Friday, March 26th, 2010

Search starts for temporary office space

County workers will relocate during 18-month renovation

By Janie Southard
WAPAKONETA - Auglaize County commissioners are hunting temporary digs for county courthouse offices while renovations are made to the 1894-era structure. Relocation for the more than 35 workers is expected to be at least 18 months.
"We've looked at a few places including some we saw years ago when we first thought about this project. But at that time, we were thinking of renovating a floor at a time," Auglaize County Commissioner John Bergman told the newspaper this morning, adding on Monday they'll look at the Endless Endevors building in Cridersville.
The one floor idea seems less viable now, due to concerns of dust near sensitive equipment.
"So our plan now is to move everyone out so the they (workmen) can work during the day. The problem is that we're not yet clear on if we can legally move county offices away from the county seat. So, we're really in initial stages, although we've been at this a long time," Bergman said.
Prompting this new focus is the county's recent selection for a portion of the $15 million coming to Ohio through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant. The local award of $1.3 million is the second-largest of the 28 grants given.
Auglaize will use the money for upgrades in lighting, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, as well as a 20-kilowat solar electric system.
The county has $6 million in its permanent improvement fund. Even with the $1.3 million, Bergman predicts the county will be "a few dollars short" of the $8 million-plus price tag for the renovations. A civil lawsuit settled in 2007 with the city of St. Marys over a landfill dispute placed a $4.8 million burden on the county for a 30-year period beginning in 1998. The ruling caused the county to redirect money it had saved for the renovation.
"We should meet our (dollar) goal depending on the bids," Bergman said, adding the deadline on the courthouse project is July 2012. "It's doable. It won't take long for Garmann/Miller (Minster architects) to refresh the plans they created a few years ago, just some fine tuning, I would think."
The commissioner categorizes the selection of a temporary building a "jigsaw puzzle."
"A lot depends on how the building is configured. Sometimes you have a take a space you can't fully utilize, which is a big part of the challenge," he said.
Speaking only for himself, Bergman said he wants to make sure there are no strings in accepting the money that would tie the hands of any future officials. "I don't look for that to be an issue, but I'm not going to close my eyes to the possibility. Some municipalities have turned down the money because of the strings. I have no doubt we can meet the requirement for the grant dollars," he said.
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CELINA - There is plenty of room for optimism surrounding the Celina baseball team this year after a 16-11 season in 2009 and several big-time contributors back at head coach Drew Braun's disposal.
CELINA - It has been a wild last two years for the Celina softball program.
Two years ago, Celina had its best season in school history by winning
After a trip to the Division III state baseball semifinals last season and posting its first 30-win season since 1992, Coldwater lost half its infield and two ace pitchers to graduation.
After a rough 8-14 season that saw the Cavaliers fall to seventh place in the Midwest Athletic Conference (1-6), the Coldwater softball team will bring back plenty of experience to the diamond this season.
New Fort Recovery baseball coach Jeff Hahn is getting a belated debut to his first season of guiding the Indians.
The success of the boys basketball team has delayed the start of baseball, as the Indians have pushed back the start of their season to April 5.
Fort Recovery softball coach Marie Osterholt is hoping that 2010 starts like how 2009 finished.
The Indians came up with a strong finish, winning a sectional game and finishing 9-13 on the season.
MARIA STEIN - Marion Local baseball coach Bryan Gray has a mixed bag to work with in his first year at the helm of the Flyers.
The Flyers return their top three starting pitchers from a year ago, and that trio of seniors will be counted on to lead an otherwise inexperienced group.
MARIA STEIN - Marion Local softball coach Russ Puthoff begins his third season at the helm of the Flyers with plenty of experience returning.
The Flyers welcome back nine letterwinners from last year's squad that finished 10-9.
MINSTER - Mike Wiss enters his 16th season as the main man in the Minster's baseball dugout and he is looking forward to another competitive season on the diamond from his squad.
MINSTER - For the Minster softball team, head coach Tom Berger's yearly goals have been modest, yet challenging, in the two seasons he has been at the helm. Both years, he has upped the performance ante while his troops have always responded favorably.
NEW BREMEN - To say that 2010 season will be a rebuilding one for the New Bremen baseball team may be a little strong, but for third-year coach Greg Cox there will definitely be some retooling.
NEW BREMEN - To get an idea of how young the 2010 New Bremen Cardinal softball team will be, one can do one of two things.
Take a look at the roster or just hang around veteran coach Greg Griesdorn and you will quickly catch on that his squad is definitely green.
While some of the players for Parkway's baseball team might be rookies to the varsity, the coach will not be.
Mike Schumm returns after a seven-yea
ROCKFORD - It's nice to have a team that is young and experienced.
Veteran Parkway softball skipper Mark Esselstein brings back a number of experie
After a 19-6 campaign in 2009, St. Henry will once again look to contend for a Midwest Athletic Conference championship in baseball.
Veteran coach John Dorner, though, has some concerns.
Graduation took away a large chunk from the St. Henry softball team, with seven seniors earning diplomas last spring.
Coach Josh Link does have some strong experience back, especially in the circle and at the plate.
ST. MARYS - With the return of seven letterwinners, there is cautious optimism this season for the St. Marys baseball team.
The Roughriders were 10-12 a year ago (5-4 in the Western Buckeye League) and head coach Denny Pfeffenberger is concentrating on seeing continued improvement from his squad.
ST. MARYS - Competing for a Western Buckeye League title has become a seemingly yearly tradition for the St. Marys softball team and this year should be no different.
CELINA - High expectations are nothing new for the Celina track program and both teams are coming off successful seasons.
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The Coldwater track program brings back a mix of talented veterans along with what coach Pete Lisi calls raw talent.
BOYS
The Cavaliers finished in third-place in the Midwest Athletic Conference last season, and while some key components have graduated, there is plenty of help back.
Fort Recovery track coach Chris Summers has some experience coming back for his boys and girls track teams this season. Depth, though, is an issue as both teams are relatively small, especially the boys' squad.
MARIA STEIN - A total of 61 athletes have gone out for track this year at Marion Local, 37 boys and 24 girls, giving the coaches lots of options to work with on both the boys and girls sides.
Besides Topp's experience continuing to climb toward that 25-year milestone, the Wildcats traditionally threaten for the league title and are always one of the top three squads to contend with at the district and regional level.
NEW BREMEN - The 2009 season was one for the record books for the New Bremen boys track team.
Among the team's accomplishments was a 53-4 record in
Both the Parkway boys and girls track teams will look to their strengths to try and find a way to move up the ladder in the Midwest Athletic Conference and send athletes deep into the postseason.
Numbers will be an issue for the St. Henry track program this season as just 19 boys and 15 girls dot the Redskins' roster.
Talent will not be an issue, as veteran coach Mike Eyink has some solid athletes.
ST. MARYS - Kathy Sites' first year of coaching track at St. Marys was all about trying to get depth on the roster, and this year, Sites wants to see some stronger results to surface.
CELINA - With just one senior and 10 juniors dotting the roster, it may seem like Celina is setting itself up for a banner year next season.
Celina head coach Jan Morrison is hoping that the success comes a year early as the Bulldogs have high expectations for this season.
ST. MARYS - Finishing in the upper-half of the Western Buckeye League standings has been the norm for the St. Marys tennis program through the years and head coach Brice Brenneman expects more of the same this spring.