P
The
Since 1972
Managing COPD See Health
RESS August 14, 2017
FREE
Serving More Than h 33 33,000 000 H Homes & B Businesses i iin 4 C Counties ti
Ottawa County
Goals set high See Sports M
Land bank starting demolitions By Larry Limpf News Editor news@presspublications.com
Continued on page 2
Q uote
of The Week
I seem to be a source of endless fascination for people who happen by. Floyd the bicycle
See page 6
Harbor View Historical presents War of 1812
Martin and Tamia Land, volunteers from the Old Northwest Military History Association, give Dakota Schmidlin, age 6, a closer look at some muskets, just one of the hands-on activities at the Harbor View Historical Society Museum’s War of 1812 Program. At right, the Lands, portraying Cushing’s Company of the 2nd U.S. Artillery, prepare to fire muskets. This is the second time that the two historical societies have joined forces to present a program. (Press photos by Ken Grosjean)
Growers group
Produce project becomes success story By Larry Limpf News Editor news@presspublications.com An expansion project by the Maumee Valley Growers Association into supplying produce for the wholesale market has been a success and will continue, says Joe Perlaky, MVGA executive director. The non-profit association received a grant two years ago of $100,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that enabled it to function as what Perlaky calls a “value chain coordinator” and offer about 20 association members the chance to pool their resources. “This is great news for our farming community and surrounding region,” he said. “This program offers sales venues not normally available to small farmers. This will be on-going and we’re building on it.” In the 14 years or so since its inception, the MVGA’s focus has been on flowers. But when “buy local” food programs became more popular, association members saw an opportunity to expand into produce markets. The grant was used to partner with Azoti, a Columbus-based software company that also provided staffing with connections to chefs statewide, and with Sirna and Sons Produce, Ravenna, O., for logistical assistance. “We found that our niche was small farmers. Those with gross annual receipts of less than $100,000. Most are in the $25,000 range. These are the same farmers that are
can hospice help? Veterans often have special needs at the end of life, coping with both physical and emotional issues. We can help with expert care. Call 419.661.4001. ©2017 Hospice of Northwest Ohio
“
This is great news for our farming community and surrounding region.
“
After the demolition this summer of a mixed-use building in downtown Port Clinton, the Ottawa County Land Bank is focusing its attention on structures in other parts of the county, JoEllen Regal, president of the land bank’s board of directors, said last week. Regal said the Port Clinton property included apartments and commercial space but hadn’t been in use for years and had become a safety hazard. The land bank owns eight other properties, including structures in the Genoa and Oak Harbor areas, and some may be demolished by early next month. Bids for contracts to remove asbestos and the demolition have been advertised. Demolition includes removal of the structures, foundations and basements, Regal said, and the land bank will also contract for lawn maintenance and removal of diseased trees where needed. Any recyclable materials found during the inspection of the houses will be donated to non-profit organizations. All properties obtained by the land bank were delinquent on property taxes. Funding for the demolitions is coming from a $500,000 grant from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency through its Neighborhood Initiative Program. The goal is to stabilize property values by removing and then “greening” vacant and blighted properties in targeted areas in an effort to prevent future foreclosures for existing homeowners, according to the OHFA website. In Ohio, 31 percent of homeowners with loans owe at least 125 percent more than their estimated home value. Regal said the NIP grant includes restrictions that require the land bank to own demolished properties for three years. Once that requirement is met, the properties can be sold. Once purchased, the new owner can build a new house or adjoining property owners can but the land and split
involved in our floriculture program but they could never compete with large farms because they didn’t have the volume and variety of produce for the wholesale market. “It’s important to note this grant isn’t being used to sell directly to customers, there is no retail involved. We’re not competing with farmers markets or selling to grocery stores. The purpose is to allow small farmers, working together, to carry enough volume and variety of food to compete in the wholesale market,” Perlaky said. “The point is to create wealth for the small farmer.” Small growers who aren’t members of the association also were allowed to participate in the program. The MVGA functions as a clearing house so the farmers could pool their resources to be more competitive at the wholesale level. The software developed by Azoti allows buyers to see what produce is available from each grower at any time of the day.
“We have 51 chefs who we’re working with. Most are from outside the area,” Perlaky said. “Having enough farmers and enough chefs gives you the diversity to work the software system online. It’s very convenient.” In the first year of the program, the growers sold about $10,000 worth of produce. By the second year, sales reached about $50,000. “All types of leafy greens are some of the chefs’ favorite categories. And we can’t seem to keep enough cherry tomatoes and strawberries in stock. These items are grown nearly year round in our green houses. That makes us somewhat unique as a produce provider in the northern states,” Perlaky said. Growers harvest the pre-sold produce and transport it to a drop point at Hoen’s Greenhouse in Springfield Township. The MVGA then labels it and ships it to the distributor. With the farmers only harvesting what has been ordered, there is less waste and the distributor only has to deal with the association rather than many farmers. “We provide the service for the distributor which generally doesn’t want to deal with small farmers. It’s a lot of management with many variables. We’re almost like a food broker, connecting small farmers with the buyers, who are typically chefs,” Perlaky said. In all, the MVGA includes more than 70 growers.