Correctional Institution. We’re not looking at any plans at this time to do that."

 

MORE: http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=29887

Whittier Place under construction

Lima News, 9/28/06

 

Whittier Place is under construction.  A 12-house development at the site of the former Whittier Elementary School, which was demolished in 2004, should have its first house for sale in October, said Lima 6th Ward City Councilman Derry Glenn. 

 

“This is going to bring a lot of new homes to the 6th Ward,” Glenn said. “This is going to be a beautiful place. We have been working very hard to bring housing to the 6th Ward and economic development to the 6th Ward.”  There was a groundbreaking at the site on Thursday.

 

Group gains support for Allen East plans

Lima News, 9/27/06

 

With a show of hands, about 90 percent of the more than 50 people who showed up for a meeting to discuss future plans of a portion of Allen East Middle School are in favor of keeping the structure for community use.

 

Eleven people signed up to join a committee that will discuss and oversee plans.  But those who were against the project voiced their concerns.

Harrod moves forward on community center

Lima News, 10/6/06

 

The Village Council unanimously passed a resolution Thursday authorizing Mayor Jean McElwain to enter into an agreement with the Allen East school board about a possible community center.  The resolution was passed on the first reading as an emergency.

 

Members of the council and a group of residents met Sept. 28 to discuss options for a portion of Allen East Middle School.  Many were are in favor of keeping the structure for community use and 11 of them signed up for a committee that will discuss and oversee plans.

From the 10/5/06 Lima News:

 

Wal-Mart settles on west-side location

BY BART MILLS - Oct. 5, 2006

 

LIMA — After more than a year of speculation, Wal-Mart officials have finally decided where their next store will go.  Third Lima Corp., owners of the more than eight acres on Allentown Road surrounding the Kmart Plaza, filed a petition Tuesday with the Allen County commissioners office seeking permission to annex into the city of Lima.  The petition was filed on behalf of Wal-Mart, said Tony Geiger, the city of Lima’s law director.

 

"This was a petition filed by the landowners with the commissioners office," Geiger said. "They’re talking about a Super Wal-Mart."  The petition would have to be approved by the commissioners before the land could be annexed. The city would also have to approve the annexation and agree on what municipal services they would provide to the area, Geiger said.

 

The land, which sits in American Township, would be annexed through nonwithdrawal annexation, meaning the township and the Elida school district would still receive the property taxes from the store, while Lima could collect income taxes.

 

More at http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=30609

Thayer Road construction to begin next week

Lima News, 10/6/06

 

Work is about to begin on the replacement and widening of Thayer Road.  Allen County Engineer Timothy Piper said the first phase of the estimated $2 million project is set to begin next week.  Phase I will include roughly one-third of the project running north from Reservoir Road to the railroad tracks and will include the intersection at Thayer and Reservoir roads.

 

The project is being financed with a $2 million Ohio Department of Development grant. Piper said he hopes to bring the whole project in under that $2 million.  The county caught a break when the winning job bid by Harrod-based R.D. Jones Excavating Inc. came in at $137,000 less than the county’s original estimate for the job, making the cost of Phase I $466,000.

Housing Authority invests in Furl Williams apartments

Lima News, 10/11/06

 

On Monday evening, the women whipped the guys 3-0 in shuffleboard at the Furl Williams Apartments on Robb Avenue.  The shuffleboard court is among more than $400,000 worth of improvements made at the senior complex since 2004, made with federal funding.  More than $100,000 of that has come, or will come, this year, said Allen Metropolitan Housing Authority Executive Director Cindi Parr.

 

The capital improvements this year at the senior complex with 40 units include brick tuck-pointing, a new roof and painting.  In 2005, the complex received new siding and in 2004, new sidewalks, a patio, pavilion, picnic tables and shuffleboard.

From the 10/6/06 Lima News:

 

Ethanol plant construction to resume next week

BY TIM RAUSCH - Oct. 6, 2006

 

LIMA — A seven-month work stoppage at Lima’s ethanol plant site could end next week now that a new financing deal is pending.  Greater Ohio Ethanol President Greg Kruger said plans are for Golden Giant of Kenton to return to the site next week to resume erecting buildings.

 

Work on the Hanthorn Road ethanol plant stopped March 3 so no more bills would accumulate when financial problems arose.  Local contractors filed liens of nearly $3 million, which have since been settled.

 

The plant was supposed to be done by December.  Construction on the $93.3 million plant won’t be done until September 2007, Kruger said.  Kruger said he wants to be able to start making ethanol by November 2007.  Instead of building the plant, the spring and summer were spent finding a new general contractor and setting up new financing for the ethanol plant.

