jacob barr speech

I've cleaned up Jacob Barr's speech, added punctuation and made it readable. Here's the text:

Draft of a Speech on Education Written by Jacob Barr

c. 1850

Salutations and Greetings! You will not expect of me a display of oratory and eloquence equal to that of speakers who have preceded me. And were I not actuated by a sense of duty and responsibility I would shrink from the task. Yet when I gaze around me and behold the mighty achievements of man accomplished by energy and perseverance and consider the blessings we enjoy as free born sons and daughters of America, I hold it my duty and the duty of everyone to labor in any good cause that has for its object the improvement of the condition of our glorious republic. And education or knowledge being the firm and immovable rock upon which republics stand and the mighty lever by which men wield the most powerful influence, I have thought proper to adopt it as the basis of what I shall say to you this evening, for I know of no subject of more vital importance, so full of interest and beauty, or more immediately connected with the business of the school. And although it may be handled time and again by men of the highest endorsements who keep revolving the mass till every shining truth comes to the surface, it never will be worn thread-bare or cease to be the pearl of greatest price as long as we love liberty and the happy results flowing there-from.

We claim to love our country and boast to the world of our freedom as though we did not inherit it from the God of the universe. I tell you it is the slave of ignorance that is the slave to tyrants, and if we educate and liberate our minds we will burst every chain and shackle that usurpers seek to enthrall us, and walk forth like men in the world. For an enlightened and intelligent people can never be enslaved.

‘Tis true that we owe our prosperity and happiness in a great measure to the unparalleled struggles of our forefathers whose cultivated minds detected the encroachments of a haughty and oppressive nation, and with resolutions as firm as the pyramids of Egypt they hurled back the insults and chains of old England and declared themselves free and independent. And when I look back through history and behold the dense volumes of sulphrous smoke rolling into heaven mingled with the shriek and groans of the wounded and dying and see the American forces in rags and starvation marching to battle, the blood trickling from their bare feet, marking every footprint in the snow, I thank God that I am an American to walk over the graves of such true hearts and extol their mighty deeds.

And shall we the happy recipients of the priceless boon of freedom transmitted to us pure and spotless by those lion hearts and giant intellects prove ourselves unworthy of the inheritance by ignorance and licentiousness? Lock up your schoolrooms and let two successive generations grow up in utter ignorance and they would cease to be freemen and become the abject subjects and vassals of a king and perhaps be ruled with a rod of iron. The grand machinery of your government is so complicated that it requires a highly developed mind to take hold of the helm and guide the ship of state safely over the surging billows of political excitement and hand it down to our posterity perfect and sound as when it was left to us, and what have the deep thought and foresight of our noble fathers done for the cause of education in Ohio?

By and act of congress in 1803 one 36^th part of the land of the state was set apart for the support of common schools, and the money derived from the sale and lease of those lands, besides the interest on the states share of the surplus revenue of the United States and the revenue from banking insurance companies, and with a small amount raised by taxation, form the great school fund of the state of Ohio. And to each district is apportioned every year a sum from the state fund sufficient to defray the expense for 10 months school. Who would not get an education under such circumstances when all that is left for us to do is to take off our coats, roll up our sleeves and pitch in to the books?

And could I elevate and expand your minds so that you could see the beauty and value of it as I see it, as your parents and teacher see it, you would study assiduously. Do you suppose this fine school room was built and furnished at an expense of 8 or 9 hundred dollars merely for your amusement? Nay, verily not, and you will have to account perhaps before you end your career in this world for the manner in which you have improved these precious opportunities. Compare your condition with the condition of the poor African slaves of the south who are born into slavery and drag out a miserable existence in servitude under the lash; no heavenly rays from the gospel are allowed to penetrate the dark recesses of their benighted minds, to loom up the soul with a living hope. No books are allowed to come within their reach from which they may learn the eternal truth that all men are born free and equal. No, they are kept in ignorance. They could not be kept as slaves and they scarcely know that their condition might be better. Or compare an enlightened notion with the savage tribes of the forest if you want to see what education has done. Do you see among them the huge steam boat with two or three hundred tons burden sailing up the river or plowing the deep at the rate of 2 hundred miles in twenty four hours, or do you see large cities churches school mills manufactories canals railroads and telegraphs? No. The birch bark canoe is their steam boat. The bow and arrow, tomahawk, and scalping knife are their implements and weapons, rude wigwams their mansions, and the furs of animals their dress, and yet they can learn as fast as you can when they have the same chances. How easy is it to get an education at the present day? Look at the advantages we enjoy. We have all the inventions, discoveries, and improvements of the world for more than two thousand years past and we seldom think of the toil, energy, and deep thought it has cost intellectuals to discover and establish the shining truths that we have in our possession. How long do you suppose it took man to sail on every sea and traverse every land to discover all the islands, bays, gulfs, lakes, rivers, and measure their length, ascend all the mountains and measure their height, and horizon; have it all nicely compiled in your geography and you can learn all about the world in two or three months.

-Draft ends uncompleted-

oak hill website

The Oak Hill website is up and running again at www.oakhillcottage.org just in time for the cottage to be shut down for the winter (Dec. 30).
I've tried to broaden the information about Oak Hill a little. Up till now the emphasis has been focused on the Dr. Jones era and the late Victorian interior furnishings. You'll find a little more on the website now about John Robinson, who built the house, and the Gothic Revival architectural style. More to come.

local real estate market

The local real estate market took a significant downturn in October and November based on number of sold properties and total dollar volume...off at least 30% to 40% from the same months a year ago. If we've hit our annual low already, it isn't too bad, but typically that happens in December and January. If we go into a winter slump from this point, it will be a significant drop.
Average sold price is off about 5% from a year ago.
It's a buyer's market and there are a lot of listings, but still there are properties being held off the market because it just isn't the best time to be selling.

winter arrived this morning

The view outside my front door.

ae monthly

Another issue of Bruce McKinney's AE Monthly (Americana Exchange) is out. I highly recommend signing up for the monthly newsletter by email...one email, once a month; no spam.
Go to www.americanaexchange.com

turkey in the straw

There was a short bit of music used on NPR a couple of weeks ago that stuck in my head. I had written down what I thought was the artist's name...didn't come very close but found it this morning. Georgia Wettlin-Larsen is a Native American singer. Turkey in the Straw

moving websites

Ljbooks.com and alanwigton.com are being moved to different servers and may be down for a while, or a day.

oak hill

Oak Hill Cottage is decorated and ready for Christmas tours beginning this weekend. Regular tour hours are Sundays from 2 to 5 pm until December 30. Groups can be scheduled for any other day by calling 419 524-1765. The organ will be played during Sunday tours. After Dec. 30 the house is closed until tours resume about the first Sunday in April.

