WESTLAND AREA COMMISSION
June 17, 1998
The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm. Present were
Daniel Province, chair, Betty Balthaser, Ron Cooper, Virginia
Frank, Mike Hurd, Glen Hymer, Dorothy Jantzen, Carol Makar,
Jan Province, Bob Rinehart, Debbie Wilder, and Gary Wills.
Canello, King, McCormick, McKay, Saxton, and Wotring were
excused.
Cooper moved to accept the minutes for May 1998. Jantzen
seconded. Approved.
Nominating Committee (Jantzen): Jantzen moved to nominate
Dan Province for the position of chairman, for the term 1998
through 2000, Bill Saxton for the position of vice-chairman,
Jan Province for recording officer, and Betty Balthaser as
fiscal officer. There were no nominations from the floor.
Cooper seconded Jantzen's motion. Approved.
Historic Preservation Committee (Cooper): Province reported
that Lawn Doctor sprayed the weeds in the Postle Cemetery,
using a long-term herbicide. They are mowing it every month.
Cooper asked the reason that C.V. Perry has been spreading
great quantities of fill dirt around the adjacent property.
Is he getting the property ready to sell it?
Province said that Perry says that he has extra dirt he needs
to put somewhere.
Community Relations Committee (Balthaser): Balthaser said
that she has raffle tickets to sell. John Mann has rustled
up a great number of wonderful prizes to give away. He has
gathered at least fifty prizes. (He used to be a car
salesman).
Sheriff Jim Karnes will be the grand marshal of the July 4
parade. The bands are all lined up. Franklin Heights and
Westland High School bands will be performing, and Jim
McCormick said he wasn't sure about the third.
Rinehart said that he knows the Grove City Band will
participate, because he approved the field trip forms for the
buses.
Recreation and Open Spaces Committee (Wills): A developer
has given Rec and Parks Department eight and a half acres, in
addition to the other eleven acres that can't be used. This
site has a holding pond. Rec and Parks can't build anything
on the site, it's impossible to park on the site, and there
is no way to get to the site. It's off Holt Road, where
there are no berms for pedestrian traffic to use, and there
are no traffic signals. The property is off Holt Road,
behind the church.
The city gets the pleasure of maintaining the pond.
Wills figures that this is a $1,260,000 tax write-off for the
developer.
Rinehart asked whether the city can create a wetland on the
site.
Makar said there is access to the site for city crews. They
can use a road that runs along the backside of Bolton Field
Airport. Kids will be using that road to walk to the site.
Province said that, as soon as the developer dug dirt, he was
forced to give the city ten acres. When the sewer people
demanded he put a retention pond somewhere, he built it next
to that "park", which of course is the lowest land around.
Wills said they can't build anything on the site.
Province said he doesn't understand how the developer can be
permitted to do this. You can't build a pond within 300 feet
of the right-of-way of a runway, because it will reflect
glare into the eyes of the pilots.
The site is located 1800 feet south of the intersection of
Holt and Alkire. It is beyond the church, on the west side
of Holt Road. It is across Holt from the Qualstan
development site. There is a big mound of dirt there now,
where they have dug the hole.
Cooper said this is not Bolton's land. It is at the end of a
runway.
Province said Bolton Field has a fence through there, with a
75 foot easement on each side.
Is it near the Doppler radar tower?
Yes.
Makar said people from Parks and Recreation were in her
restaurant on Thursday, and none of them knew anything about
it.
Province said that Borror, theoretically, is giving them
$25,000 for the piece, as soon as they start work on the
corner of Alkire and Holt. Mazza is supposed to have put
$10,000 in the bank already, for the homes that are on the
northwest side. Qualstan didn't agree to give anything.
Wills says he understands that our area is supposed to be
getting $25,000 and $10,000, but when we talk to the city,
they don't know anything.
Province said Jean McClintock left the city. Mollie is
supposed to have all the records, but she said she didn't
know about any of this. $35,000 won't go very far when
you're building a park. It might pay for grading it, and
that's all.
Perhaps we can create a natural area. We can plant
wildflower seeds.
And alligators.
New Business: Dr. Rinehart distributed press packets.
Throughout the winter, a leaders committee has been meeting
on a regular basis with Dr. Hamilton, to develop a package
for construction for overcrowding of the South-Western City
Schools. At the last board meeting, they presented a
proposal. Highlights of the proposal are in the packet.
Essentially, it will call for the re-configuration of the
structure of the schools. They are currently a K-5, 6-8, 9-
12 configuration. What they plan is K-4, 5-6, 7-8, and 9-12.
The rationale is that, in terms of construction, it is
cheaper, and the philosophical rationale is to construct
intermediate buildings, instead of middle school buildings,
with athletic fields, large gymnasiums, etc. That will be on
the ballot in the fall. The reconfiguration will reduce the
total cost by about $6 million from the November issue that
was defeated.
The good news is that Bill Saxton has agreed to chair the
campaign committee.
Rinehart requested that WAC support the issue in November.
Cooper so moved. Jantzen seconded.
Balthaser asked how many students are in the school system.
Rinehart replied that we have about 18,500 students. We are
the seventh-largest school district in Ohio. Projections for
the area call for the district to have 21,000 students by
2005 or 2006. We have been growing at the rate of 300 to 500
students per year for the past several years.