 

MORE: http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=30639

 

Work to begin on renovating children’s fountain

Lima News, 10/17/06

 

Upon his death in 1926, Nathan Michael bequeathed money for a children’s fountain in Faurot Park.  The granite monument is inscribed:

"Given to the children of Lima by Nathan L. and Rose Michael

March 3, 1926

As a testimonial of their love for their home city

They loved the beautiful and gave that all might enjoy."

 

The 80-year-old fountain had fallen into disrepair and its wading pool filled in, not looking at all like the summer gathering place it once was.  Three years ago, a city group took on the challenge of raising money for the fountain’s restoration.  The goal is nearly reached and children will again enjoy the fountain by summer.  About $50,000 has been raised, city of Lima Chief of Staff Catherine Garlock said.  Thanks to donated labor and materials, the new fountain’s cost will most likely be held to about $70,000.

From the 10/20/06 Lima News:

 

Start date set for state Route 81 widening

BY BART MILLS - Oct. 20, 2006

 

LIMA — The latest proposal to widen part of Allentown Road is considerably more popular than its predecessor.  A public hearing on the $4.7 million project held Thursday roused little resistance from business owners and residents along the project’s path.  That’s a switch from a similar meeting in March when the Ohio Department of Transportation’s proposal to widen the road and include a median barrier was met with angry responses.

 

More at http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=31160

From the 10/24/06 Lima News:

 

Group exploring downtown mercantile

BY TIM RAUSCH - Oct. 24, 2006

 

LIMA — A downtown building could be turned into a mercantile.  A collaboration of Downtown Lima Inc., Lima/Allen County Chamber of Commerce and Allen Economic Development Group will seek input for the idea at two receptions in two weeks.

 

The idea is to turn the former Buy-Rite Furniture store at 147 S. Main St. into a mercantile, a collection of small stores in one building, said Fred Barrington, director of Downtown Lima Inc.  According to a sketch of the concept, the first floor could fit six small stores and four kiosks. 

 

More at http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=31299

 

Pupils ‘inked’ to new Allen East school

Lima News, 11/1/06

 

Hundreds of Allen East schools pupils saw a glimpse of their new school Tuesday.  The pupils visited the new gymnasium and signed their names on the concrete before the wooden floor is installed.

 

Some used spray paint, and others used markers.  Some wrote down nicknames, and others added jersey numbers.  "Here’s to many memories at AE," Kelsey Heise wrote.

 

The 179,797-square-foot school will be completed March 20 and will house prekindergarten through 12th grade.

 

From the 11/3/06 Lima News:

 

Joint commission approves Ottawa River project

BY BART MILLS - Nov. 3, 2006

 

LIMA — After more than nine months and five public meetings, the proposal to clear out a 60-mile stretch of the Ottawa River has been approved.  The joint board of community commissioners, consisting of commissioners from Allen, Auglaize, Hancock, Hardin and Putnam counties, approved the Ottawa River Stream Enhancement Project following a final public hearing Thursday. Work on the $737,000 project could begin before the end of the month and last approximately one year, said Dan Ellerbrock, drainage coordinator with the Allen Soil and Water Conservation District.

 

The decision came at the end of a hearing during which about a dozen residents voiced concerns and frustration over the project.  For most of those speaking, the problem was with the assessment to residents in the watershed feeding the Ottawa River. Property owners will have to pay a one-time fee of $15 per parcel for the cleanup and then a $2 annual maintenance fee.

 

The per-parcel charge for the project was the major stumbling block for many who spoke at Thursday’s hearing.  The charge is assessed to every parcel, no matter how large it is or what it’s used for.

 

http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=31652

From the 11/2/06 Lima News:

 

 

More buildings coming down at Kibby Corners

BY HEATHER RUTZ - Nov. 2, 2006

 

LIMA — More buildings are coming down in the Kibby Corners neighborhood and city officials are asking residents their vision for what will take their places.  The old Siferd Funeral Home property, near the intersection of Kibby and Main streets, and adjacent to property, including the old Majestic Theater, that was torn down last year, will be demolished soon, Mayor David Berger said during a meeting with residents Wednesday.

 

"Some other properties at the intersection have some serious code deficiencies and if they’re not fixed or torn down, the city will do the demolition," Berger said.  "The plan is to have a good majority of the intersection available for future development."  Last year the city demolished two commercial buildings and earlier this year demolished a third. Berger said a Virginia company that now owns the old Siferd property will be donating it, and the city will hold the land.

 

Full story at http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=31614

 

Global, city seek $60 million grant

 

BY HEATHER RUTZ - Dec. 4, 2006

 

LIMA — Global Energy is asking the state for a $60 million shot in the arm to help a power plant under construction create thousands of new jobs statewide and make the city a research and development hub.

 

Global is one of eight groups applying for the state development department Wright Mega-centers of Innovation grant, possibly $60 million, to establish centers to commercialize technology and transform Ohio’s economy from rust belt to high-tech.

