December 26, 2010
Levy to keep MTFD at full strength Voter approval means firefighters hired with grant funds can stay By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers The Monroe Township Fire Department has purchased two noxious gas monitors and is assured of completing its obligations under a 2007 federal grant that allowed the hiring of two full-time firefighters, thanks to voters’ passage of a fire levy Nov. 2. Chief Dudley Wright said the most significant immediate benefit of the levy is that the positions of two firefighter/para-
medics hired in 2008 will be able to be maintained. “Without the levy, in 2012 we would have been faced with maybe laying off these firefighters and paying back the grant funds (that allowed them to be hired),” Wright said. “But now we are going to be able to maintain that. “The purpose was to bring our staff up to a level where our daily staffing was four firefighter/paramedics,” he said. “The state of Ohio requires, if you are going to make entry into a burning building,
you have to have “two in, two out,” so by having four responders on scene we can go ahead and begin fighting the fire before a second piece of equipment arrives.” Wright said the numbers are important because it is common that the department will have two emergencies at one time. “This year we had about 300 times where we had simultaneous emergency responses, two emergencies in progress at the same time,” Wright said. “This al-
lows us to better cover these simultaneous situations.” In recent years the department has made about 1900 responses annually. The department had applied for its grant in 2007 and hired the additional staff in October 2008. The terms of the grant provided 90 percent of the salaries in the first year, declining to 0 percent in the fifth year, when the department was expected to sustain the expense within its budget. “The knowledge that the levy passed
has allowed us to be more secure in continuing the cycle of the grant program,” Wright said. “If it had not passed we might have been in a situation where we might have had to return some of that money.” Under ideal circumstances, the department would be twice as large as it is, Wright said, but he said there is no current expectation that the department will reach that level any time soon. See FULL STRENGTH, page A2
Canine unit will return to action in January
A SHOW OF VIKING HANDS
By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
ably going to be more than $200,000,” Block said. To date, after shows in October, November and December, the series has broken even. Block said the full year should show a small profit. “This first year, if we can finish the year breaking even we’ll be happy,” Block said. “The second year, we hope to make a profit of $5,000 to $10,000.” Eventually the series will seek corporate sponsors for the monthly events, but Block said they would like to establish the program as a success before seeking outside sponsors. Expenses so far have been advanced by the historical society. The first event in October featured a Model A
Following the death of police dog Vox in August, the Johnstown Police Department is preparing to reestablish its canine patrol in 2011. The new dog has not been selected yet, but will be part of class of five dogs currently being trained. “The dog is in training and probably won’t hit the street until sometime in January, late January,” said Police Chief Don Corbin. Johnstown had a police dog in the late 1990s, with Officer David Butler, who left to join the Delaware County Sheriff. In 2006, Vox joined the force when Officer Jason Bowman was hired. Vox died of a rare protein disorder at the age of 5. “He threw a blood clot in his lungs on a Saturday night and Sunday he threw another one and died from it,” Bowman said. Bowman was a good hire for Johnstown, because he works with his father Dan Bowman at Gold Shield Canine, a business that has trained police dogs for more than 30 years. That connection, along with the fact that Alison Bowman, Jason’s wife, is a veterinarian, meant that Johnstown was able to establish a canine unit without substantial cost. “We try to have a budget to help him out once in awhile, but without Jason being a trainer and his wife being a veterinarian we could not afford one,” Corbin said. Bowman already owned Vox, and to pay for extra costs, such as outfitting a vehicle for the dog, he raised money locally from business people such as Dave Gerhardt of Atria windows. “When I started, the village said they wanted a dog and I was hired with the notion of having one,” Bowman said. “At the time the village did not have the money, so I said that I had a personal dog and suggested we put him on duty and go out and raise the money.” Until recently the village used a 1996 vehicle from the city of Dublin that was about to be sold for salvage. The total cost of a canine patrol includes the $14,500 cost of the dog and training, and another $6,500 in modifying a vehicle, Bowman said. Ordinary police cruisers can be used, but Bowman said using Ford Explorers or Chevy Tahoes is the norm.
See OPERA HOUSE, page A2
See CANINE UNIT, page A2
By Adam Cairns/ThisWeek
Jordan Johnson, a Northridge High School student, leads a rowdy student section in a cheer during the Vikings’ boys basketball game against Johnstown-Monroe on Dec. 21. The Vikings won 59-47.
Johnstown Opera House
‘Third Saturday’ series to run through May By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers The Johnstown Historical Society is preparing for its next Third Saturday Series at the Johnstown Opera House in January. Outgoing historical society president Marvin Block said the society came up with the idea for the series in July, when it sat down with Columbus arts patron Michael Hurwitz to brainstorm themes for the nine-month program. “Michael Hurwitz has been sort of our mentor on this thing,” Block said. “He’s been very active in the arts in Columbus for 30 or 40 years. He’s written a few books, including one on opera houses.”
Since October, the opera house has been open for 7 p.m. programs on the third Saturday of the month, with ticket prices of $10 to cover the cost of performers. Eventually, Block hopes, the series will raise money to pay for renovations on the 1865 building, which is owned by Monroe Township. “A theater refers to a facility where the theater is on the first floor, and an opera house is always on the second floor, including the seating and the stage,” Block said. The building is in good shape, but the historical society hopes to raise money to repair plaster and install a modern lighting and sound system. “I’m afraid to say how much it is, but it’s prob-
Licking County Foundation
Funding helps support nonprofit organizations, special projects By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers The Licking County Foundation released its 2011 discretionary grants Wednesday, including a grant to the Northridge Local School District for its antibullying programs. The foundation also announced that it is now accepting applications for more than $614,000 in scholarship funds to be awarded in 2011. The foundation is funded by a total of $50-million in assets, including a $7-mil-
lion gift received in 2009. “This is a very generous community,” said Connie Hawk, foundation director. “We’ve been around since 1956 and our endowment has grown over time.” During the past five years, the foundation assets have grown by 27 percent. In 2009, the foundation made awards totaling more than $2-million, including more than $500,000 in scholarships. The foundation received 563 gifts to existing and new funds in 2009. More than 200 funds that make the foundation’s assets, including unrestricted,
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named funds, agency funds, scholarship funds and “field of interest” funds that are dedicated to specific organizations, purposes or geographic areas. Among the funds that have a particular focus to the Johnstown area are the Mary E. Babcock Foundation Community Charitable Fund, the Richard K. and Ione D. Hill Scholarship and Perry L. Miles Scholarship funds at Johnstown Monroe High School, and the Maxine and Diane Hite Scholarship, Perry L. Miles Scholarship, and the Moore-Redmond Scholarship funds at Northridge
High School. Many other funds apply generally to all of Licking County. The general structure of the foundation is to establish permanent asset accounts and from those accounts spend only the income revenue. “We’re endowed,” Hawk said. “Most of the funds, the original gifts made to the fund are never spent.” The foundation uses two primary fund agreements. One is an endowed fund agreement, in which a fund is established and then only the “expendable amount”
is available each year. The expendable amount is based on an overall spending policy, which currently calls for evaluating the value of the fund over 12 quarters and spending 4 percent of that value. If, during an economic downturn, funds enjoyed no income, then in most cases there would be no expenditures during that year, Hawk said. Another fund agreement allows for access to principle balances, which is commonly used for project-based funds that See FOUNDATION, page A2
Sally (left) is one of the homeless pets still waiting to be adopted from the Second Chance Humane Society. Her shelter mate, Daisy, was featured in the October video at www.ThisWeekNEWS.com and is also waiting to be adopted. For more information on adopting one of the dogs, visit www.secondchancehs.com or call (740) 967-3700.