updates

Updates:
The crows are roosting in Central Park at night, so I guess winter is officially here.
We had such a lush growing season that the countryside still looks good, even with most of the leaves fallen.
The Mansfield school levy passed!
Don Culliver won the mayoral race.
I'm now on the Board at Oak Hill (Richland County Historical Society), and will be getting a website up and running again for them soon.
My year as sec/treas of MBOR is about up and I'll be sec/treas elect for 2008.
Events are over at the Appleseed amphitheater for 2007, and it's being winterized.

the black orchid of ohio...joe dush and the maxwell code

Not long after opening my bookshop in 1995 I met a book collector from Willard named Joe Dush, well known as a consummate collector of Ohio material. His reputation as an attorney and gentleman had in fact found its way into print in Jack Matthews book about the legendary Mansfield bookman, Ernie Wessen, which I had in my collection. The following article in the AE Monthly revolves around the rarest Ohio book, the Maxwell Code, owned by Dush and sold at auction after his death, and coming up for auction again this December. The Black Orchid of Ohio.

my grandma's ghost story

Hear my Mom tell my Grandma's Ghost Story

The Floyds

more about demolitions

The current mayor's race has brought out talk about demolitions by the candidates but few new ideas or thoughts about how to reverse the deterioration of the city's housing stock. This is a frustrating situation for the voter who wants to hear some realistic debate about how to improve the city, rather than more of the same about patchwork damage control which is all demolitions can hope to accomplish.
Maybe it would help if the candidates looked at the data and understood the magnitude of how many demolitions it would take to improve the city. Here are some numbers provided by Richland County Regional Planning about the condition of housing. Census tracts 1 through 8 in Mansfield represent the core of the city and the most deteriorated areas. [here's a link to a map of census tracts http://www.rcrpc.org/documents/mfdtrt.pdf] Within those 8 tracts there are 88 houses rated UNSOUND, 97 houses rated VERY POOR MINUS, and a total of 3251 houses rated POOR or lower [ Poor, Poor Minus, Very Poor, Very Poor Minus, & Unsound]. That's 46% of the housing stock in those 8 tracts.
When you look at these numbers and try to figure which end of this problem to put the most effort and money into, I think it's obvious that a program of stepped up demolitions is not the answer. Yes, code enforcement needs to be emphasized and the demolition process continued, but let's hear about some more positive ideas for improving the salvageable properties and encouraging people to reinvest in the older neighborhoods.

midsummer night's dream

The Shakespeare Players of Mansfield Senior High present Midsummer Night's Dream today and tomorrow at the Johnny Appleseed Outdoor Amphitheater 3pm to 5pm. Tickets $5 at the door.
The facility is two miles south of Mifflin on 603. It looks like it will be a beautiful day for it.

new arrivals in bookshop

Recently acquired:
King's Blood Royal, Sinclair Lewis. Signed limited edition (of 1050). Random House 1947. $175 in publisher's slipcase.
The Hairy Ape, Eugene O'neill. Signed limited edition of 750 copies. Horace Liveright, 1929. Illustrated by Alexander King. $300 in dust jacket and slipcase.
Radford's Details of Building Construction. 1911, Arts and Crafts era. One of a number of architectural plan and detail drawing books published by the Radford Architectural Company of Chicago. $175
Edgar Allan Poe Letters in the Valentine Museum. Lippincott, 1925. Limited edition of 1550 copies. 31 letters written by Poe reproduced in facsimile, transcribed, and with commentary by Mary Newton Stanard. The discovery of these letters primarily to his foster father John Allan shed new light on Poe's earliest years as a student and his relationship with Allan. $100.

mango

Learn a foreign language! Mango is a language learning website in beta testing stage...it's free.

mg

The Square is innudated (flooded, littered, awash in) MGs this morning...some kind of club event. Bill at the Coney indicated that it was some sort of drive-by cruise-in planned on short notice. They'll probably be on their merry way, scarfs trailing in the breeze, by the time you read this!

repairs on susan sturges house

Here's a ground level view of some repair work on the eaves of the house at 317 Park Avenue West. This corner had been repaired previously by someone, but probably from a ladder, and wasn't put together very securely. Working from a scaffolding is much easier.
The original fasteners that put this house together are both cut nails and forged nails. I've worked around a number of houses this age and older, and I've never seen one with siding that's so absolutely solid and tight.

kalamazoo

Kalamazoo Michigan, population a little larger than Mansfield (77,000), is worth a close look for programs related to schools and rehabilitation/development. Anka Vaneff told me about their innovative schools initiative funded by anonymous donors that provides college tuition to kids who complete at least four continuous years in their system. Kids completing all 12 years get a 100% scholarship. I looked it up and it's called the Kalamazoo Promise and has been receiving national attention. According to the linked NPR article, it has spurred an increased enrollment of 1000 and 6% increase in home sales in the city.
A quick check of the city's website turns up another interesting article about some new incentives programs to spur rehab and new home construction in Kalamazoo as part of what they call their A+ Neighborhoods initiative. These programs all have a common element that the people of Kalamazoo seem to understand; it's not just about throwing money at things that are broken, but important to get a payback in return.
We need to pass a school levy and get past the current crisis, then start looking at solving the problem of how to turn around shrinking enrollment. The Kalamazoo Promise program would appear to go hand in hand with bringing young families into the city, increasing property values and tax revenue, and encouraging rehab of the low priced housing stock in the city.

changed blog moderation

I just changed to "no moderation" so any comments posted will show up right away. I can still delete them if you get unruly...

two lessons in success

I went to a talk tonight out at the college sponsored by the Chamber, MBOR, and Ashland Co. Economic Development. Kirk Humphreys, former mayor of Oklahoma City, and Wes Stucky, of Ardmore Development Authority (Ardmore is about 35,000 pop) spoke about their two cities economic transformations and how they were engineered.
Wes stressed that the number one priority was creating a good place to live in order to attract outside industry/business. The biggest question for an employer is "where will I get my workers?".
Kirk gave the more comprehensive presentation about Oklahoma City. He became mayor after their MAPS project was under way (Metropolitan Area Projects). It was a plan funded by a one cent sales tax for 5 years that built a ball park, an arena, a renovated music hall, a new downtown library, Bricktown canal district, transformation of the Oklahoma river with three dams, a trolley system, and expansion of the fairgrounds. The projects totalled out at $363 million from the taxes (extended six months to complete the projects) and $54 in interest earned on the money. Brick and motor projects that have come about by other private funding because of the MAPS projects have totaled almost $3 billion.
The initiative for MAPS came after United Airline turned the city down in favor of Indianapolis. Their reason for choosing Indianapolis, in spite of Oklahoma City's offer of $100 million out of a sales tax increase, was because they wanted their employees to have a better quality of life than they would have in Ok City. It was then that they decided to start projects that would make the city and surrounding areas more attractive for themselves, instead of going out and trying to drag employers in.
The city is currently in a new phase called MAPS for Kids, which is a cooperative effort between the city school system and 23 surrounding districts funded by one cent sales tax and distributed 70/30 between the city and the suburban districts.
The most disappointing thing about the talk was the empty seats. Maybe 75 people at the most were there, a good number from a college class , and no sign of Mansfield mayor, mayoral candidates, or county commissioners.

mayoral debate tonight

O.K., here's my take on the mayoral debate this evening (good turnout with about every seat filled);
First of all I'll pat myself on the back, because Main Street used four out of my five questions verbatim, plus my question about support of the school levy was in there in another form.