 

Global’s project, filed with the state in August, proposes to build a new facility, to be called the Lima Synthesis Gas Product Commercialization Center.  The center would develop products derived from synthesis gas, a byproduct of its Lima Energy coal gasification electricity plant, currently under construction on South Main Street.

 

MORE: http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=32800

St. Charles breaks ground for new building

Lima News, 12/2/06

 

St. Charles students broke ground Friday for a new building that will put all students under one roof and consolidate numerous services.  Students participated in a ground blessing officiated by Father Steve Blum.  The new building will house the early childhood education center for preschool, kindergarten and extended day care.

 

The ceremony included students dressed in robes carrying water to each direction in the school’s gymnasium for symbolic reasons.  For example, North is associated with winter, Blum said.

 

The ceremony originally was scheduled outdoors but moved into the gym due to the cold weather and high winds.  Students on student council opened a door long enough to trade off on the ceremonial shoveling of dirt.

 

One more house down, countless blights to go

Lima News, 12/12/06

 

One more building breeding trouble is gone today, thanks to several community groups and the faith of one woman.  Ida Smith, 77, bought the house on South Metcalf Street next to her own after watching one too many drug dealers move in and move out, leaving it in worse shape.  The copper pipes and electrical wiring had been stolen from it, and the place wasn’t livable, Smith’s great-niece, Ida Morlock, 32, said.

 

From the 12/14/06 Lima News:

 

First two New Lima homes nearly built

BY HEATHER RUTZ - Dec. 14, 2006

 

LIMA — Two homes under construction since this summer at the former Whittier Elementary site are nearly ready to be sold, New Lima Inc. Director Barb Massa said Wednesday.  The homes, built as part of the agency’s mission to make people with low to moderate incomes homeowners, will be sold for about $50,000 less than their market value, Massa said.

 

The homes are the first two of 12 to be built in the new Whittier Place subdivision, on the site of a former Lima elementary school razed in its rebuilding project.  The land, at Reese and Holmes avenues, will eventually fill out with five homes from New Lima, two from Allen Metro Housing Authority, three from Habitat for Humanity and two from Miller-Valentine Homes.

 

More at http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=33125

 

Plans set for 117 improvements

Lima News, 12/15/06

 

Residents and business owners along state Route 117 on Thursday saw what likely will be the final plans for improvements on the route.  Ohio Department of Transportation officials outlined planned upgrades to the section of 117 running from Interstate 75 to Greely Chapel Road and state Route 309 east to Devonshire Drive, by the Super Wal-Mart store. About 40 people attended what probably will be the last public meeting before the project begins in 2009.

 

The plans include placing a 6-inch median on part of the road east of I-75 to the Eastgate Plaza entrance, an effort ODOT Planning Administrator Kirk Slusher said was necessary to reduce accidents along the route.  "Currently, this section of road ranks 54th statewide for what we call congestion hot spots," Slusher said. "This is something we need to act on."  None of those attending Thursday’s meeting spoke against the project. Sandra Nettle lives along the project route. She said that, while she isn’t looking forward to the construction phase, she knows it’s needed.

From the 12/17/06 Lima News:

 

New museum space on track to open in May

BY BART MILLS - Dec. 17, 2006

 

LIMA — For Pat Smith, it seems as though the new Allen County Museum addition is taking forever. But any time that thought comes to her, she reminds herself of what her predecessors dealt with.  Smith has been working on the two-phase museum makeover since she arrived as its director in 2000. She said she hopes to see the first phase of the project completed by May. But the wait is nothing compared to the time it took to build the original museum.

 

The current museum project has had its share of setbacks. Board members began seriously discussing the need for a new space in the mid-1990s. It wasn’t until 2001, when the museum received $600,000 from the state, that the project began in earnest.

 

Eventually, a professional fundraiser was brought in to train the board and help with raising funds. The project was split into two phases, the first of which is budgeted at about $4.2 million. Phase Two will probably cost about the same, although Smith said no time frame has been set for that part of the project.

 

More at http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=33270

 

 

From the 12/5/06 Lima News:

 

$60 million grant sought to create Lima megacenter

BY TIM RAUSCH - Dec. 5, 2006

 

LIMA — In addition to making electricity, a power plant under construction in Lima could also turn the city into a hub for nanotechnology and synthetic fuel production.  The gas from Global Energy could also be pumped into the ground to revive the Lima legacy of oil production.

 

"A successful launch of all three technical platforms will generate enormous economic activity," said Dwight Lockwood, vice president of regulatory affairs for Global Energy.  "We conservatively estimate as much as $4 billion of impact to Ohio through this grant."

