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A supplement to The Press Newspapers June 15, 2015
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Chemist seeks better toxin detection By J. Patrick Eaken Press Staff Writer news@presspublications.com
Tractor show
Mallorie and Brayden Mefford, of Toledo, get a closer look at a 1953 Farmall Tractor at a combination tractor show and garage sale held at Maumee Bay State Park. The two siblings were at the park with their grandfather Bob Textor, of Curtice. (Press photo by Ken Grosjean)
Woodmore schools
Personnel, programs off chopping block By Larry Limpf News Editor news@presspublications.com
©2015 Hospice of Northwest Ohio
As the financial picture of the Woodmore school district becomes clearer, the school board is continuing to remove personnel positions and programs from the chopping block. Board members Tuesday unanimously approved retaining field trips, supplemental positions such as coaches and advisors, busing, the gifted and talented program teacher, a custodial position and an elementary physical education teacher for the 2015-16 school year. The positions and other items were part of an extensive list of proposed cuts the board and administration compiled earlier this year as the district was coming to grips with an overstatement of revenues from tangible personal property taxes in its five-year forecast. The cuts were to be enacted if a 0.75 percent earned income tax on the May ballot wasn’t approved. Voters rejected the levy but the district’s finances recently got a boost from a $280,000 reimbursement for an overpayment to the North Point Educational Service Center. Projected revenues from property tax collections are also on course to increase
by about $120,000 in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, compared to last year, and total revenues this fiscal year, including the North Star reimbursement, are also projected to increase. The board in May approved retaining a counselor, music teacher, and four elementary classroom teachers who were also on the list of proposed cuts. Linda Bringman, district superintendent, said after the meeting Tuesday the administration won’t determine how many of the classroom teachers will actually be hired for the coming school year until enrollment figures are in. The board is also considering increases in student fees and pay-to-participate fees to boost revenues but hasn’t taken action. Treasurer Jaime Pearson informed the board Tuesday a version of the state’s next biennium budget pending in the senate “looks favorable” for the district but cautioned the budget hasn’t been completed. Residents attending the meeting applauded after the board voted to retain the positions. In other business, the board unanimously approved proceeding with the contract bidding process for the demolition of the junior high wing of the high school building in Elmore. The board also voted unanimously to
plan for the demolition of the former elementary school building in Woodville but couldn’t agree on whether or not to plan for demolishing a wing of the building that housed kindergarten and first grade classes before the district opened a new elementary school. A proposal to retain the wing and use it for storage has been discussed but the board is still weighing the costs of revamping it to make it suitable for storage use versus other alternative such as constructing a pole barn. Corinna Bench, a board member, said she preferred postponing demolition until other options are deemed not feasible. Joe Liszak, a member of the board’s finance committee, said after the meeting the costs of maintaining the wing aren’t justified. “Even though personnel are being brought back, we still don’t have the financial reserves we should have. We’re on a pretty thin margin financially. It makes no sense to me to keep an old building when we have no idea how much it will cost to renovate even for storage,” he said. “Permanent improvement money would be used for that and we still have a lot of issues that need to be taken care of at the high school that will also require PI money.”
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Sixty-three-year old Brenda Snyder was the chief chemist for Toledo’s water treatment plant for 15 years. Her tenure includes being chief chemist during the water crisis last August 2-4 when the City of Toledo was faced with unsafe levels of toxic microcystin in its water and a “do not drink” advisory was sent to 500,000 residents, making national news. Snyder believes the only reason levels were so high was because wind and other conditions forced the algae to be highly concentrated near Toledo’s intake valve, which is in the lake in 24 feet of water three miles from the treatment plant. She calls it a “minor blip that had major consequences.” When a half million people could not drink water, it helped wake the nation about Lake Erie’s algae issues. “When you say do not drink the water, it affects a lot of things,” Snyder said. Since, she has retired from her position with the city and is now a research associate for the University of Toledo. Her mission is to to improve the detection of toxins in the lake before they reach the intakes. Snyder, who stressed she did not retire because of the crisis but because of changes in the state retirement system, was on vacation the Friday the test results first came back indicating that toxin levels were too high to drink the water. After repeated testing, in the early hours of Saturday morning, the city issued its advisory. The advisory and round the clock media coverage lasted 55 hours, and she ended up spending an additional 90 hours at the East Toledo plant, sleeping very little. She says she “loved” her job as chief chemist, and can tell you lots of things about water that you may have never known. She says most of the world is jealous of our water problems. Our problems don’t come close to comparing to California’s water issues, and one-third of all deaths globally can be traced to water-borne illnesses. “In some parts of Africa, many people are dead by age 23 because of parasites in Continued on page 2
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That area of East Toledo is at a critical juncture right now. Captain Tom Weigand See page 6