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New jobs Sixty jobs will be added to the workforce at the facility located on Spartan Drive, he said. Continued on page 2
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Melvino (Aaron Rider) a clown and goodwill ambassador with the Kelly Miller Circus entertains children at the Oregon Library. The circus will be held at the Clay High School grounds on Wednesday, August 6th. Showtimes are 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Clay High Alumni and Friends Association. For ticket information go to clay alumni.com, kellymiller circus.com, or call the Oregon Board of Ed. at 419-693-0661. (Press photo by Ken Grosjean)
Ottawa County
Water man is another double dipper By Cynthia L. Jacoby Special to The Press The regional water system superintendent in Ottawa County is the latest official to join the list of double dippers in the county. The county commissioners voted unanimously July 17 to accept the retirement of Ron Wetzel and then approve his rehire as of Aug. 1, 2014. Under his new terms, Wetzel will be paid $80,558 a year and retain his health benefits, earning 4.6 hours of sick leave every two weeks and accrue 7.7 hours of vacation time over each two-week period, according to commissioners’ records. Wetzel, who has been with county about 15 years, oversees operations at the county’s regional water plant located off Fremont Road just outside Port Clinton’s corporation limits. The system serves residents and businesses from eastern Port Clinton to Oak Harbor. The county publicized Wetzel’s intention to retire and be rehired and held a discussion July 8 in commissioners’ chambers. There were no objections at that hearing unlike two years ago when Wetzel’s bosses, Sanitary Engineer Kelly Frey and office administrator Gino Monaco, were on the path
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Ron could have easily retired and found another job somewhere in no time.
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Oregon council in August will consider a proposed ordinance that would approve tax abatements for Oregon Holdings Six LLC, which is developing a new manufacturing facility in the city. The tax abatements are part of the Community Reinvestment Area program established by the state. If approved by council, Oregon Holdings Six LLC would enter into a Community Reinvestment Area Agreement with the city. The agreement would provide for a new building for a manufacturing facility through an entity affiliated with the company, to be owned by the company and constructed and located in the Community Reinvestment Area. The company would receive a tax exemption for 10 years for 100 percent of the real property improvements as a result of the project. As part of the agreement, the company will pay the Oregon City Schools District an amount that equals or exceeds 50 percent of the amount of taxes that would have been paid had the property not been exempted from taxes. Ed Harmon, who heads Oregon Holdings Six LLC, said he has worked in the city for the last 12 years. “We started with the first project on Spartan Drive. If I want a building built quickly and on time, I have only one place to build, and that is in Oregon, Ohio,” said Harmon at a council meeting last Monday. “At this time, we have, between Toledo and Oregon, about 1 million square feet of industrial space,” he said. “Particularly in Oregon, we have two projects that are going on.” One of the projects is an addition to Rieter Automotive, a subsidiary of Swissbased Autoneum, according to Harmon. “This particular project is 40,000 square feet.”
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By Kelly J. Kaczala Press News Editor kkaczala@presspublications.com
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to double dipping – that is retiring and collecting a pension while also returning to serve in their previous jobs with an annual salary at the same time. A local businessman was very vocal that the practice needed to be stopped but commissioners still approved those requests. Wetzel oversees a staff of five at the plant that offers service 24 hours a day, seven days a week. His experience and his high-level certification were key reasons for honoring the request and keeping him on staff, Commissioner Jim Sass said. “Ron is one of the few Class 4 opera-
tors in the state. That plant requires a Class 4 operator to be in place,” he explained. “Ron could have easily retired and found another job somewhere in no time. And we would have spent time looking for someone and could have easily had to pay another $20,000 to $30,000 more for a qualified person.” Couple that with his familiarity with the plant as well as the local environmental issues such as the algae blooms that have plagued Lake Erie waters for a number of years and the rehiring is justified, Sass added. The source of the plant’s water is a submerged intake in Lake Erie. The plant under Wetzel’s care is among those voluntarily testing for microcystin, a toxin in microcytis, the lake’s most harmful type of blue-green algae. The blooms are borne out of high levels of phosphorous caused by runoff from things such as agricultural fertilizer, manure and septic systems. Blooms typically return in mid to late July and last weeks. A high-level of the toxin forced Carroll Township to put its residents on alert last September. Residents quit drinking the water for two days and the township distributed bottled water until safe levels of water returned.
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