Lorain County Community Guide 2-29-24

Mall envisioned by second finalist

KRISTIN BAUER / COMMUNITY GUIDE

Chris Salata, chief operating officer for Industrial Commercial Properties LLC, presents his company’s plans for redeveloping the Midway Mall property.

Developer: Business park will ‘activate’ Midway property

Owen MacMillan

The Community Guide

ELYRIA — Lorain County residents and officials were promised an effective, sustainable and, above all, fast redevelopment of Midway Mall during a public forum from the second of two finalists that want to redevelop the mall.

Industrial Commercial Properties (ICP), of Cleveland, last week pitched a total transformation of the mall into a multi-tenant business and light industrial park.

It was the second public forum held at the mall to pitch the public on the projects proposed by the two finalists to redevelop the mall, selected by the Lorain County Port Authority. The port authority pur-

chased the mall in January 2023.

During the first meeting the week before, the Center for Food Innovation pitch its plan to turn the mall into an indoor, controlled-climate farming hub called “The Garden.”

Chief Operating Officer Chris Salata gave the presentation for ICP, spelling out three core tenets of his company’s proposal: Certainty, speed and sustainable growth.

According to ICP, the redevelopment would cost between $25 million and $30 million, create between 250 and 650 jobs with payroll of $12 million to $25 million and take just 36 months to complete.

Salata outlined the history of ICP’s experience in the realm of redeveloping industrial sites,

warehouses and factories for new business.

But most importantly for the Midway Mall project, he said, the company had already carried out similar reinventions on seven former shopping malls.

“What I want you to leave with tonight and the images you see tonight are there is certainty of execution in what we do and we do it at a very high quality,” Salata said.

“We want to make sure this is something that the community, county and the Port (Authority) are proud of. We want this to serve as a beacon to corporate users who want to be located here in Elyria and Lorain County.”

Closest to Elyria, ICP recently

See MALL, A2

Senior housing near mall gets OK

land.

The PACE center, which will serve seniors not just in and from Elyria, but across Lorain County, will see a total investment of $6 million and create more than 40 permanent jobs. The CHN facility will cost $23 million to build.

McGregor representatives have said they hope to break ground in March, but the project’s final plans still need to

See HOUSING, A2

Wrongly accused talk about battle to be exonerated

Ohio Innocence Project helped free them

Carissa Woytach

The Community Guide

ELYRIA — Nancy Smith still cries when talking about the years she spent trying to prove her innocence.

Smith and fellow exoneree Joseph Allen long maintained their innocence in an alleged sex crimes case involving children on a Head Start bus 30 years ago. In early 2022, the two were officially freed — the charges against them were dismissed.

Smith sat alongside three men who were exonerated with the help of the Ohio Innocence Project. They all told their story of convictions for crimes they did not commit as part of a panel hosted by Lorain County Community College’s Office of Student Life and the Ohio Innocence Project. It was part of the college’s Black History Month events, according to a Student Life spokesman.

The Ohio Innocence Project has helped exonerate 42 men and women in Ohio.

Pierce Reed, its director of policy and engagement, told the students and community members gathered at the college last week that everyone loses in a wrongful conviction.

“For every victim, they want justice,” Reed said. “And justice doesn’t happen when an innocent person sits in prison. And while the innocent person is imprisoned, the person who committed the

crime often remains free.”

For exonerated women, they are often convicted for crimes that never occurred, Reed said. He said Smith’s case was one of fraud, where alleged false accusations were made against her and Allen.

Smith served 15 years in prison on charges stemming from those accusations. She gave a brief overview of her attempt to fight those charges over the years, including when she was initially offered a plea bargain; then her acquittal in 2009 by Judge James Burge.

An appeals court sided with Burge later that year, but the Ohio Supreme Court ordered Allen and Smith back to prison in January 2011.

She was again offered a plea deal, and in 2013, Smith was resentenced to 12 years in prison and received time served. That same year, Allen was resentenced to 10 to 25 years.

“I feel like they put me in a corner,” she said. “I had to come out fighting which way I wanted to go: Did I want to go back to prison, or did I want to sign this deal?”

At the time, she’d been home five years — from 2009 to 2013 — and had begun to reestablish her life with her children, grandchildren and sisters.

“I signed the agreement that day that I went to court because I was like, ‘I just can’t leave my kids again,’” she said. “I’m not going to

BRUCE BISHOP / COMMUNITY GUIDE

Four of the 42 people the Ohio Innocence Project has helped exonerate speak at Lorain County Community College. From left are Nancy Smith, Marty Levingston, Marcus Sapp and Laurese Glover and Justice Michael Donnelly of the Ohio Supreme Court.

MALL

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redeveloped Akron’s Chapel Hill mall into the Chapel Hill Business Park, opened in 2022, and transformed the former City View Center in Garfield Heights into a business park named Highland Park.

