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Kateri gets special use for fields By Kelly J. Kaczala Press News Editor kkaczala@presspublications.com
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It’s not supposed to be easy to sue in a Democratic society. John Szozda See page 9
"Doh" Makers
Adrianna Rucki uses all of her strength to squeeze out the last of the Play-Doh during an after-school event held at the Birmingham Branch Library. Neighborhood children were invited to roll, mash, squeeze and create using Play-Doh. Behind her are Justin Saunders and Makye Moore. (Press photo by Ken Grosjean)
Clay stadium to get turf for field By Kelly J. Kaczala Press News Editor kkaczala@presspublications.com The Oregon School board will be taking bids to install turf at the Clay High School Memorial Stadium. “We have a real opportunity here with a private donation,” said Oregon City Schools District Superintendent Hal Gregory. The school board had received five bids for the project – all coming in over $500,000. But Maumee Bay Turf Center offered much more, according to School Board Member Jeff Ziviski. The company, from Oregon, offered to waive its labor costs up to $250,000 and just charge the district for materials and equipment. Due to language in the bid, which stated that labor costs “up to $250,000” would be waived, the board decided to rebid the project in hopes that Maumee Bay Turf Center will clarify its previous offer to mean that the total cost will be reduced by $250,000, said Ziviski. Getting turf installed in the stadium has been discussed for years, said Gregory. “We’re in the TRAC (Three Rivers Athletic Conference), and every other school has turf but Clay High School,” said Gregory. “Every school that we play football with in the TRAC has turf. And the problem with our natural gas is really natural mud.
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Every school that we play football with in the TRAC has turf.
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The Oregon Planning Commission recently voted in favor of a Special Use Exception (SUE) for 15 acres of land owned by St. Kateri Catholic Academy and Cardinal Stritch High School, which plans to develop athletic fields at 1055 South Coy and 3521 Pickle roads. Last September, St. Kateri removed most of the trees on the property, an area bounded by Coy, Pickle, Schmidlin and Worden roads, in preparation of the project. Many residents who live nearby have been opposed, mainly out of concern that the athletic fields will create noise, additional traffic and safety problems in the area. The Planning Commission met three times to discuss the matter. Originally, Kateri sought a zoning change from R-2 Single Family Residential to P-Park Land Zoning. But the request was changed to an SUE so that certain conditions could be placed on the property to address residents’ concerns. Park Land zoning would not have allowed such conditions. “Once you zone something, it is not customary to put conditions on it,” Mayor Mike Seferian explained last week. “So if there was Park Zoning, there couldn’t be any conditions, such as operating from dawn to dusk.” At the Planning Commission meeting on Feb. 16, Seferian, who sits on the Commission, said the city had learned since the previous meeting that schools in the city do not have to apply for zoning changes to build or conduct any business. In 2000, the federal government passed the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Person’s Act, which protects religious institutions from discrimination in zoning. Seferian said it means the city cannot hold charter and parochial schools to a different standard than public schools. “We treat public schools as a `use by right,’ There are no zoning regulations for them – they can operate as they want. So
We have all our high school and junior high school games at the stadium. We have probably 60 games per year in the stadium. Even Cardinal Stritch uses our stadium. It just gets used so much in the fall. The field is very loose, not rooted, so after the first driving rain, it gets all tore up. The turf has a 10-12 year warranty, he added. “That’s why most of these schools are going to it. So we want to do that,” he said. “If Maumee Bay Turf is willing to give us a $250,000 in-kind donation, that’s very positive. When you get a 50 percent off deal,” he said, “it’s kind of hard to turn it down.” The school board in a special meeting
last week rejected the bids and plan to rebid the project. The board is hoping that Maumee Bay Turf Center will submit another bid in this second round that clarifies the donation. “We believe Maumee Bay Turf will rebid it with a donation, though we won’t know that until that actually happens.” The owners of Maumee Bay Turf Center are Clay High School graduates, and “want to give back to their community,” said Gregory. The balance of the cost of the project is expected to come from a $285,000 one-time Medicaid reimbursement from the federal government. The district vowed not to use local tax dollars for the project. “That’s not local money being taken from the general fund. These are federal dollars coming in as bonus money for the services we’re providing kids. We’re getting that money back from the federal Medicaid program. That’s been in existence for the last six or seven years. We’ve been reimbursed before, but not to this extent.” Funds will also come from athletic boosters and private donors, he added. “Between the donations, one-time Medicaid money and the boosters, we have enough to get the project going,” said Gregory. Gregory estimates that the district will Continued on page 2
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