The first of my questions was about their priorities regarding demolitions vs. incentives and support of maintaining and saving existing housing stock (see my previous post for the specific questions). Mr. Anliker gave the most coherent answer and stressed saving homes appropriately. He seemed to be aware of a broader range of possible approaches and incentives. Mr. Culliver seemed to be just standing on his own record of supporting rehab money on Council and his participation in committees. I didn't think he caught the message in the question...that there should be encouragement of investment and homeowners who make an effort rather than handouts to homeowners just for getting in line for the HUD funds. Mr. Versaw talked more emphatically about cracking down on code issues, and surprisingly said he didn't support further building of the "tax credit" homes, indicating they were taking tenants away from existing housing stock. Mr. Culliver rebutted some on that issue, indicating Council was relying on outside expert advice in going in that direction. Overall it was clear that Anliker sensed what the question was looking for, and gave a more comprehensive answer... no way to tell if he had any prior thoughts or plans in this direction.

The second of my questions they used was about the relative priority of downtown retail and service establishments:
I think Culliver gave the most measured response, without automatically saying these were the highest priorities. Anliker used the question as an opportunity to stress moving forward with the Strategic Plan developed by the Alliance and Main Street Mansfield in 2003. And also the "Brookings Study". He consistently referred to these two items repeatedly through the debate. Versaw's response was more generic, I think. At least in my few notes I only noted that he feels the health of downtown is very important to the city overall, and I believe he did bring up the issue of keeping county government from continuing their shifting offices out of downtown. I have to give him credit for bringing that up a couple of times which is a good point.

My third question that was used was whether the candidate saw any other city as a model or whether they had their own unique plan for the city;
I really thought it would be a mistake for a candidate to say he had a unique plan and there wasn't any model he was aware of. Culliver came closest to saying this, in fact indicating he had more of his own unique plan than any city to emulate. He did mention Akron. I thought his answer showed some lack of knowledge or study of other cities, which I think is essential to getting a handle on our own solutions. Anliker mentioned how New York City got a handle on Subway crime etc. He also brought up the Brookings Study. (I guess I need to have a look at this). Versaw brought up a previous trip by city council committee to Lexington Kentucky and also the development of an arts community in Paducha Kentucky. I didn't think his answer showed he had done much delving into other cities problems and solutions on his own.

My question about the VOA brought a unanimous response;
All three candidates would make every effort to get the VOA sexual offender facility out of downtown. Culliver's response was the most candid I thought, in that he indicated council had to rely on the opinion of the law director in not pursuing legal action. Versaw and Anliker were a little more strongly voiced, but I didn't feel they had any better idea how to go about it than anyone else in the room. Anliker seems to have studied up on the ins and outs of the problem...he seems to have been doing his homework on this and other issues.

The question about support of the school levy didn't bring a strong endorsement from any of the candidates. All three seemed to be saying they would probably vote for the levy personally, but wait and see before possibly supporting it publicly. It was without a doubt the hottest potato question and none of the candidates stuck their neck out either way on the issue. I figure at this point, as a public figure, and on such an important issue they would all three have formulated a definite opinion on the subject, but from their responses you would have thought this was a new issue they hadn't had time to think about yet. Hmmmmmm.

Overall I'll give Anliker the most points. He was the most animated and seemed to have the clearest focus on the questions (they received the questions ahead of time, so there shouldn't have been much excuse for being out of focus). I have heard Anliker previously talk about "restoring" his Park Avenue house, but in this debate he referred to it as "remodeling" which sounded like he has subsequently learned more about historic preservation and the distinction between the two words... point being that his exterior alterations on the house would be considered inappropriate to preservation or restoration if that was what he was calling it. The house isn't in an historic district and he has every right to do what he wants with the house, but as mayor of the city it would be a big plus if he understands the difference.

Of the three candidates Culliver seemed the most knowledgeable of the inner workings of the city, but also the most likely to not rock the boat. Versaw seemed least organized...he spoke more off-the-cuff and would have looked better if he had been better prepared. Anliker was definitely the best prepared and came across the most forceful on significant issues. I think he repeatedly made one very good point which is to take a good look at the studies and strategic plans that are on the table, and take action whether to move ahead or discard the various aspects.

kentucky

I was in northern Kentucky the last two days, and they haven't had any rain since July 3. By comparison it looks like the Garden of Eden up here in Mansfield.

?what is it?

I got this giveaway thing at OAR trade show in Columbus and I can't figure out what it's supposed to do. It has a clip, like it would clip on your belt, and it hinges open like it is in the picture or snaps shut and looks like a big bug. The inside of the two halves have black dense foamish pads. It looks like you could snap it over something thin and flat and grip it! Any suggestions would be appreciated.

chicago bungalows

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley started the Bungalow Preservation initiative in 2000 to help insure the survival of the historic bungalows in that city. Here's a good article from 2005 that highlights the workings of that project and its results. Expo Spotlights Historic Chicago Bungalows
This is the kind of initiative Mansfield needs to look at when considering whether to focus on demolition of old houses or incentives to rehabilitate or restore them.

more on homestead exemption application

Well, I returned to the courthouse with the homestead application and my mother's drivers license, only to be told that since her home is in a revocable trust, I need to have a copy of the deed and trust agreement. The good news is that I can return her driver's license to her because they've already noted it.