ICP also owns and plans to redevelop the former Ford Motor Company Lorain Assembly plant, and already owns the former Best Buy location at Midway Mall.

Redeveloping automotive plants is also not new to ICP, as Salata said in the late 1990s and early 2000s the company bought abandoned plants in Ohio and Michigan and turned them into business parks.

Salata said embracing mall redevelopment was a natural extension of that work.

“We fast forward now to the 2020s, and the new auto plant is the regional mall,” Salata said. “There are 1,200 regional retail malls in the country; we believe 300 of them will survive. So we have started on a crusade of redeveloping these properties into business parks. We’ve created job hubs, we’ve created economic development and we’ve done it countless times.”

ICP Senior Vice President of Development Jeff Martin said after the presentation that mall redevelopment was not something many companies in the U.S. were involved in, but that ICP had found a niche and perfected it.

Both Martin and Salata said that ICP’s extensive experience guaranteed that the project would be done, and quickly.

“There is certainty of execution with our group,” Salata said. “We do not have any outside investors. It is all of our own capital, so we would not have to raise any money to perform what we’ll do here and what we’ve done throughout the state of Ohio. We are redevelopment experts.”

The company technically has two proposals, one that would cost roughly $30 million and would renovate the mall, and another that would cost $100 million and would include demolishing the mall in favor of new construction.“Both plans are still in play, but we’re 95 percent leaning in this direction (to keep the building),” Martin said.

Salata said ICP has learned through experience that it generally prefers to reuse existing structures rather than build from scratch.

“While we do develop from the ground up and build new facilities, our preference is to try and use the existing

building and the existing infrastructure in the communities which we enter,” Salata said. “For two reasons: No. 1, it’s cheaper (and) No. 2, it’s quicker to get these projects back into market.”

Salata specifically said he thought the ICP project would move along faster than the opposing project, The Garden, and outlined a timeline of how long he thought it would take ICP to “bring this facility back to life.”

As evidence of that claim, he pointed to the company’s work on the Chapel Hill Mall.

“We acquired that completely empty 28 months ago,” Salata said. “I am happy to report that it is fully leased, 100 percent. Four businesses are in that mall today, we created 300 new jobs in that community.”

Salata said that ICP associates “not very patient developers,” and promised that if his company’s proposal was chosen, work would begin immediately.

He said the first step would be to overhaul the exterior of the mall; removing old signage, repainting, changing the facade, adding green space, putting up new lights and repaving all the surfaces around the building.

“You have to change the narrative of the site,” Salata said. “... We basically need to put our flag in the ground and let people understand that this site in Elyria, Ohio, and in Lorain County is open for business.”

Once the outside had been renovated, the company would get to work on completely gutting the interior of the mall. Companies could then move in, with their facilities inside the mall being custom-built to fit their needs.

“We can cater to specific business needs for end users,” Martin said. “They can figure out how much parking they need, exactly how much office space they want, how much manufacturing space they need. We have all the amenities here to really cater to them. It’s like an a la carte menu for end users, tell us what you need and we’ll make it happen.”

In particular, Salata said those “amenities” of the Midway Mall as a business park location were mainly threefold: its size, massive electrical capacity and location between two major shipping and transportation arteries on I-90 and the Ohio Turnpike.

As far as what companies would fill the space, Salata said that the company worked with a variety of office-based tenants like health care and sales companies as well as light industrial and manufacturing partners.

Roughly 50 percent of ICP’s

tenants are manufacturingbased companies.

“When I say manufacturing and I say light industrial, don’t think smokestacks,” Salata said. “Don’t think tanning plants, don’t think auto plant. Think clean, light industrial uses. Manufacturing, light assembly and believe it or not these types of users will have less truck traffic coming to their place of business on a daily basis than the mall did in its heyday.”

Salata said that the flexibility of ICP’s plan and redevelopment style allowed the company to ensure sustainable growth that would “serve the community as a mutual fund.”

“This business park concept, it’s a tried-and-true concept that we’ve done throughout the country,” he said. “This would be our seventh mall redevelopment, this would be our 10th retail turnaround project. If one tenant doesn’t work out, the project doesn’t crater. Which means there’s sustainability to this model.”

Salata promised that the benefit of ICP’s plan would not stop with the businesses inside its walls or tax dollars paid, but would radiate out to the surrounding businesses and community.

“When you activate the mall, and like I said this will be our seventh one, when you activate the doughnut hole, everything around it comes to life,” he said.

The entire presentation will be posted to the port authority’s YouTube and Facebook pages, as the CFI pitch was, and residents are encouraged to comment on those posts to have their thoughts on the proposals taken into account as the Port Authority Board makes its decision

Port Authority Director Jim Miller said that the next step in the process is for the organization to have conversations with both developers about the finances of their projects.

“We have to figure out the financials of the project,” he said. “How much they’re going to pay, where the funding is going to come from, what’s the whole plan for viability, so that we can choose a project.”