Province asked, what will be the total square feet per
student?
Rinehart said that those figures are on the back page of the
packet.
Wilder noted that it will take awhile to construct these
buildings, so split sessions will remain with us.
Rinehart said we are hoping that, with the passage of the
issue in November, the school system will know when the
additional facilities will coming on site. An elementary
school can be built in approximately one calendar year. The
schools can take short-term measures, such as renting
portable classrooms, and then, hopefully, get out of split
sessions while the new facilities are being constructed.
Hopefully, split sessions will not last more than one year.
Province said that he suggested at one of the meetings, that
if the school system can group the new buildings together, on
the same campus, they can save money on installation of water
and sewer lines, and other utilities. He understands that
the school system is doing that.
Wills asked whether split sessions have caused a decrease in
the rate of increase in enrollment.
Rinehart said the official enrollment figures will be
available during the first week of October. They won't know
until then.
Wills said that real estate salesmen have been saying that
sales are slowing.
Rinehart said that, for every family moving out, another is
moving in. In Kings Lakes, 480 apartment units will open in
the fall. That will probably offset any loss of single-
family residents. Houses are being built in Westland and
Grove City, and interest rates are still low. He guesses
that most people will think split sessions are a short-term
problem, and will be willing to ride it out, in order to
capture the low interest rates.
Cooper asked how much the overcrowding problem has affected
the academic quality of the schools.
Rinehart said he doesn't know, because historically, there
has been no objective measure, such as the proficiency tests
of recent years. We can't go back twenty years and compare.
We can go forward, and as we solve these problems, we can
conduct a longitudinal study to see what correlation of cause
and effect there might be.
Makar asked whether those 18,500 students attend school every
day.
Rinehart said they have a 93 or 94% attendance rate at the
high schools, and the percentage is greater in the elementary
schools and middle schools. They are at over 95% daily
attendance. "Average daily membership" is the number of
students enrolled in the school. "Average daily attendance"
is the number of students who are there on any given day.
ADA is a percentage of ADM. They are in the mid- to high-
90's district-wide, on average daily attendance.
Province said that Saxton is asking us to provide him with
the tough questions that the public will be asking him, so
that he can be prepared.
Cooper asked Rinehart what he thinks will be the effect of
the failure of the state sales tax.
Rinehart said he thinks the effect will be positive for the
schools.
Wilder said that the public will be asking again about the
salaries of the top administrators. Saxton should be
prepared to answer those questions.
Cooper asked why the public cannot equate excellence with the
cost of salaries. Why don't people understand that you get
what you pay for? If they think there is no correlation,
then why don't we hire anyone off the street, with no
credentials, and pay them $5000 per year to run the schools?
Makar said that the major problem is that the parents in this
area want to leave the entire business of education with the
school system. They don't get on board to help their own
children.
Rinehart said we have many more single-parent households, and
two-people-working households than we had several years ago,
and when you combine the child-care issues with the varied
schedules, it becomes difficult.
Makar said that people are not willing to change their
schedules to further the education of their children.
Instead, they are demanding that the schools adjust their
schedules to the parents' convenience.
Perhaps the reason is that education is free. Therefore, it
is not valued.
What is summer school enrollment?
Rinehart said it is about 700 students. Those are students
who need remediation for courses they have failed, or some
kids want to accelerate their programs. The band kids can
take band and physical education, and make room for another
academic class during the school year.
Makar said too many kids are not taught to respect the carpet
they walk on.
Rinehart said that some kids don't. But, he visits the
schools a lot. 99% of the kids are great kids. But the
students mirror the society. Most of the kids are great,
while a few have behavior problems.
Province called for the question. A motion was moved and
seconded for WAC to support the bond package in November.
Province will send a letter of support to Dr. Hamilton.
Approved.
Wilder said that Doctors Hospital presents Golden Achievement
Awards to outstanding members of the community. She
distributed a background statement and list of recent
recipients of the awards. She is asking for us to make
nominations.
Province recommended that WAC not meet in August, unless
there is pressing business. Jantzen so moved. Balthaser
seconded. Approved.
Hymer said he understands that Borror wants to dedicate the
new park as soon as possible. Can Province find out when the
ceremony will take place?
Province said he hopes he will.
Cooper asked, where else but in southwestern Franklin County
can you get a new park that is under water, and a new golf
course that is on top of a landfill?
Are we lucky, or what?
Province said that the southwest area is getting a new
graphite plant, and a kitty cooker.
Hymer asked what happened to the proposal to re-do the
Westland Area Plan?
Province said that one of the women quit, and went to another
city, which had offered her more money. The other person got
pregnant, went on maternity leave, and has just returned.
The Planning Department did not ask the city for more money
or more personnel, so when the one person left, and the other
went on four months' leave, there was nobody there to do the
job. That left our intern with nothing to do, as she had
been instructed to help with the project.
Where is Dori?
She is visiting Germany. She will be back next month, and
she will be looking for a job.
The Parkland Dedication Ordinance went to the Development
Commission. Province spoke in support of it.
Wills asked, if he gives his backyard to Rec and Parks, will
they take over the job of mowing it? What if he builds a
bait store?
Province remarked that the worms on Norton Road are $155 per
dozen.
But you get three million...
The meeting was adjourned, amid laughter, at 7:40pm.