homestead exemption

I tried to submit some helpful comments to the auditor's office about the statewide homestead exemption information on their website. After writing out my comments on the e-comment form on the auditor's website and pushing "submit", nothing happened. Tried again...nothing happened. So I called the auditor's office and wasn't too happy with the response.
My concerns are several: The website says you have to bring the forms to the courthouse, not mail them (contradicted by information in the FAQ about mailing and postmark dates). But it doesn't say that a picture ID is required... I'm going to have to make another 35 mile round trip to Perrysville to get my mother's ID and bring it in. The second problem is the confusion between the 2 1/2 percent Homestead Rollback (HRB) on the auditor's tax itemiztion vs. the Homestead Exemption (HOM). People will confuse these and think they are already enrolled, missing out and not applying for the automatic, over 65 exemption.
The response from "Amy" at the auditor's office (third person I was redirected to) was that this was a state mandated program, that people are calling in if they are confused and they are answering their questions about whether they are enrolled already or not, and that they addressed the issue of bringing in a picture ID with an article in the News Journal.
I'll just say from a common sense point of view that there will be a lot of people missing the Oct. 1 deadline for these reasons and I don't think Richland County is doing its best with this. Just the fact that everyone over the age of 65 living in their own home in Richland County must drive to the courthouse is pretty incredible. It was up to the county how to implement this. Crawford County allows you to mail in the application with a copy of your photo ID... very clearly laid out on their website. Ashland, Knox, Morrow, and Huron Counties have nothing on their sites about applying for this...they have the kind of static websites that never get updated with current information.

my questions

Here are the questions I have submitted to Main Street Mansfield for the mayoral debate:

1. Do you support the upcoming school levy?

2. We’ve heard more than one candidate advocating stepped up demolitions of vacant and abandoned properties. Do you plan to direct any city resources, tax rebates, grants, or other incentives to homeowners or investors to encourage rehab of existing older properties? If so, will that approach be your primary focus or do you think demolitions are more important?

3. How important are smaller downtown retail and service establishments to the health and vitality of the city? Would you rate their issues and concerns as low, medium, or high priority?

4. Are there any models of cities in similar situations as Mansfield around the country that you have focused on as examples of how to tackle our problems here? If so, what are they? Or do you have a unique approach all your own?

5. Do you have any thoughts about the concentration of sexual offenders in downtown at the VOA?

mayoral debate

A mayoral debate will be held on the subject of downtown revitalization on Sept. 27 (Thursday) at 5:30 pm at the Richland Academy. Questions submitted for the candidates must be received by Sept.19 at Main Street Mansfield.
I have been hearing about the same thing from all three candidates regarding demolitions. The vacant lots multiply year after year and the process of creating empty lots hasn't slowed the further deterioration of surrounding houses. Yet all of the candidates seem to be emphasizing that they would make demolitions a top priority, as if this process would work if we just did it fast enough.
I would just once like to hear someone in the city administration or a mayoral candidate admit that demolitions haven't worked any magic in the past and maybe there are better ideas out there in similar communities around the country for encouraging the maintenance and restoration of existing housing. It seems the combined benefits of restoration, maintenance of the tax base of a property, and eliminating the wastefulness and high cost of demolition would make it far more cost effective in dollars spent, or tax benefits bestowed on homeowners or investors than this single-minded approach that isn't working!

back from o.a.r. in columbus

Ohio Assoc. of Realtors annual convention in Columbus ended today. The highlight for me was attending the Legislative Committee where Ohio Treasurer of State Richard Cordray spoke, outlining the state's approaches to handling the mortgage foreclosure crisis.
One of the initiatives I hadn't heard of before was a bill passed in December '06 which mandates that students entering high school in 2010 receive personal financial education. Cordray co-chairs the Treasurer of State Committee that is working to implement the bill. About 300 Ohio teachers have already been trained in the program and it is already implemented in about 200 schools.
Cordray is working with the Franklin County Save Our Homes task force, an established leader in foreclosure intervention training for homeowners and professionals , and he is working with them to develop a SOH starter kit for implementation in other counties.
Another initiative in the state mentioned in the Legislative Committee was the Montgomery County Auditor's efforts to work through recorded mortgages and identify ARMs that will reset so that homeowners can be made aware of their impending situation. The work is difficult, but is being looked upon as a possible model for around the state. In our Richland County Predatory Lending Task Force that I've been attending, I have previously suggested this approach.
On the federal level, HR 1825 would eliminate the statutory 3 percent minimum down payment on FHA mortgages and give them flexibility to offer varying down-payment terms. This bill has been voted out of the House Financial Services Committee for a floor vote likely in Sept. This bill has Presidential support.
SB 1394 and HR 1876 would eliminate treating the forgiven indebtedness resulting from a short sale as income. Voinavich is a co-sponsor of the the Senate version and this bill also has presidential support.
In other sessions I attended, the effects of foreclosures are a major source of concern.
What's bad news for some may be good news for others because there will be an increased supply of tenants moving back into rentals. In the recent past, renters who were being turned down for apartments based on their poor credit, could turn around and be approved for a home mortgage.
One more related thing: at our Directors meeting we unanimously approved a committee recommendation to fund the completion of a Vacant Property Costs Impact Study in Ohio Cities that is being undertaken by ReBuild Ohio.

river again

The sidewalk's turned into a river again.

convention in columbus

The OAR annual convention will be held in Columbus this week. Foreclosures will be high on the agenda, along with the general state of the markets. If I can get on line this time from the hotel, I will try to post some updates.

home of tomorrow etc.

The Westinghouse Home of Tomorrow on Andover Road is still for sale (bank-owned after foreclosure). The listing office has changed this week and the price has been dropped to $199,900. According to the listing, the roof has been replaced, which was what the previous listing office was promising.

My listing at 317 Park Avenue West has been reduced to $104,500.

tailgate party

The Buckeye tailgate party (2nd annual) is drawing a good crowd today.

historical video

This is an historical video I made for the Johnny Appleseed Heritage Center. I wanted to see how the new Blogger video feature worked. Hope you enjoy.

river

The sidewalks were like the canals of Venice outside the bookshop after the cloudburst Monday. It's strange to watch how this happens...about the time the heavy rain starts to let up and the storm is abating, the water jumps the curb from Park Avenue and comes around the corner on Main Street. I guess the buildup of water coming down the slope of Park Ave takes about the time of an average cloudburst to reach the Square.

other issues

Complaining about parking in my opinion is an excuse used for not shopping downtown by people who feel vaguely guilty about not supporting local businesses. It's an issue high up on the agenda of merchants, but not really very significant to the customers compared to other issues, like what kinds of stores are downtown, what their hours are, and what there is to do otherwise.

Mansfield needs a couple more downtown restaurants to make it a mealtime destination.
We need more browsing shops (like more bookstores, or an army surplus store, or antique shops). And we need to capitalize on the Carrousel, Central Park, Rennaiscance Theater, North Main Street shops, in advertising outside our local area! Local people do not spend money downtown to any significant degree from my experience. At least in my bookshop this is true. It's out of town visitors who bring armfulls of books to the counter and gush about what a great store it is. And they are also just as likely to gush about how cheap the parking is! Local people tell me they just can't spend much time in a shop like mine or they would buy too much, or they have to come back when they have more time, and walk out the door empty handed.