After that conversation is had, the board will meet and vote on which of the two final proposals to select. Then a contract will be worked out with the winner.

“The main purpose of this is to help and provide a benefit to the residents of Lorain County. I’m not going through this just for the heck of it. I’m doing it because that’s the game plan (and) that’s what we’re charged with as the Port Authority,” Miller said.

Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.

HOUSING

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be approved through the city. Council also voted in favor of putting $250,000 toward the construction of another senior living facility, this one to be built on the current site of the Thomas Jefferson School at 615 Foster Ave.

Representatives from Pivotal Housing Partners and the Elyria Community Partnership had come before Council’s Finance Committee last week to request the funding.

Finance approved the idea, and on Tuesday it was formally adopted by Council. Mayor Kevin Brubaker had said at the Finance meeting that the school needs to be torn down and that the city doing so itself would cost “far more” than the $250,000 promised.

“For that money, we’re getting not only the building torn down, but we’re also getting a great project out of it to house the residents of Elyria,” ECP board Chairman Mike Griffin said.

The money will go through ECP to be given to Pivotal and will come from the city’s roughly $3 million in remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds which

INNOCENCE

From A1

do it, because this didn’t affect just me, this affected each and every one of my kids.”

She said no one involved in trying her initial case wanted to answer for the mistake they made. It was not until 2022, when she and Allen were granted a new trial in Judge Chris Cook’s courtroom that Lorain County Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson dismissed all charges against the pair.

“They gave my life back,” Smith said. “… I’m so grateful to be sitting here, sharing the story. … It’s just important to know that innocent people go to prison every day and sometimes those innocent people don’t get out. We’re just four of the lucky ones out.”

Alongside Smith, Laurese Glover of Cleveland and Marcus Sapp and Marty Levingston, both of Cincinnati, shared their stories.

Glover has been speaking on behalf of the Ohio Innocence Project for several years, after being released from prison in 2015. Glover and two of his childhood friends were teenagers when they were charged with a murder in East Cleveland in 1995.

The three ultimately served 20 years for a murder they did not commit and were convicted of on shaky identification by a 14-year-old girl.

Levingston served 15 years in prison after a wrongful conviction in a 2008 murder.

He was released in February 2023 after accepting a plea deal to avoid another trial.

“My mother’s health was going, my father’s health was just going down, kids growing up, grandchildren growing up that I didn’t even meet,” he said of why he took the

expire at the end of this year.

“We’re looking forward to partnering with both ECP and Pivotal Housing, that’s gonna be a great boost to that neighborhood,” Brubaker said.

Griffin has a hand in both projects, as he is also a member of CHN’s executive board. He said he was thrilled to see the projects both move along so quickly.

“Sometimes we hear about projects that are years and year and years away; this thing is gonna happen quick,” he said.

The McGregor Foundation is also using ARPA funds to pay for its portion of the project with CHN, but it received that funding from the state rather than Elyria.

The CHN housing project is expected to begin roughly a year from now, Brubaker said.

“The nice thing is, over the next 18 to 24 months we have two huge projects being built over there on the same lot, and then right around the corner is Pivotal Housing,” Brubaker said. “That kind of makes it nice with everything else that’s going on at (Midway) Mall.”

Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@ chroniclet.com.

plea deal.

Sapp served 13 years after a conviction of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery and felonious assault.

Like Levingston, Sapp said he began researching the legal system while incarcerated and filed records requests in connection with his case.

After additional evidence was uncovered in Sapp’s records, attorneys with the Ohio Innocence Project moved for a new trial.

He was released from prison in January 2023 and awaits a new trial after refusing to take a plea deal similar to what Levingston was offered.

Ohio Supreme Court Justice Michael Donnelly touched on the coercive nature of what he called “dark pleas,” or those offered during retrials — such as those offered to Sapp and Levingston.

“Plea agreements are designed to resolve accusations on the front end of the system,” Donnelly said. “They should not be used to resolve charges that have already been resolved. … You look at the time when the plea is offered: If it is offered to someone who is no longer under the presumption of innocence, that’s a dark plea.”

He called the process an imbalance of power.

“It is the legal equivalent of holding a gun to someone’s head and making them sign a confession because they have no negotiating leverage at all when they offer this plea,” he said, adding that the public suffers when those deals are used because they never get to see the evidence that supports a person’s innocence.

Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet. com.

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If it’s Tuesday, there is likely a kids’ story hour somewhere in Amherst

The Community Guide

AMHERST — “What happens if you give a mouse a cookie?” asked Anneisa Truman.

The 30 toddlers in front of her giggled and shouted “What?”

The smell of coffee and freshly baked muffins drifted in the air, crayons rolled on the tables and the quiet conversation of parents echoed.

Behind the counter, Stephanie Miller smiled as she called out the next coffee order. This was the Sandstone Coffee House’s second story hour, an idea created by Miller, the owner, and her daughter Anna Wallace, and it was going perfectly.

