April 28, 2011
Arlington Commons
Residents raise concerns over traffic By CHRIS BOURNEA ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Upper Arlington City Council voted 4-3 Monday night to reject a motion to reinstall parking-by-permit-only signs to Brandon and Chester roads. The April 25 vote came after more than two hours of testimony from residents and developers of Arlington Commons on Lane Avenue about legislation that
would repeal the permit-parking restrictions on Brandon, Chester and other nearby streets. After hearing residents’ concerns that traffic has been spilling over from Arlington Commons onto surrounding streets, council member David DeCapua made a motion to temporarily reinstall parking-permit signs on Brandon and Chester. DeCapua said he supports the move so that existing parking restrictions
can be enforced and to give the neighborhood a break from the congestion while the city explores long-term solutions. DeCapua, Debbie Johnson and Erik Yassenoff voted yes on the motion, while Frank Ciotola, Mary Ann Krauss, Ed Seidel and Wade Steen voted no. City attorney Jeanine Hummer explained that the signs were removed for maintenance in 2006 and never reinstalled
as the city considered doing away with the parking restrictions. She cautioned council members that reinstalling the signs could trigger litigation from residents who live on other streets where signs have also been removed. “If you single out Chester and Brandon, there has been an indication that there will be a taxpayer lawsuit to reinstate all of them,” Hummer said. Several residents told council that pa-
trons of the Arlington Commons, especially the Wine Bistro at 1750 W. Lane Ave., have been parking in front of their houses and creating noise, congestion and safety hazards. “We feel our neighborhood is collateral damage to the development,” said Chester Road resident Julie McCulloch. Developer Tim Rollins of MetropoliSee CONCERNS, page A3
CIC gives incentive go-ahead to eInformatics By ANDREW MILLER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Chris Parker/ThisWeek
Wellington fourth-graders (from left) Owen Gajoch, Aquila Simmons and Evan Albers with their robot at the school on April 21. The team recently won the 2011 National Robotics Challenge and will compete in the world challenge this weekend in St. Louis, Mo.
Wellington 4th-graders taking robot to world championships By ANDREW MILLER
dents from 65 schools across 10 teams could compete. The only tweak the parts and pieces
ThisWeek Community Newspapers states, with more than 1,000 par- Wellington team chose to build on the robot but also the pro-
A noisy arena during the school year often means parents cheering on their children for any number of athletic challenges. Over the April 14 weekend, however, the cheers were for the robots, and the support came from the kids who built them, and from their parents. Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Marion hosted the National Robotics Challenge April 14-16. The tournament included stu-
ticipants. This year’s victorious robot and its creators — fourth-graders Aquila Simmons of Canal Winchester and Evan Albers and Owen Gajoch, both of Upper Arlington — were there representing Wellington School. “We’re very proud of how we did,” Wellington Lower School teacher and robotics team coach Dorene Henschen said. “This was a real team effort.” The competition included 13 robotic challenges in which the
and program their robot to complete a series of tasks in the Canine Companion challenge. The robot was required to navigate a series of lines drawn on a plywood board, at times doing particular tasks such as moving objects into a box or striking a ball off of a pedestal. “We really had to work as a team to win this,” Henschen said. “When we got there, the course board was a little warped and that really caused several teams problems. The kids had to not
gramming to make it work.” The students use the Lego Mindstorm NXT robotics system to build and program their robots. These off-the-shelf kits integrate with Lego building blocks, gears, motors and sensors to control the robot’s movement. “If your robot is just a few degrees off at the first turn it will be way off for the final part of the course,” Simmons said. See ROBOT, page A3
A closer look
The Upper Arlington Community Improvement Corp. met April 21 to discuss financial incentives to attract a growing company, eInformatics, to the city. Tim Ninke, owner of eInformatics, which provides software installation, support and maintenance for a variety of medical record solutions, was given an opportunity to share with the board the background of his company and its expected growth moving forward. According to Ninke, doubledigit growth and the need for more personnel are the reasons behind the company’s planned move. “We’ve been slowly growing for the past 12 years in a very conservative way. We started with just two employees and have grown on cash flow, not debt,” Ninke said. “Our focus is niche, providing paperless medical charts for small physician offices.” eInformatics, currently at 5151 Reed Road just outside the city, employs 20 people with a payroll of $1.1 million, according to Matt Shad, deputy city manager for economic development. The company plans to grow to 30 employees with a payroll of $1.65 million once they relocate to larger office space. “We’re on a short timeline in regard to our current lease, so I contacted all of the economic development directors in northwest
The CIC board voted unanimously to ask city council to approve a municipal income tax credit of 25 percent, to be made available upon eInformatics signing a fiveyear lease for the first three years of that lease, and is dependent on a payroll increase to $1.65 million by Dec. 31, 2013.
Columbus. Matt (Shad) was back in touch with me within four hours.” Ninke said, noting he was very appreciative of the city’s responsiveness. Office space at 5005 Horizon Drive, currently owned by Teamworks Solutions Inc., an IBM software development company that occupies half of the building, is being considered. “If we can make things work for (Ninke), Teamworks has space ready to move eInformatics in as early as June,” Shad said. “The space can fit up to 40 employees so there is additional room for growth if needed in the future.” Ninke said he is hopeful that a deal can be made. “We’ve looked at Hillard, Dublin and Worthington. We work closely with (Ohio State University) health information program,” he said. “My partner was a longSee CIC, page A2
UAHS band concert to feature Copland’s ‘Lincoln Portrait’ By KATE HETRICK ThisWeek Community Newspapers
The Upper Arlington High School bands will round out their spring season with two free concerts, slated for 7:30 p.m. May 3 and May 20 in the UAHS auditorium, 1650 Ridgeview Road. The May 3 concert will feature the concert band, percussion ensemble and symphonic band. “Jazz Night,” May 20,
will highlight the contributions of the vocal ensemble, jazz ensemble and jazz lab. Selections for the May 3 concert will include the classic Shaker song “Simple Gifts,” as well as songs from “Schindler’s List” and “The Sound of Music.” The symphonic band will perform the major work of the concert, Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait.” “This piece is a major work and at about 14 minutes long, it’s twice the
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length of a ‘normal’ band piece,” said director Mike Manser. “It calls for incredible independence of playing because the parts are so exposed.” Copland penned “Lincoln Portrait” as part of the World War II patriotic effort in 1942. The piece quotes folk songs from the era and calls for narration about Lincoln, borrowing excerpts from speeches such as the Gettysburg Address. Many famous actors and politicians have narrated “Lincoln’s Portrait,”
including Barack Obama, James Earl Jones and Walter Cronkite. Junior clarinetist Caleb Belew will serve as the narrator for UA’s performance. “We had the choice to use a student or a guest narrator,” Manser said. “Before I finished asking the question, a student said, ‘I nominate Caleb Belew.’ I would suspect he was nominated because of his deep, sonorous voice.” Belew has been working with Eric
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Kauffman, vocal music director and voice of the Golden Bear bands, to perfect his narration. In addition to listening to several famous narrators of the piece, Manser said Belew has been recording himself and researching the included excerpts so he can “best communicate the message to the audience.” Copland originally scored “Lincoln’s Portrait” for a full orchestra. Walter See CONCERT, page A2
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