I think this is true everywhere. If you're in you're own town, you don't have the urge to buy on impulse because you can come back any day you feel like and buy what you just saw in the shop. Or you can go look for the item on eBay and if you don't find it at a better price, come back later for it. The other factor is the monkey see monkey do effect. If the shop is crowded and people bringing things to the counter to purchase, it's more likely other people in the shop will spend some money also. Extend this theory to downtown, outoftowners making purchases would stimulate the MSMD effect with local people who happen downtown.

So the bottom line is that local advertising is wasted unless it's targetted to your specialized customer base. Cooperative advertising by groups of merchants or promotions by the city have to be directed to bringing in the tourists, not wasted on local shoppers.

parking

Some plans were finalized this morning for downtown parking. Primarily the meters in the core business district will be reset uniformly to two-hours with 25 cents per hour. This is hoped to eliminate the confusion of where to park and give ample time for visiting a restaurant. Other things discussed at the meeting this morning between merchants and the city included putting stickers on the meters to indicate when you need to feed them (like they had on them in the old days).
Regarding people who habitually camp at meters, we learned that the city can give them a red warning tag when they are found over the two hour limit, which gives the violator the opportunity to move the vehicle before the meter person makes the next round. It was agreed that using these might be better to give fair warning rather than slapping the $25 ticket on them.

mansfield data

Check out www.dataplace.org to map an incredible amount of statistical data on Mansfield or any other US municipal area. Here's an example: Poverty level by census tract in percentage in 2000.
I've been working with data on subprime lending. Here's another example...: Percent of Conventional Home Purchase Mortgage Loans by Subprime Lenders in 2004
I made my own map of current foreclosed properties that are listed, and was surprised that most are on the south side of the city, not in the lower income tracts. Then, looking at another map from dataplace makes the reason clear. The rate of home ownership is so low in the high poverty tracts, so the number of mortgage loans is very low in those areas as well.

sogbety diomande's west african celebration

The 2nd Annual West African Celebration is coming up August 24-26 at Camp Avery Hand, 3766 Orweiler Rd. Visit the website for the celebration at www.freewebs.com/sogbetydiomande
for information about all of the weekend activities and tickets. The highlight of the weekend will be the Saturday night performance at 8 p.m. featuring West African dancing and drumming. Tickets for that event are $25. You can also purchase a weekend ticket for $165 adults or $45 Children 6-12, that includes food, camping, all classes, all performances, and the lecture. Contact Highlands of Ohio for tickets at 419-522-5058 or email highlands@neo.rr.com

narrated video of new listing

The narrated video of 4157 Hastings Newville Rd is up now at http://41.alanwigton.com
Another virtual tour (no narration but higher resolution) is at http://tours.justsnooping.com/2304153

new listing

Just listed: my favorite house in the county. It was built by artist/builder Ken Arthur in 1978, on 3.22 acres about 3 miles this side of Malabar Farm on Hastings-Newville Road. Ken sold it in 2001, and it's offered by the current owners at $235,000. The house is timber framed with reclaimed, hand-hewn posts and beams. High R-value insulated. Exterior is board and batten cedar. A large barn with loft provides studio/workshop space. Ken's art is based on "found" objects and this house reflects that...an eco-friendly house ... a combination of energy-conserving design, and reclaimed energy in its construction.
When Ken built his latest house and moved, he of course took most of his collections that filled the house, outbuildings, and landscape including the boulder collection that once lined the driveway. But vestiges of the collection remain, in structural elements and adornments of found objects and recycled building parts from the past...like the clay chimney pots, Victorian gingerbread brackets, implement parts hanging in trees, and stones of all kinds. You'll see what I mean when you take the video tour...it's not going to be up until tomorrow at the earliest, but I'll post a link when it's ready.

real age

Here's one of several interesting calculators at poodwaddle.com . A friend sent me a link to the "world clock" but it was too wide to fit the blog, so you get the real age calculator instead.


Poodwaddle.com

upcoming events at appleseed

Saturday, July 28, is the third annual Praise in the Hills concert at the outdoor amphitheater south of Mifflin. If the Gold City Quartet, and Gospel Harmony Boys aren't your cup of tea, maybe you'd enjoy the Bluegrass Festival (second year for this event) on Saturday, Aug. 11. Both events are in the evening at 7 p.m. with gates opening at 4:30.

disciplinary architecture

I've been trying to convince the city administration to install a short iron railing on top of the streetscape planters to discourage sitting, an idea that has been brought up in the past and rejected because of cost. In researching other, cheaper ways to discourage sitters I've discovered that there's a name for this type of architecture; defensive architecture if you're seeing it in a positive light ,or disciplinary architecture if your point of view is somewhat more negative about the concept. The city of Tokyo has taken this to the extreme of creating park benches that are unsittable for any extended length of time, and strategically designed "art" that takes over public spaces previously occupied by homeless.
I'm not about to apologize for advocating some reasonable measures in the case of these planters. They were installed as part of a failed effort in the 1980s to try to make the downtown look like the shopping malls that had drawn business to the suburbs. Their failure was compounded by the lost on-street parking spaces and the damage created to the downtown pedestrian-friendliness by the large parking lot separating the square from the North Main area and the even more ill-concieved parking garage (now gone). The "streetscape" was paid for by assessments on property owners. It failed miserably while preservation of old buildings north of Fourth Street has succeeded, beyond the streetscape's boundaries, yet the city administration resists any removal or modification. Businesses within the Central Park Historic District manage to cope "in spite of" the streetscape and the lost "look and feel" of a traditional downtown (which shopping areas like Easton Center in Columbus try to emulate). Here on the west side of the Square, the negative impact of the streetscape is most intense with lost parking, lost loading and unloading access, and lost traditional cityscape.
The smoker/idlers can remain standing as far as I'm concerned or walk across the street to the park where there are real benches and grass to sit on. If the planters can't be removed, at least they shouldn't serve a function that drives business away.

how much to offer

I've posted a page (link here) analyzing some sold statistics of bank-owned properties to help buyers understand what kind of offers are being accepted in the $50,000 + price range (Mansfield is in one of the lowest priced real estate markets in the country FYI to anyone reading this from elsewhere. Median price of homes selling here today is around $94,ooo, down from about $100,000 a year ago).
In lower price ranges the percentage spread between sold price and listed price broadens considerably, but in the 50,000+ range the average sold price is hitting about 95% or more of asking price, with very very few exceptions. Adding to the rarity of low sold-to-listed ratios is the fact that some of the lowest ratio transactions are a result of factors that aren't revealed in the sold statistics, like major defects discovered during inspections, rather than the result of low-ball negotiation strategies.

planter sitters, another update

Officer Shay clears the planter sitters on his foot patrols for a few hours in the middle of the day. The habitual idlers scatter for a while and come back for the rest of the afternoon and evening. He ought to at least arrest the guy in the foreground for the pants he's wearing!

septic rules repealed

The governor signed the budget bill without striking the provision to repeal the septic system rules that went into effect Jan. 1. The repeal will last two years while they are reformulated, and in the meantime we will revert to the way things were done in the past. I haven't been entirely in favor of this repeal even though I'm a Realtor and the OAR was backing it. I haven't heard of any local horror stories under the new rules, but I guess some counties took a stricter approach. This divergence from county to county was one of the things the new rules were supposed to alleviate, so if they hadn't solved that problem I suppose it is best to start over.

streetscape

More complaining about streetscape and planters:

• The block and a half between 2nd Street and N. Park Street on Main has no parking, where originally there was parking on both sides of the street. This includes the Richland Bank and Mechanic's blocks.
  