“My mom used to be an elementary school teacher for many years before she opened the coffee shops and she has always loved doing events with kids,” Wallace said. “Now I have three kids of my own and we love going to story hours so I told her I wanted to start one here at the shop.”

Wallace, who is from Amherst, said having her kids thrust her into the bonds that mom life can build, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inspired by the story times at the Amherst Public Library and similar play dates with other local moms, the Sandstone Coffee House story hour seemed like a natural fit.

On Tuesday afternoon, Wallace welcomed Sarah Puskas and Truman, both of Lorain With Littles, to host for the second

story time.

“Lorain With Littles is an aspiring and soon-to-be official nonprofit located out of Lorain run by Anneisa and I,” Puskas said. “We were also inspired by library story hours and play dates and wanted to be able to build a group where parents and kids can socialize and have fun.”

Just shy of its first anniversary, Lorain With Littles has already partnered with Rising Titans to promote literacy. The group also holds a 12-week story time series in the summer.

“Today we chose to read to kids ‘If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.’ I chose it because it is such a classic,” Puskas said. “Everybody knows it and loves it and I’ve wanted to do this one since I started Lorain With Littles.”

Fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies in hand, the young audience was delighted to partake in the event. And the servers at the coffee shop were too.

“I love volunteering to work on days like these where we have events,” Grace Borthwick said. “It’s so fun to watch all the kids having fun and it’s fast-paced, which I enjoy as well.”

The next story hour is planned for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. It will be hosted by the Amherst Public Library. Miller will take a page from her teaching days and lead the kids through an Earth Day-themed book in April.

Contact Lauren Hoffman at (440) 3286902 or lhoffman@chroniclet.com.

LAGRANGE — Seven thousand Rural Lorain County Water Authority customers are being asked to complete a mandatory survey aimed at preventing a crisis like the water supply crisis in Flint, Michigan.

“In December 2021 (rules were) passed by the Biden administration and the U.S. (Environmental Protection Agency) requiring public water systems to create, maintain and submit inventories that include all service line materials in the distribution system,” Joe Waldecker, general manager at Rural Lorain County Water Authority, said.

“What they are mainly looking for is lead pipes that could leak into the water systems and cause significant problems.”

The water authority currently serves 24,000 customers across seven counties in Northeast Ohio.

Of that number, 7,000 customers have been identified who could potentially be at risk and need to complete the survey.

“We got the word from the U.S. EPA about this Feb. 16 and they are requiring us to submit all the paperwork by Oct. 16 of this year,” Waldecker said. “Because of this, we decided to put out a survey for our customers to complete to help us get the paperwork needed.”

Waldecker said the survey seemed like the least intrusive option as well as the least expensive one. Still, if customers need help completing the survey, RLCWA will do so without hesitation.

The survey is expected to take 10 minutes and will require pictures to be submitted.

“We have a deadline and we want our customers to understand that,” he said.

“Also, when it comes to the almighty dollar and the task, rolling a truck and excavating can be quite costly.”

Waldecker said no homes are believed to have lead pipes or contamination but they need to get this survey done to make sure.

“We are not saying there is lead in people’s pipes because we know there is not but the EPA does not know that; that’s why we’re doing this,” he said.

The EPA in 1986 banned the use of lead pipes following the passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Under this law, the EPA identified the maximum allowable lead content of 0.25 percent across wetted surfaces of pipes, pipe fittings, plumbing fittings and fixtures and 0.2 percent for solder and flux.

Many homes built before then contained lead piping that needs to be replaced.

“We started in 1973 and have been monitoring houses and their piping since then and have had no indication that there is lead in the water,” Waldecker said.

In 2001, water authority started its backflow program where inspections were completed at homes and records were gathered on which houses potentially contained lead pipes.

The water authority urges its customers to comply and complete the survey so further

Lauren Hoffman

LAUREN HOFFMAN / COMMUNITY GUIDE

Anneisa Truman reads “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie” to a group of young kids during the Sandstone Coffee House story hour.

Hoffman

Lauren

The Community Guide

OBERLIN — Students from Oberlin College and its conservatory rallied Sunday afternoon demanding President Joe Biden declare a climate emergency and deliver on a promise he campaigned on.

“This affects all of us, and action needs to happen now,” said Holly Swiglo, a freshman environmental studies major. “Young people will face the effects of Biden’s inaction for the

rest of their lives, and we are refusing to stand by.”

Swiglo is one of more than 20 members of Sunrise Oberlin, a local branch of the national Sunrise Movement, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Founded in 2017 as a response to the wildfires in California, the Sunrise Movement now includes thousands of young adults across the country who are demanding climate action from the Biden administration. The group was an early

backer of U.S. Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., endorsing her during her initial term for representative in 2018.

Their work continued with the 2020 presidential election and led to Biden pledging support for many of its positions.

