June 26, 2011
Oregon Elementary
1st-grade teacher to replace Brobeck By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
A closer look
The Johnstown-Monroe Board of Education on June 17named first-grade teacher Marcie Wilson principal of Oregon Elementary School. Also at that meeting, the board named Nicholas McIlwain as the district’s new athletics director and assistant principal. See the story on page A6. Superintendent Damien Bawn said Wilson had been teaching for 19 years and is well known locally. “I’ve had a number of parents calling,
Marcie Wilson succeeds Linda Brobeck, who is retiring.
thrilled that she will be the principal,” Bawn said. “I’m definitely looking forward to working with her on the administrative team.” Wilson succeeds Linda Brobeck, who is retiring. Wilson has been coming into the school in June, even though her administration
contract does not start until Aug. 1. Principals work by contract about 30 days longer than teachers, and central office administrators work year round, Bawn said. Among Wilson’s activities has been participation in the district’s Race to the Top committee. “She has a pretty good handle on how things are going on from a management standpoint,” Bawn said. “For her it will probably be a pretty seamless transition. “It’s always an interesting transition for a teacher,” he said. “They know the people in the building, so a lot of the so-
cialization, getting to know each other kind of things don’t have to take place, and maybe you can focus on getting some other things done more quickly.” Bawn said he did not expect the principal’s duties to change from this year to next. “In general terms, (the duties of principal) will be very similar to what they were last year, but of course we’re waiting for the budget bill and a couple of other things working their way through the legislature to see if there are going to be any major changes,” Bawn said. “Since we are involved with Race to
the Top, some of the same issues — teacher evaluation, administrator evaluation — we’ve already been working on. If they change, we’ll have a little bit of a head start on them.” Johnstown Monroe has not received significant direct support for Race to the Top funds, but the district has been involved in order to participate in some of the management tools that are being developed under the program, Bawn said. “We got involved in it more as a way to have access to some of the programs See PRINCIPAL, page A2
Village responding to nuisance complaints
BALK RUN
By JENNA GANT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Chris Parker/ThisWeek
Post 254’s Andy Richardson (center) crosses homeplate between teammate Eric Noe (left) and Post 79s Jon Hacknoy after scoring on a pitcher’s balk at Johnstown High School on June 21. See Sports, page A6.
Johnstown village officials have received dozens of nuisance control complaints in relation to an ordinance council passed two weeks ago. The ordinance allows the village to charge property owners $200 per hour to mow tall grass and weeds that exceed six inches, as well as yard litter clean-up. Village manager Jim Lenner told council on June 21 that the village received approximately 30 complaints against property owners since the legislation passed June 7. “We’ve addressed those 30 and they’ve been voluntarily mowed,” Lenner said. He said the village has had to mow four lawns in the past two weeks. None of the four properties were bank-owned, he said, but most were in the process of being foreclosed. “The people in their homes are still mowing their properties,” Lenner said. “The four that we had, one was burnt and they (homeowners) left town, so it’s been the vacant properties that we’ve actually gone ahead and mowed.” Lenner said the village is willing to work with compliant residents. “If they’re on vacation, we’ll work with people. We’re not out there just to charge $200 every time we mow,” he said. Part-time zoning inspector Sonny Whalen talks with property owners once a nuisance complaint is issued. See NUISANCE, page A2
Fireman’s Festival promises Board looks to reduce a few days of family fun administrative costs
By JENNA GANT
ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Johnstown will turn into an amusement park July 6-9. That’s when the Johnstown Fire Department Association, Inc., will host the Fireman’s Festival for the 36th time. Association president Don Ryan said it’s a community celebration with activities for children. Residents can enjoy carnival rides, games, raffles and entertainment throughout the week. Rod Bemiller, the association’s vice president, said there would be lots of musical entertainment at the festival, including the Big Red Band. The festival gets better each year, he said. “We have better crowds each year,” Bemiller said. “Unfortunately, we do not have any more room to expand as far as bringing in more rides and more organizations because we’re out of room.”
“
We’ve purchased some squad equipment and some fire equipment that they would be unable to get if it wasn’t for the festival.
”
ROD BEMILLER
— Fire Department Association
vice president
Local organizations like the Johnstown Lion’s Club, Johnstown Athletic Boosters, American Legion, churches and the Boy Scouts are also participating in the festival, which will be held along Phalen Place and Pratt Street as well as Oregon and South Main streets. The parade on July 9 will start at noon, going down Main Street and ending near the town square. The parade’s grand marshal is Johnstown resident Ruth
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Krumm, who Ryan said has been a dedicated servant of the community for more than half a century. “She almost single-handedly runs the food pantry for the Johnstown and Northridge area and has for years and years,” he said. “She is just extremely dedicated to making sure within reason any family that needs food, she can provide it.” The association comprises about 50 current and retired firefighters. Ryan said the festival is “a money making project” for the organization, which uses the proceeds to help pay for maintaining its antiqued 1941 C-Series Ford fire truck and a 1889 hand pump and hose cart. The funds also go toward the association’s building maintenance and yearly charities. Bemiller said the bulk of the money goes to the Monroe Township Fire Department. See FESTIVAL, page A2
By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
The Northridge Local School District Board of Education approved a resolution June 20 directing the superintendent and treasurer to examine ways of reducing administrative staff by one position in the district. “I’d like to look at ways to save additional money for our school district, and one of those is reducing administration,” said board member Jayma Bammerlin. The board approved the measure 4-0. Board member Troy Willeke absent. Bammerlin said she did not want to limit the charge to any particular aspect of administration, but wanted to leave the administration leeway to decide how to achieve the goal. She said it might be possible to outsource some functions or to bring on alternative staff at less cost. “I think creativity would be wonderful, and if we need to bring on a position to support it, I think that would be justifiable, so long as it is a net decrease in cost to the school district,” Bammerlin said The board also examined the district’s insurance plan, with treasurer Jim Hudson giving a report about proposals to offer three dif-
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ferent payment options for the district’s health plan. “It’s the exact same coverage (under all three options),” Hudson said. “It’s just the deductible that changes.” For employees who maintain the current traditional plan, Hudson said, premiums are expected to increase by 12 percent. Employees who opt to increase their deductibles to $200 to $600 would cause the district to see premium increases of about 5 percent, and employees who choose a high deductible health savings account would cause the district to see a premium decrease of nearly 20 percent. “We’re giving them the option which health insurance plan they would want to choose,” Hudson said. Employee meetings will be held July 13 and July 20 to explain the options to employees, Hudson said. In other business, athletics director Wayne Howard reviewed pay-to-participate athletics fees. “It’s still nothing more than a feasibility study, because I don’t know how many students will have parents who will write a check for $500 See BOARD, page A2
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