• The City has been enforcing a ban on delivery vehicles using the streetscape for loading and unloading. In particular the Service Safety director has accused delivery vehicles of causing damage by creating potholes in the brick which the city has to repair.
  
• There is no turnoff area or loading zone to service the businesses on these blocks, and recent discussions about parking and such are just a repeat of discussions I've heard for the last four years. The city feels (per Chief Messer's statement at the last parking meeting) that because the merchants unanimously favored the streetscape in 1981, they should have to live with it (26 years later). Despite the fact that pedestrian malls and streetscapes were dismal failures in cities all over the country, and that many cities have removed them and restored the mix of sidewalks, curbs, parking spaces and streets.

Anyway, I thought it was interesting to see that a city vehicle loaded with water for the planters was parked on the streetscape, and thought I'd post a picture here for reference since our business's delivery and maintenance vehicles are being accused of harming the brick paving. Of course it makes sense to use the brick area instead of blocking a lane of traffic. That's why it's happening even with city vehicles.

fountain

The Vasbinder Fountain renovation is about completed. The new color reflects back to the color it was painted in the 1950s. I noticed the urns around the base are stamped "Kramer Fdry. Dayton Oh" and checked on line about that company. It was started in 1895 and the line of urns is still produced by Talledega Foundry in Alabama. The date would indicate that the urns were a later acquisition. Perhaps the urns were bought when the fountain was brought back from Malabar Farm and reinstalled in Central Park.
Shortly after Mansfield got its water works the idea emerged of having a fountain in Central Park. Funds were raised in the community that paid for constructing the reservoir. David and Jane Vasbinder, brother and sister, paid for the fountain itself. The total cost was $2500. The fountain was originally dedicated on Monday, July 4, 1881. Festivities were dampened by news of the assassination of president Garfield the previous Saturday.

planter sitters

Not much improvement with the planter sitters today. I was out of town yesterday so don't know what happened except that this morning I cleaned up 35 butts which is above average. Seems like chasing them off didn't last very long. Jeff next door called the police this afternoon about the panhandler sitting on the planter opposite our stores, begging from everyone who passed by. He was gone down the street when the officer came, but just in time to point him out.

foreclosure prevention summit

I attended a foreclosure prevention summit sponsored by HUD in Cleveland yesterday along with Barb Murray from our MBOR office and Marylin Carr, president of the board of MBOR. I've added a page to my website, www.alanwigton.com , on the subject with some notes on the summit and some resources.

fountain renovation

The renovation of the Vasbinder Fountain is under way today. I've been wondering about the sandblasting going on in the open air so close to the playground. I suppose they're keeping an eye on the wind direction...?

again

The officer just came around and cleared them out again. Yay!!!

sitting on streetscape

A police officer just walked by and told the idlers they can't be sitting on the planters. Everybody left. Of course ten minutes later we have two of our most permanent idlers back.

parking misinformation by wmfd

I was in a meeting yesterday sponsored by Main Street Mansfield about downtown parking. The mayor and other administration were there, and downtown stakeholders...building owner reps, retailers, etc. A lot of things were discussed and a future meeting scheduled. WMFD put out a story last night showing video from the County Commissioners meeting where Gary Utt was discussing the previous parking meeting. By that point the information was second or third hand, and the resulting story garbled and twisted it further, to the point of talking as if the Commissioners were in charge of recalibrating meters, that the 20 year reduction in number of parking meters from 1100 to 400 was a reduction in parking spaces (headlined the story) etc. etc. They pulled the story from their website immediately this morning when contacted by Main Street, the sponsors of the actual meeting, and Anne Miller is going to meet with Burton Sahl to get it straightened out. Meanwhile if you saw the story, everything in it was bogus.

miracle mile fatality

This morning's News Journal: "The miracle mile has been a trouble spot for city police for years because of people cruising."
That's true because the city administration has flip-flopped on enforcement over the years, and the police have been caught in the middle. In the early 1990s cruising, primarily in cars, not only involved the miracle mile, but extended all along Park Avenue West in the city. At some point in time after the drag racing fatality in 1993 police cracked down on trespassing in the parking lots lining the miracle mile.
I think the cruising started to come back with the advent of the bike race weekend at Mid-Ohio. That annual event has drawn increasing numbers of motorcyclists and administration policy shifted toward trying to keep a lid on the miracle mile insanity without discouraging it. There's been a police presence and a lot of tickets written, but no effort to shut it down.
The extent of what is tolerated is evident each year after the bike weekend by the condition of the pavement on the mile; not just burned rubber, but even melted pavement.
Coinciding with the increase number of high performance bikes and the advent of the bike weekend phenomenon, has been a shift toward "celebrating the automobile" by businesses on the mile as a way to bring people and business back to the stretch. This shift has helped drive the administrations approach. The trouble is, the old cruising problem...kids in cars making the loop, gathering in parking lots, occasional fights...was tame compared to the problem the high performance motorcycles have brought to the strip.

sculpture

Here's the King sculpture in the morning light, and a photo of King from a similar angle.

king monument unveiled

The King monument was unveiled this evening. I missed the ceremony, but walked over tonight to have a look. I'm happy to report the Auto Workers Credit Union rock I posted about previously is the first in line at the edge of the sidewalk, and the only one of the 39 with a slogan that smacks of advertising.
The bust is fantastic. The News Journal has been passing along some negative comments about it not looking like King, including a letter to the editor published yesterday. But that was before the unveiling!, so I'm convinced this perception was based on the picture on the publicity brochure the group circulated to raise funds, not on the actual sculpture. He has an odd tilt to his head and smile in the brochure that doesn't come across in person. I'll have another look in the morning and try to get a picture to compare.
Here's the picture from the brochure. The actual sculpture looks older also.

butts

The anti-butt litter signs in my window seem to be working. Yesterday's harvest of cigarette butts directly in front of my shop was only 20. Today's was even better... only 11, which is an amazing decrease. I've noticed more people snubbing them out and throwing them in the trash container.