The Oberlin event Sunday afternoon was just the latest of over 40 actions held by the Sunrise Movement across the country.

“Sunrise Oberlin was founded in 2019 by a group

of students but was kind of wiped out during the pandemic,” said Liliana Dodson, a sophomore. “When I returned to campus last semester, I wanted to bring it back to life and started putting the news out there.”

While 20 students actively participate on campus, Dodson said, the group also has a contact list of more than 200 people throughout the community and beyond. Swiglo said being part

John Benson

The Community Guide Tap dancing is deep in one’s soul. But it took Ayodele Casel, the tap choreographer for the national touring production of “Funny Girl,” a long time to find it.

It wasn’t until college that Casel took her first class. Most dancers are exposed to the percussive shoe tapping in elementary school.

“My curiosity of tap began my senior year in high school watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers on screen,” Casel said in a phone call from Teaneck, New Jersey. “I was curious

enough that when I got the opportunity at NYU to take a tap class, I sort of jumped at the chance.

“I really fell in love with it once I realized that tap dancing was much more than just choreography, that it was more than just a series of steps. It was an expression of yourself and that it was a BlackAmerican art form. That was really inspiring to me, certainly as a young, Black, Puerto Rican girl.” Named one of The New York Times’ “Biggest Breakout Stars of 2019,” Casel — a leader in the

dance and tap industry — was born in The Bronx, raised in Puerto Rico and began her professional training at NYU’s Tisch

of the campus group on makes a difference.

“We are just a few people in Ohio coming together, but ultimately when you have people coming together across the country, it adds to something greater,” she said. “And our voices are being heard.”

She said Sunrise Oberlin has collected 200 signatures to add to a national petition the Sunrise Movement plans to send to the Biden administration before this fall.

In the petition, students are asking that a climate emergency be declared

and that President Biden use the full extent of his powers to stop the climate crisis, including reversing a rise in U.S. fossil fuel production, preparing for climate disasters, including guaranteeing everyone has free health care and safe housing, and creating green jobs by using the Defense Production Act.

“Climate action is especially important in Oberlin, where a large percentage of the town is college students,” Swiglo said. “Just because we aren’t on the coast, it doesn’t mean we aren’t being affected.”

School of the Arts. She also lived briefly in Northeast Ohio about 20 years ago. She is a featured tap dancer honoring the art form of tap on a 2021 U.S. Postal Service Forever stamp.

When discussing the beguiling nature of tap, described by her as “music in motion,” the artist talked about what is so intriguing about its rhythm to her.

“Like tapping your feet or drumming on the steering wheel of your car to music, there’s something about its rhythm that is inherently part of being a human being

— from our heartbeat on to walking and all of that,” she said.

As for “Funny Girl,” the bittersweet comedy tells the story of the tough-spirited Fanny Brice, who grew up on the Lower East Side dreaming of a life on the stage. Despite being told she’d never be a star, Brice became one of the most beloved performers in history.

The Broadway revival, which appears through March 10 at Playhouse Square’s Connor Palace, features iconic songs, including “Don’t Rain On My Parade,” “I’m the Greatest

Star” and “People.”

“It was very exciting because tap dancing has a history with ‘Funny Girl,’” she said. “We think Barbra Streisand and those iconic songs that are certainly not necessarily related to tap dancing.

“But when I think of the character Eddie Ryan, he does a beautiful solo in the first act that is very much in the style and in the tradition of tap dancers. That was an opportunity that I got to create from scratch for this particular production.”

Not only is Casel hoping to keep tap alive, but she’s also helping it thrive in the 21st century.

“I’m definitely one of many who are doing that,” she said. “It’s a great privilege, I love it. If you had asked me whether or not I was going to contribute to the art form in the way that I have, I could not have just foreseen that, but I do know that the minute I realized how special the art form was.

“I remember thinking, even as a young person, I want to give back to it as much as it has given me. So it’s exciting to be a part of it.”

Contact John Benson at ndiffrence@ att.net.

Thursday,

Stephen Bonham gets Wells’ seat

Lauren Hoffman The Community Guide

WELLINGTON — Wellington Village Council has named Stephen Boham to fill a seat left vacant by the recent death of longtime councilman Guy Wells, who died in December at the age of 75.

Boham will take office immediately. The appointment is for the first two years of Wells’ final four-year term, which began Jan. 1.

Wells, who served on Council for 30 years and won re-election in November, died Dec. 23.

Boham will hold the position until the next general election for the seat in November 2025, at which point an election will be held to fill the remaining two years

of the term, from Jan. 1, 2026, to Dec. 31, 2027, according to village officials. A retired business owner, Boham ran for Council three times before without success, including most recently in November. He was chosen to fill Wells’ seat over four other applicants: Derek Brasee, Richard Hardy, Scott Markel and Tracy Straight.

Applications were taken from Jan. 16 to Feb. 16.

