Friday, December 18th, 2009

Celina planners favor closing two alleys

Council to decide on vacation at Landmark

By William Kincaid
Celina Planning Commission on Thursday night had no problem recommending the vacation of two alleys crisscrossing the property of Mercer Landmark.
Planning members Tom Hone, Eldon Wetter, Ralph Stelzer, Celina Safety Service Director Rick Bachelor and Celina Mayor Sharon LaRue unanimously recommended vacating the alleys after listening to a brief presentation by Mercer Landmark attorney Tom Lammers.
The request now will go before city council members.
Mercer Landmark, located at 4190 W. Market St., wants the alley running north and south between Market and Livingston streets and the alley running east and west from Mill Street to the railroad vacated. Both thoroughfares intersect the business. In fact, the one alley runs between a series of giant grain bins.
Currently, the alleys are open to the public.
"It's more a matter of security and safety," Lammers said.
Because Mercer Landmark owns most of the property on both sides of the two alleys in question, it would acquire all of the property vacated if the request is eventually approved by city council, Bachelor said.
As part of the planning commission's recommendation, the city would obtain easements to allow access to the property if need be.
A sanitary sewer line is located underneath the alley running east and west from Mill Street and power lines run overhead on the alley running north and south between Market and Livingston streets.
Lammers assured planning commission members that Mercer Landmark would not build anything on or restrict access to the easements for city utility crews.
"We'll just need to get our equipment in there if anything comes up," city Engineering Assistant Jeremy Hinton said.
In early November, council's streets and alleys committee unanimously approved the request. Bachelor said most at that meeting agreed the move would be beneficial for all.
After the decision, Lammers said Mercer Landmark would pay additional property taxes on the newly acquired land.
Additional online stories on this date
Local thefts keep law enforcement busy
A man and a woman were arrested this week as suspects in a rash of burglaries in the Versailles area including the theft of gifts from under Christmas trees. [More]
ROCKFORD - The Fort Recovery Indians went on the road and took care of business as they used a great defensive effort to defeat the Parkway Panthers, 73-28, in Midwest Athletic Conference action on Thursday night at Panther Gymnasium. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
Marion Township
Mercer County officials got an early Christmas gift this week as most bids for a multi-million dollar sanitary sewer project in Marion Township came in much lower than project estimates.
Local thefts keep law enforcement busy
The Mercer County Sheriff's Office continues to investigate a rash of thefts involving vehicles, tools and money in the Chickasaw area after receiving three reports in a two-hour period Wednesday morning.
Grand Lake St. Marys State Park
Beaver trapping will be allowed in portions of Grand Lake St. Marys State Park from Dec. 26 through Feb. 28.
Brian Miller, assistant manager at the park, said the state park started getting calls this fall from lakeside residents about beavers damaging their trees.
Mercer County commissioners on Tuesday opened six bids for an estimated $800,000 bridge project on Township Line Road.
The highest bid submitted was $789,937 from R.B. Jergens Contractors of Vandalia. The lowest bid of $658,252 came from RG Zachrich Construction of Defiance.
Rockford Village Council members discussed a variety of topics at Tuesday night's regular council meeting: overtime, the pool committee, banner display, hydrants, to name a few. As well, the January meeting date has been changed to Jan. 12 at 6:30 p.m.
Mercer County Sheriff's deputies responded to a Montezuma-area home Wednesday afternoon and found a 45-year-old man dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
It's the time of year for purchasing gifts, preparing heavenly desserts and spending time with family and friends.
But through the hustle and bustle of the season, it's easy to forget the reason for celebration: Jesus' birth.
The Celina girls basketball team played a near flawless first half on Thursday night and it was more than enough to beat Defiance.
Defiance was ove
NEW BREMEN - Coldwater shrugged off an early New Bremen fast start and held off a feisty Cardinal squad for its second straight win, and first conference win of the season, in beating New Bremen 56-47 at Cardinal Gymnasium on Thursday night.
Local Roundup
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
Versailles used a 20-9 second-quarter burst to pull ahead of St. Henry, handing the Redskins their first loss of the season by a 48-43 margin in Midwest Athletic Conference play at Redskin Gymnasium. The Tigers go to 6-1 on the season and 3-0 in the conference.