paver

The Midtown Parking lot next to Jimmy's bar is being repaved and they've been taking up the old asphalt. This would be the site of the James Purdy residence back in the mid 1800s, and later the Purdy building built in 1895 occupied the front half of the lot. I picked up a paver brick that would have been in the courtyard or alley between the Purdy building and the building on the back half of the lot (a garage in the 1940s). Here's a picture of the paver. There's a town named Trimble Oh in Athens County.
No big deal...I just enjoy seeing the tangible remains of the old buildings that used to be around here.

carnival downtown

The Miss Ohio Festival is downtown tonight, all day tomorrow (Sat.), and noon to 6pm on Sunday.

foreclosure prevention

There's lots in the news about foreclosures now that the problem has become a factor in the more affluent markets, even though here in Ohio it's been an ongoing issue for some time. Contrary to what you may have heard, Ohio doesn't lead the nation in foreclosures. Ohio is eighth. The number one state is Colorado followed by Georgia, Nevada, Texas, Michigan, Indiana and Florida based on percent of households. 3% in Colorado; 1.7% in Ohio.

Anyone who thinks they may be headed into a foreclosure situation should call Ohio's Foreclosure Hotline if they do nothing else. 1-888-995-HOPE (4673).

The hotline will connect you to Ohio's Foreclosure Prevention Task Force for outreach and education, proactive intervention, and financial resources.

no butts

Here's a website for a campaign started by three kids seven years ago to do something about cigarette butt litter.
http://www.nobuttsaboutit.net/index.html
I was looking for an anti-butt poster, and now I've posted a couple in my front window.

more on king monuments

I was surprised to hear that the boulders at the monument had advertising on them so I walked over tonight to have a look, expecting it wasn't true; but have a look for yourself! Some are inscribed with just donor names, or include a tribute to King, but this one is pretty crass and I could only see a few of the 39 rocks! There was no mention of inscriptions on these rocks in the plans. The recognition inscriptions were to be on bricks, oversize bricks, and "plaques". That would be the same scheme as the Korean monument, all laid flat in the paving.
The sketch in the plans showed round rocks, and Norbert Piker described their size as about that of a person's head. These are not round and much larger. I think I'll like the effect from inside the monument space but if this isn't going to look like a rock pile from the street view, it will need some large plantings.
Dr. King's bronze is wearing a white sheet. How ironic!

more on hud properties

HUD properties are still off the market (see previous post). There is going to be a change regarding the listing broker when these come back. In the past, Michael Rath, out of Akron, was the listing broker and his office received a 1% commission on the sale.
The new scheme is to allow the listing broker to place their sign on the properties and they will no longer receive the commission. The number of buyers the listing office acquires through calls to the phone number on the sign is supposed to more than compensate for the loss of the 1% commission. The 5% commission on the buyer's side will stay the same. I understand that Michael Rath is out of the game now, and I'm curious to see what office has picked up the listings for Richland County.

king statue

The Martin Luther King statue is being installed. His "three times life sized" waist-up bust is covered with the unveiling cloth. I'll get a picture in the morning. It's not as huge as I imagined it would be. But the rocks that line the pathway are much larger than advertised. They were supposed to be about the size of a man's head, but are more like about 5 times that size.

sweet basil eatery closes

Sweet Basil Eatery has a sign on its door tonight announcing that this was their last day of business. They were open two years.
Their business plan must have depended on a strong catering and reception trade, but I'm not sure how well that was developed. Park Avenue Catering does a tremendous amount of that business but I'm sure it has taken a long time to build up, and they operate out of a much smaller space. Sweet Basil tried to be a lot more, with the retail cookery tools, cooking classes, lunch take-out and sit-down meals, and fine-dining. I'm curious whether the issue of sprinklers on the upper floors prevented them from holding the receptions and events? The appeal of that court ruling against Fernyak, the building's owner, was in the paper today. Judge Henson is going to rule on it.

hud properties

HUD properties for sale in Ohio and Michigan after May 16 have been removed from the market due to transferring the account from MCBREO to the Chapman Law Firm. The listings are currently off our MLS until Chapman gets the process back up and running. The website for Chapman is www.clfres.com
The current notice on the site says
"There are no [HUD] listings at this time. Property listings are pending and you will soon be able to search HUD properties available for sale in the States of Michigan and Ohio on this site."

susan sturges house

Newly listed: 317 Park Avenue West, "The Susan Sturges House"
Video Tour at http://317.alanwigton.com

mushrooms

It's that time of year again! I got about a dozen morels tonight including this one I spotted about 20 yards away.

ohio's smoking ban

Ohio's smoking ban has me breathing more second-hand smoke than ever. My bookshop is sandwiched between Tobacco Road, the only type of indoor business where smoking is allowed, and Uncle John's Restaurant and Jimmy's Bar.
To begin with, Tobacco Road moved next door before the smoking ban took effect. After the new ordinance took effect they would not have been allowed smoking if they had relocated there because it's not a freestanding building. But because they moved prior to the ban, smoking is allowed. Uncle John's is a notoriously smoky place, and I worked many hours plugging the penetrations of the party wall at floor joist voids to eliminate the stale smoke smell coming through the wall, only to have to repeat the process on the Tobacco Road side of my building with only limited success.
The streescape planters out front have long been treated as benches for idlers who smoke away day after day, littering the sidewalk with their cigarette butts. Now Uncle John's and Jimmy's have started enforcing the indoor smoking ban, and their customers and staff now join the idlers outside on the planters throughout the day, adding to the smoke and litter.
Having my shop door propped open for ventilation on these nice spring days has become a thing of the past because it brings in second-hand smoke no matter which way the wind is blowing. I don't mind tolerating Tobacco Road, because eventually the owners of that building will have to solve the ventilation issue there if they ever want any other tenants, especially on the second floor. But I am going to start raising the issue of these planters being used as park benches. Cutting some of the trees and bushes two years ago did discourage the idlers for a time, but they are back more today and joined by the smokers displaced by the indoor smoking ban.

school levy

Dr. Lloyd Martin, Mansfield Schools Superintendent, spoke at Thursday's meeting of the Mansfield Board of REALTORS Directors. He made some excellent points and a convincing argument to support this school levy. There is no doubt he is absolutely passionate about getting this levy passed and moving on to turn the system around. He made one point in particular that should resonate with any property owner, and that is that if this levy doesn't pass property values in the district will continue to drop at a cost far exceeding the additional cost of the levy if passed. As he put it, it's another case of "pay me now, or pay me later".
The schools haven't had an increase in funding since 1993, and in the face of all of the increases in costs since that time including health insurance, it's ridiculous to expect the system to function without a new levy.
The board voted unanimously to support the levy, joining an unprecedented show of support from business leaders, groups, and organizations who have all come to realize the economic fate of this region depends on the financial and academic well-being of the Mansfield schools.