Mayor Hans Schneider and Council said all five candidates — Bonham, Scott Markel, Derek Brasee, Richard Hardy and Tracy Straight — were strong, and their applications were reviewed during a closed executive session.

Schneider and Council called the deci-

sion “very difficult” but unanimous in Boham’s favor.

Boham is a U.S. Army veteran and owned Moon Precision Machine & Tool and Elyria Machining Institute in Elyria.

He is a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6941 in Wellington, AMVETS and Wellington Fraternal Order of Eagles No. 2051 in Wellington.

He is married to Donna, and they have two children, Stephen Jr. and Jennifer (Boham) Rowland.

“All candidates were strong and presented a most welcomed, yet difficult decision for Council. As a village, we are fortunate to have such a qualified, engaged community that is capable of producing such strong candidates,” Schneider and Council

said in the news release announcing Boham’s selection.

The mayor and Council thanked all the candidates who applied, and hope “that all of the candidates will continue to be actively engaged in the village meetings going forward.”

Village officials also expressed “our eternal gratitude for the many years of service that Councilman Guy Wells gave to our great community. He will be missed.”

Everyone getting ready for April 8 eclipse

Elected officials, first responders and business leaders heard the latest on plans and expectations for the April 8 solar eclipse last week.

The information was presented at a meeting of the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce’s Safety Council by Lorain County Emergency Management Agency Director Dave Freeman and Elyria Fire Chief Joe Pronesti.

Freeman is serving as the primary leader of the county’s preparedness for the large influx of visitors expected.

A total solar eclipse will pass through 11 states including Ohio on the second Monday of April, and Lorain County is in the path of totality, where the eclipse will be the clearest and longest lasting.

Freeman said the shadow of the eclipse will enter Ohio at 3 p.m. in Greenville and pass through the state exiting through Avon Lake about 15 minutes later.

“This really is a once-ina-lifetime event,” Freeman said. “I like to kind of laugh about it a little bit, and have a little fun with it, but it really is very unique. The last (total solar eclipse) we saw was in 1806. The next one is gonna be in 2444.”

He reiterated that earlier estimates that Lorain County’s population may triple on the day of the eclipse may have been overblown, but the county still expects thousands of visitors.

“We’re one of only nine Ohio counties that are intersected by the center line of totality,” Freeman said. “This is a big one. We are within a one-day drive of 70 percent of the U.S. population. The original statistics that we were getting back in the early days was that our population could triple. That’s significant when you’re talking about a county of 312,000 people … it just would have been overwhelming. I’m not saying that can’t

Wellington school board to hold Special Session Tuesday

The Community Guide WELLINGTON — The Wellington Exempted Village School District Board of Education Work Session Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, March 5, 2024, has been changed to a Special Session at 6 p.m. It will be held at Westwood Elementary School in the dining hall and also through zoom. The Board of Education will vote on personnel matters.

happen, but I do have some revised numbers.”

Using the estimates of greatamericaneclipse.com, it now is anticipated that at most 556,000 people will visit Ohio as a whole from out of state for the eclipse. The closest large concentrations are expected to be in Norwalk and Cleveland.

“That’s not to say we couldn’t see huge amounts of these numbers,” Freeman said.

Avon Lake specifically is being called one of the best places in the state to view the eclipse, both through advertising by the city itself and by the National Weather Service of Cleveland.

Freeman said this is because the weather conditions along Lake Erie could make it clearer than the rest of the county.

According to historical weather data, the area as a whole had a 60 percent to 80 percent chance of being cloudy on that day, Freeman said.

But, the sky along the lakeshore is much more likely to be clear as long as the temperature of the lake is warmer than the air.

Freeman urged business owners to keep a close eye on the projected weather on April 8 and to plan their work days and any events accordingly, as the county could be much busier if the sky is expected to be clear.

The last total solar eclipse to cross through the U.S. took place in 2017, and Freeman said that the experience of communities on the center line of totality then was an important case study for Lorain County.

One of the biggest takeaways from all the states the last eclipse passed through was the fact that almost all visitors coming to view the event left “almost immediately” after the totality ended.

“This was seen everywhere this occurred, that was the biggest issue,” Freeman said.

One specific case discussed was that of Sweetwater, Tennessee, a town of

around 6,000 that saw its population briefly balloon to 24,000.

“The influx of people was not a problem for them, they’ve said this over and over again,” Freeman said. “They said they were worried initially about parking, that didn’t cause them any problems, they had a lot of people. The problem was as soon as the eclipse ended like literally everyone started their car and left — all at the same time.”

Freeman said that the streets of Sweetwater were congested for hours after the event, making it nearly impossible to get around.

Pronesti said that his fear was about gridlock preventing his firefighters and LifeCare EMS crews from traversing the city.

“My big concern — I’ll just be honest with you — for the city of Elyria is I’m worried about an accident on (Interstate) 90 or the Turnpike,” he said. “That is my biggest fear — handling a large accident because of the increase in traffic. My department covers a large span of 90 and the Turnpike.”