 

The grant is a $60 million request to the Ohio Department of Development’s Third Frontier Wright Mega-centers of Innovation.  The group of collaborators on the project, including Global Energy and the city of Lima, expect to hear in mid-December whether the Lima project was approved.

 

MORE: http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=32830

 

Both from the 12/16/06 Lima News:

 

Lima mega-center group reacts after state awards $60 million grant to Cleveland Clinic

BY TIM RAUSCH - Dec. 16, 2006

 

LIMA — A day after one arm of the Ohio Department of Development decided to grant Lima millions of dollars to prepare the ground for a synthetic gas research center, another arm of the department turned down millions of dollars to create the center itself.

 

The state’s largest scientific grant, $60 million from the Third Frontier Wright Mega-centers of Innovation, went to the Cleveland Clinic to create a center that will develop new devices and therapies to combat heart disease, Gov. Bob Taft announced Friday.  It was the only one of the seven applicants to receive a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, which had a review team examine all the proposals for the state.

 

The development department approved $3.25 million in Job Ready Sites funding for Lima on Thursday to prepare the ground for the Lima Synthesis Gas Product Commercialization Center, which will be situated across South Main Street from Global Energy’s power plant.  Members of the team that collaborated on the Lima Third Frontier proposal said they were disappointed, but they won’t be defeated by the decision on the mega-center grant.

 

MORE: http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=33239

 

From the 12/19/06 Lima News:

 

Smiles for nano; frowns for oil recovery

BY TIM RAUSCH - Dec. 19, 2006

 

LIMA — Knowing is half the battle.  The National Academy of Science critique of the Lima Third Frontier proposal will be valuable information in making a stronger argument for the project in the next round, said one of the project collaborators.

 

In a Dec. 8 letter to the Third Frontier Commission, the academy’s review team said the Lima Synthesis Gas Commercialization Center had scientific and commercial merit for its ideas on nanotechnology, but took issue with other ideas in the $60 million grant proposal.

 

The 49-page report covered all seven projects in line for the Wright Mega-center of Innovation grant program, which provided $60 million for centers that would be leaders in research and ultimately have a large impact on Ohio’s economy.  The grant was given to the Cleveland Clinic on Friday.

 

MORE: http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=33323

 

Valero sale -- rumor or inside information?

BY TIM RAUSCH - Jan. 22, 2007

 

LIMA — The publisher of an oil industry newsletter said today that he expects Valero to announce that it is selling the Lima refinery sometime in the next two weeks.  Tom Kloza, news publisher at New Jersey-based Oil Price Information Service, said he has sources in the mergers and acquisition business who told him Valero “quietly shopped” the Lima Refinery during the last few months.

 

Valero officials continue to say nothing on the rumored sale offering.  “As a matter of policy, we cannot comment on rumors,” said corporate communications director Mary Rose Brown.

 

Kloza said he expects Valero to announce soon that it is putting out the for sale sign, either before or during the company’s Feb. 1 earnings report.  Valero acquired the Lima Refinery in 2005 when it bought Premcor.

 

FULL ARTICLE: http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=34434

Valero looks at ‘alternatives’ for Lima refinery

BY TIM RAUSCH - Feb. 2, 2007

 

LIMA — It has held the names BP, Clark, Premcor and Valero.  The Lima oil refinery could have yet another owner’s name if Valero pushes through with a possible sale.  As predicted by an oil industry newsletter, Valero made its intentions known Thursday during its fourth-quarter earnings call.  Valero Energy’s chief executive announced that Deutsche Bank was hired to help explore “strategic alternatives” for the Lima refinery, which include sale.

 

Other alternatives for Lima include alliances and joint ventures with crude producers, explained corporate spokeswoman Mary Rose Brown.  “However, it is important to note that no decision has yet been made,” Brown said.  “You can be assured that we will keep your best interests as a top priority as we consider all options. We are confident that we can develop a strategic opportunity that will be better for the employees, the shareholders and the community than our current approach.”

 

When Valero merged with Premcor in 2005, Premcor and EnCana were studying a joint venture that would have pumped $1 billion into the Lima refinery.  Valero bought Premcor for $8 billion and concluded the joint venture wouldn’t work.

 

MORE: http://www.limaohio.com

Cleveland is at the threshold of noncompliance with clean air standards.  That means that local industries cannot expand.  Having another refinery operation in Ohio, upwind, is not going to help (even if God did bless Valero Oil Company).

 

PBS "Now" busted Valero for trying to destroy one of their plants in Southern California to create a local shortage of fuel.

Having another refinery operation in Ohio, upwind, is not going to help (even if God did bless Valero Oil Company).

 

What exactly do you mean?  The Lima refinery has been around since Mr. Rockefeller built it in 1886, so they have been polluting Ohio for well over 100 years...so this is nothing new   :-)