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AMHERST NEWS-TIMES • OBERLIN NEWS-TRIBUNE • WELLINGTON ENTERPRISE Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022
Employee of the Year awarded to late water super
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Nonprofit gets new HQ
JASON HAWK EDITOR
WELLINGTON — Gregory Frenk was posthumously named Wellington’s 2022 Employee of the Year on Friday. Since taking office in 2016, Mayor Hans Schneider has made a holiday tradition of singling out a village worker who showed outstanding service. The decision wasn’t difficult this year, he told employees who gathered for an annual luncheon at the Public Works Department on West Herrick Avenue. Frenk died in February at age 47 after an unexpected medical issue. He had been a Wellington firefighter for years, and spent the end of his career as the village water superintendent. Jason Hawk | “The loss of Greg will Wellington Enterprise stay with us, but so will Wellington Electric his spirit, his love of the Superintendent David village and his enthusiBealer hugs Connie asm to be a part of it,” Frenk, widow of former Schneider said. Water Superintendent Frenk’s wife Connie Gregory Frenk. and children Erin, Karlie and Alexander were presented Friday with a tear-shaped crystal award in his memory. “Successful is the person who leads the world better than they found it, who never fails to look for the best in others or give the best of themselves,” its inscription read. “We know this has been a really difficult year for a lot of reasons,” Village Manager Jonathan Greever told the utilities, finance, police, planning and zoning and Office on Aging employees who gathered. Residents recognize the effort that goes into running the village, he said — “It never goes for granted. We do know the extra time, the commitment it takes.” Water plant operator Don Novotny and lineman Brian Howk, a former Employee of the Year, were both honored for 35 years of service to the village. Planning and Zoning Director Marla Lent was recognized for 30 years. Kayla Chrosniak, who has been a Wellington police FRENK PAGE A2 Classifieds, legals, display advertising, and subscriptions Deadline: 1 p.m. each Monday Phone: 440-329-7000 Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday
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Photos by Jason Hawk | Oberlin News-Tribune
Laurel Price Jones and Margie Flood talk inside the lobby of the former National Association of College Stores office building on Route 511, which will become the new headquarters for Oberlin Community Services.
Former NACS building will be OCS’ new home JASON HAWK EDITOR
OBERLIN — Golden rays from a lobby sunroof high overhead cast a light on the kind of space Margie Flood will soon have at her disposal. Elbow room is a commodity Flood isn’t used to in her role as executive director of Oberlin Community Services. The nonprofit’s employees have endured cramped quarters for years, working around boxes stacked in corners and intruding on walkways of their South Professor Street offices. That’s about to change.
This past Friday, OCS closed on its new headquarters, a 27,000-squarefoot office and warehouse building previously used by the National Association of College Stores. The building will greatly expand the ability to provide food and other emergency assistance to southern Lorain County residents in need. “It was just sitting here, and NACS wasn’t using it,” Flood said. “We can put it to good use.” NACS has been in Oberlin since the 1940s, but the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated a trend already in the works. Seeing productivity HEADQUARTERS PAGE A3
The former National Association of College Stores offices on State Route 511 will be renovated for use by several nonprofits.
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AMHERST — Policing is a stressful job. To cope, Amherst officers will be required to attend therapy using an $84,749 grant from the Ohio Emergency Management Agency. The award is part of $28 million in American Rescue Plan funds given to 72 agencies through the Ohio First Responder Recruitment, Retention, and Resilience program launched by Gov. Mike DeWine this year. It’s meant to address increased stress and decreased staffing levels chalked up to the COVID-19 pandemic. Amherst Police Chief Mark Cawthon said the past few years have been hard on officers. But even before the pandemic, statistics showed police deal Mark with higher than Cawthon average rates of alcoholism, domestic violence and suicide. “It’s no secret there’s been an increase in police suicides in our country. That’s what this is geared toward, making sure we don’t have those situations,” he said. Funded by the grant, Amherst officers and dispatchers will be required to have face-to-face counseling for at least two hours per year. Cawthon said they can choose to have more in-person time with a therapist if needed. The grant will also pay for an app called Cordico to anonymously get live help via a digital device if employees are feeling overwhelmed, or after experiencing a traumatic situation. That might stem from a stressful on-the-job event such as a shooting or crash, or it might stem from a situation at home, said Cawthon. Police need to be mentally and emotionally health to do their jobs, said Mayor Mark Costilow. He said the Amherst Police Department recently added a nondenominational chaplain to its roster to give employees a rock to rely on. “This is even a step beyond that, to have people they can talk to if they need more,” Costilow said. ARPA grant money will also pay for police to get dietary advice, provide opportunities for health screenings and even cover the cost of yoga classes. “I know it sounds silly, but yoga is a great stress relief, and helps,” Cawthon said. The question is whether APD COUNSELING PAGE A3
INSIDE THIS WEEK
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State grant, mandatory counseling for police JASON HAWK EDITOR
News staff Jason Hawk news@LCnewspapers.com Phone: 440-329-7122 Submit news to news@lcnewspapers.com Deadline: 10 a.m. Tuesday
Volume 9, Issue 51
Amherst
Oberlin
Wellington
Board of Education unlikely to budget on fees • A4
City buys 211 acres for a new industrial park • B1
Flames destroy Rochester firefighter family’s home • B1
OBITUARIES A2 • CLASSIFIEDS A4 • BULLETIN BOARD A6 • PUZZLES B2 • KID SCOOP B6