Additionally, Pronesti said that due to the influx of people and additional traffic, mutual aid between first responders in different cities would be “nonexistent.”

Pronesti and Freeman both said that employers should consider having employees work remotely if possible, but to at least ensure that they will not be on the road at the time the eclipse ends.

One major step that the county has accomplished is convincing all Lorain County school districts to close on April 8, as the eclipse will take place around the same time many schools let out for the day.

Another step that Freeman said should be taken, and has been taken already by some organizations hosting eclipse viewing events like that at the Lorain County Fairgrounds, was to hold events after the eclipse, to encourage people

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to stay longer and leave more sporadically.

Lorain County EMA has organized four task forces to conduct the planning around the eclipse: public safety (fire, EMS and hospitals), law enforcement/ traffic, public health and infrastructure.

The law enforcement committee, headed by Sheffield Police Chief William Visalden, is plotting traffic control tactics to keep the county’s roads moving.

Freeman said those plans would not be released to the public. He said releasing the plan ahead of time would defeat the purpose and could make large, slowmoving groups of motorists vulnerable to “bad actors.’’

As the next major step in planning, Freeman said, the four planning committees will come together sometime in March to hold

LORAIN COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY

This map shows the path of totality of the April 8 total solar eclipse and the estimated time it will be most visible in Northern Ohio.

tabletop simulations, where they will talk and work through a series of problem scenarios as a group.

Whatever planning the county does, it will “not be set in stone,” Freeman emphasized. He said that the plan would have to be flexible at least until the county has a

solid estimation of what the weather will be.

For more information on the April 8 total solar eclipse in Lorain County, visit the county’s official online resource portal at loraincountyohio.org.

Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.

Wellington’s Chase McKenzie gets two points past Keystone’s Logan Nagle. Wellington celebrated its Winter Seniors against rival Keystone. Wellington led for most of the game, but Keystone made a fourth quarter surge and a Grant Hartley tip in to beat the buzzer and spoil Senior Night. Keystone comes away with a 42-40 win to close out the regular season.

Wellington’s Savannah Gundert gets to the basket past Black River’s Zoey Bungard. Wellington hosted Black River in a DIII Sectional playoff game. Wellington scored the first 14 points and cruised to a running clock 60-22 win.

Amherst’s Kayla Ferancy moves the ball under pressure from Highland’s Grace Shondel. Amherst traveled to Highland to play their second playoff game. Amherst led most of the game but ran out of gas in the fourth quarter allowing Highland to take the lead and get a 43-35 win.

Photos by Russ Gifford, The Community Guide

County

Thursday,

Amherst’s Loy one of 17 in Ohio to get caddy scholarship

Annamarie Loy of Amherst was one of 17 Ohio students to have been awarded the Western Golf Association’s Chick Evans Scholarship, a full housing and tuition scholarship for golf caddies and the nation’s largest privately funded scholarship program.

BULLETIN BOARD

and More” art classes.

• 3/1, 3/15, 3/29 at 11:15 a.m. - Music & Movement Storytime

3/2 11a.m. & 3/19 6:30 p.m. - Canine

Reading Buddies

• 3/4 - Noon - Pencils and More Art Workshop

once-in-a-lifetime solar eclipse, Oberlin City School District is inviting families to an Ecolympics/Solar Eclipse Family Friendly Fun Night.

Annamarie Loy caddied at Elyria Country Club.

Annamarie, a student at Marion L. Steele High School, balanced a caddying job at Elyria Country Club throughout high school with academics, cheerleading, and volunteer work. This fall, she will begin college as an Evans Scholar. Most Ohio Evans Scholars are expected to attend The Ohio State University or Miami University, with decisions finalized by March 15.

The Evans Scholarship is valued at more than $125,000 over four years. The Western Golf Association (WGA), headquartered in Glenview, Illinois, has supported the Chick Evans Scholarship Program through the Evans Scholars Foundation since 1930.

Currently, a record 1,130 caddies are enrolled at 24 universities nationwide – including 66 at Ohio State and 80 at Miami University – as Evans Scholars. More than 12,040 caddies have graduated as Evans Scholars since the Program was founded by famed Chicago amateur golfer Charles “Chick” Evans Jr. in 1930.

Black River Audubon Society meets Tuesday

The Black River Audubon Society’s March program will be presented by local naturalist Gary Gerrone, “I Only Bird While I’m Awake” on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at French Creek Reservation, 4530 Colorado Avenue, Sheffield Village, Ohio. (Note different location.)

“This seriously funny program tells the tales of learning, seeking, finding, identifying, and enjoying birds. …and of how birds

made me a better Naturalist…and a better person,” Gary explained. Gerrone served as the award-winning Naturalist Supervisor for most of his 30+ year career with the Lorain County Metro Parks, and currently manages both Geneva and Headlands State Parks. His writing resume includes nearly 400 published pieces including his longrunning nature column and the authoring of the book Lorain County Metro Parks: The First Fifty Years. This program is free.