OAR Spring Conference

The Ohio Association of REALTORS held their Spring conference at Easton in Columbus earlier this week.
The big news for Mansfield REALTORS is that Barbara Murray, the MBOR executive officer, has been recommended to OAR leadership to be appointed as 2008 Vice Chairman of the Association Executives Committee!
Action items of the Directors meeting included unanimous approval of a resolution supporting HB 110, SB 83 which will rescind septic system rules which became effective 01-01-07 and revert back to rules previously in effect, adopting new rules by 01-01-08 after reevaluation of the economic impact and drafting new rules.
Also passed unanimously was a resolution to support the recommendations in the report of the Task Force to Study Eminent Domain. The recommendations provide both procedural and substantive protections for property owners whose property is taken by a governmental agency through eminent domain, without unduly restricting the use of eminent domain for legitimate public purposes. The recommendations augment the Ohio Supreme Court ruling in the Norwood case, which held that the state constitution forbids the use of eminent domain for solely economic purposes.

B17G at mansfield 20 years ago

I shot this video nearly 20 years ago. B17G Sentimental Journey leaving Lahm field after a fly-in that brought over 2,000 people out to the airport on a workday morning. Give the video a couple of minutes to load (broadband). www.alanwigton.com/B17G.htm

short historical video

I posted a short historical video at the home page at www.jahci.org about the Indian villages of Greentown and Jerome's Town. It's a flash video...just give it a little time to load and it will start automatically.
The video is about how Montgomery Montour, a Delaware Indian, successfully petitioned Congress in 1806 to have the villages set aside for the Indians that lived there. Few people know the details of the story I've told in this video, including the fact that Montgomery Montour's chalk portrait made during his Washington visit became the basis for a painted portrait passed off as that of a chief of the Mandain nation.
The video is about 6 minutes long.

home of tomorrow

The home of tomorrow is back on the market now at $214,900

home of tomorrow

The Westinghouse Home of Tomorrow (1934) on Andover Road will be back on the market soon. This is a picture from one of the two original second floor baths.

2006 Mansfield real estate stats

Locally: MBOR's MLS Stats
Property Type..Number..Avg.Price
Residential......1,418....$121,894
Multi-Family...........53......$97,773
Vacant Land..........53......$56,776
Commercial..........21....$137,430
TOTAL:.............1,545....$117,078

Business Confidence Nationally: Practitioners expect to see much better home sale conditions in the months ahead as buyer traffic strengthens. At the same time, a slight easing in seller traffic could help tighten inventories, shoring up prices. (Practitioner confidence was surveyed in January and looks ahead six months.)

Homes Sales Nationally: Final 2006 existing home sales are in and the year was the third-highest on record with 6.48 million sales. A 4.9 percent increase in December 2006 pending homes sales - a leading indicator - suggests 2007 is shaping up to be another solid year.

richland engineering facade

The new facade on Richland Engineering has been uncovered. Work is still in progress, but it's near completion. Dan Seckel is the architect for the project that was approved by the Preservation Commission because of its location in the historic district.

doodle auction

Doodle Auction to benefit Mansfield City Schools Art programs.
Donated doodles by Mario Andretti, Donald Trump, Jamie Farr, Jay Leno, Phyllis Diller, Dick Goddard, G. Gordon Liddy, Dick Gregory, Arnold Palmer, Bob Barker, Rosanne Arquette, Randy Travis, Dr. Phil, .... and the list goes on and on.
Tickets, $20. Call Connie Pastor at 419 756-4543.

housing market

Mansfield's housing market posted a 5.9% gain in number of units sold in January, over the same month a year ago. The average price was $81,457, a 16.8% drop. Activity in the bank-owned and lower priced market appears to be the major reason for the price drop. Ohio overall had a 4.2% increase in units sold and a 5.3% price drop. The state average price was $140, 544.

westinghouse home of tomorrow

The Preservation Commission toured the Westinghouse Home of Tomorrow (1934) on Andover Road yesterday. It's in the middle of some repairs prior to getting it back on the market after being foreclosed and going back to the bank. The flat roofs are going to be replaced with rubber when the weather allows.
I was happy to see some of the most outstanding features haven't been lost. The upstairs bathrooms are still in fantastic condition with the bakelight(?) veneer and inlay deco designs still like new. There has been cieling damage on the second floor from the flat roof areas, and some drop cielings applied in the past as cover-up.
Scott Schaut brought along an album of Westinghouse photos and we spent about an hour comparing the original photos with existing things in the house. The kitchen is the most radically altered part of the house, as you can imagine. Even though it was the home of tomorrow, we are talking 1934, so understandable that the original kitchen innovations of that era didn't survive the test of time so well.

the trolley-wreck building

I guess it's goodbye soon to the trolley-wreck building. City Council has approved purchase of the building by Economic Development, to tear it down and sell the lot to Minnick Mfg. next door for expansion. The Preservation Commission reviewed the issue at yesterday's meeting.
The building evidently sits in a flood plain, like Creamer's Hotel and other buildings on that block, so can't get financing due to insurance problems. It has been in such poor shape that it was never added to the Ohio Historic Inventory. And that area is zoned industrial.
All things considered, the Commission is not going to oppose demolition.

new septic tank rules

New statewide rules have gone into effect for residential sewage/septic systems. You can find out more about the rules at the Ohio Public Health website. Here's the best starting point for information (it's hard to find directly from the odh homepage):
http://www.odh.ohio.gov/odhPrograms/eh/sewage/sewage1.aspx
The new rules are intended to bring all counties under uniform compliance with the force of law.
We had an update this morning at Coldwell Banker Mattox McCleery from the Richland County Health Department. Here are a few of the highlights from my notes that aren't covered so well from the state website:
Older systems will continue to be used. No new inspections will be mandated. Typically an inspection takes place when a home is being sold, and if it passes under the old rules, there is no problem. If part of the system is broken, then it can be repaired (county health dept. should be notified by the installer). If a system discharges off the lot, it won't become an issue unless it is identified as a public nuiscance (i.e. your neighbor complains about you discharging raw sewage in the stream etc.) Variances for off-lot discharge (after treatment) will be given for existing lots that were too small.
Most new installations will require:
Soil scientist report which involves at least two test holes (about $100 per hole). Some scientists will do 3 holes minimum. Can no longer rely on soil maps. County will give a letter of suitability based on a soil scientists report, so this would be the extent of what needs to be done with a new lot prior to marketing it.
System Designer
Installer
Total cost being talked about at this time is $20,000.