Historical Society in Amherst offers four scholarships Amherst Historical Society is offering four $1,500 scholarships for Lorain County students that help impact the community.

– Two $1,500 scholarships are for trade school, trade programs, or certifications

– Two $1,500 scholarships are for college: One is a first year scholarship: the other if for students already in college.

The deadline for applications for the scholarship is April 12 by 4 pm.

The scholarship application is available at https:// amhersthistoricalsociety. org/scholarship/ or can be picked up or emailed. For more information, call (440) 988-7255; or email office@amhersthistoricalsociety.org

Diversity is theme of Genealogy group online program

Ohio Genealogy Society -- Lorain County Chapter will present an online program, “Faith of our Fathers” on March 11 at 7 p,m.

Peggy Lauritzen, author, researcher, and instructor, will present this program on our country’s religious history and diversity. A number of different religions and their beginnings will be discussed. Before

state and vital records were mandated, churches were valuable information that can be used as substitutes for vital records.

This virtual presentation on is free and open to the public. To join, request a link by emailing meetings@loraincoogs.org.

Solar eclipse topic of historians in Pittsfield Township Pittsfield Township Historical Society will host a program “Solar Eclipse 2024 -- Path of Totality” given by Gary S. Gerrone, an award-winning naturalist previously with the Lorain County Metro Parks and columnist for the Chronicle.

He is well versed on the upcoming solar eclipse from both the astronomical side and for preparing for the massive number of tourists that will invade the path of totality. He will present an enjoyable, informative, and free program on March 14 at the Pittsfield Town Hall at 7 p.m.

(A limited supply of solar glasses will be available.)

Amherst Library offers much to do in March

The Amherst Public Library has a variety of programs and events for all ages during the first half of March, including the return of monthly “Watercolors

• 3/5 - 6 p.m. - Musical Storytime with the Oberlin Choristers 3/7 - 10:30 a.m. - Tai Chi for Balance and Fall Prevention

• 3/11 - 6:30 p.m.Make Your Own Herbal Tea

• 3/12 - 5:30 p.m.Tabletop Game Time

• 3/14 - 4 p.m. - Kids Art Workshop: The Eclipse

Amherst Garden Club topic is micro gardens

The Amherst Garden Club will meet Thursday, for the first meeting of 2024, the 90th anniversary year.

Justin Hill, of Forest-Hill Farmstand, will give a presentation on Micro Gardens at 6:30 p.m., followed by a short business meeting. It will be held at the Amherst Historical Society, 113 S. Lake St. and Milan Ave.. This event is open to the public, so anyone who is interested in gardening and plants is welcome to attend, or join. Annual dues are $15. Additional parking is at Quigley House across the street.

Ecolympics

Family Fun Night at OES

In preparation for the 2024 Ecolympics and

This event is a collaboration between The City of Oberlin, Oberlin College and Oberlin City School District, and is geared toward informing our families of the events that will take place during Ecolympics 2024, as well as the Once-in-a-Lifetime Solar Eclipse.

The key theme for this year’s community Ecolympics is “Energy Efficiency, Electrification and Solarization!”

To date, we have 10 outside companies/organizations that will be participating where they will be showcasing their ways to create sustainable energy - energy bike, LED bulb giveaways, pledge cards to reduce energy/water use, etc.

It is today from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Oberlin Elementary School, 210 North Park Street, Oberlin.

Wellington school board to meet on personnel

The Wellington Exempted Village School District Board of Education the Work Session Meeting scheduled for Tuesday has been changed to a Special Session at 6 p.m. at Westwood Elementary School in the dining hall and via zoom.

The Board of Education will vote on personnel matters.

Oberlin road closures

Oberlin College’s Sustainable Infrastructure Program (SIP) will replace the century-old, fossil fuelbased heating system with an efficient geothermal heat pump system to heat and cool campus buildings and provide domestic hot water.

Week of March 4, Road Closures and Traffic Disruptions

Early in the week, Willard Court will be closed behind the Art Library. Allen Memorial Art Museum dock access should be from the north off of Lorain. Willard Court parking and Hotel parking should be accessed from College Street.

Later in the week, Willard Court will be closed behind Allen Memorial Art Museum, on the south side of Lorain

to the northern edge of Allen Memorial Art Museum dock access. Allen Memorial Art Museum dock access, Willard Court parking, and Hotel parking should be accessed from College Street. Wayfinding, Signage, and Fencing The sidewalk on the east side of North Professor will be closed, between Severance and Carnegie.

The area west of Wilder Hall and east of the Central Services Building will remain closed, with the exception of the sidewalk just north of Mudd.

The sidewalk between Hall Annex and Art Library. Please view the wayfinding map to confirm your preferred routing in these areas.

Lorain County Community Guide

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