The North Union FFA Agronomy Career Development Event (CDE) team placed first out of 28 schools in the state competition at the Ohio State Fairgrounds on Saturday. According to a release by the school district, the team will represent Ohio at the National FFA Convention against other state-winning teams in Indianapolis on Oct. 30-31. Team members are Joel Krebehenne, Kaylee Smith, Dean Wolfe and Avery Zwayer. Each individual placed in the top six, with Smith earning first place honors. This was North Union’s 12th state-winning team since 2003. Agronomy is the science and technology of producing crops for food, fiber…
Author: Sherryl Sheets of the Richwood Gazette
Representatives from North Union Little League approached council members during the regular Monday night meeting. The officers of the league asked council if it would be able to offer some help and guidance to resolve the flooding problem on Monroe Field baseball diamond, located at Richwood Park. The field has a sump pump which helps remove the water on the field, but officials are unsure where the water goes after it is pumped from the field. Flooding has been a continual problem, causing delays during the baseball season. Village Administrator Monte Asher told the men that he could call a…
The North Union Board of Education learned of the new “pathways” from high school principal Janel Chapman during the regular Monday night meeting held at North Union High School. The board took a tour of the high school facility before the meeting. Chapman explained to the board that students are asked to enroll in a pathway in their freshman year. The “pathway” is a program teaching students to find a career and learn about it in their high school career. The Ohio’s College Credit Plus pathway helps students earn college and high school credits at the same time by taking…
Richwood Village Council members heard updates on the Franklin Street Project during Monday night’s regular meeting. Councilman Jack Moore was absent from the meeting. Village Administrator Monte Asher told council that Columbia Gas has been working on replacing old gas lines on North Franklin Street during the construction project. Other utility companies have also been marking their lines before the street is torn up. Brenneman Excavating, which was awarded the project, has been having trees in the tree lawn removed this week. North Franklin Street will be widened by two feet on either side of the street, so some power/telephone…
Following an executive session, Richwood Council approved a three percent pay increase for village employees at Monday’s meeting . Council approved the first reading on the increases and, if approved on all three readings, pay for employees will be as follows: •Chief of Police/Village Administrator – currently the salary is $65,000 and will increase to $66,300. •Police Lieutenant salary currently is $20.44 per hour, increase will be $21.05. •Sergeant’s salary is $18.60 and would raise to $19.16. •Full-time officer starting wage is $14.99, to be $15.44. •Full-time (after 12 months) is $16.08 raising to $16.56. •Full-time officer (after 24 months)…
Mayor Scott Jerew informed council about a meeting he attended regarding improvements for village residences and businesses. Council reports it is always trying to find ways for residents to make improvements on their properties and for businesses to make updates, without causing financial hardship in the process. It is always looking to encourage development and new construction. One such program is supported by the Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) and the Union County Chamber of Commerce. This program is called the “Community Reinvestment Area (CRA). This program will include the areas from Beatty Avenue (a section near Franklin Street), the west…
Richwood Council began Monday’s meeting by electing Reddy Brown as the president. Mayor Scott Jerew approached council about bidding out to refuse companies regarding trash pick-up within the village. For nearly three years, council has discussed the possibility of seeking out one trash company to pick up trash and recyclables one day a week for residents. Representatives from the North Central Ohio Solid Waste District have advised council on several occasions regarding the value in having recycling pick-up included in the plan. They have also sent out questionnaires to residents seeking their input. There are several companies that travel village…
The North Union Board of Education held its organizational meeting for 2019 and opened it by swearing in Matt Staley, the newest school board member. He was selected from three candidates who applied for the position when Dennis Hall resigned his seat during the December meeting. Staley is a 1992 North Union graduate and a 1996 graduation from The Ohio State University, where he earned degrees in animal, dairy and poultry science and in agricultural economics. He is the fifth generation of the Staley family who are operating the family farm. He and his wife Andrea, have triplet sons who…
North Union Superintendent Rich Baird announced Monday night that he had just received word from the Ohio Board of Education that the district had received an Ohio Momentum Award. Seventy other schools also received the honor. This award recognizes schools for exceeding expectations in student growth for the year. Schools must earn straight A’s on all Value-Added measures on the state report card. The school or district must have at least two Value-Added subgroups of students, which includes gifted, lowest 20 percent in achievement and students with disabilities. This is the fourth year of the Department of Education in giving…
Nancy Tobe, an engineer with Access Engineering, approached Richwood Village Council at its Monday night meeting seeking multiple revocable use permits ahead of the Franklin Street Enhancement project. Bids will be advertised in January for the project and when a bid is accepted by council, there is one item on the agenda that the Ohio Department of Transportation requires. There are 25 properties that need to have revocable permits due to having an awning, stairway, planter, flag pole, within the right-of-way of the state highway project. Due to time constraints, council suspended the rules so that revocable use permits may…
On Monday night, Richwood Village Council members heard from Craig Mescher of Access Engineering about Phase 1 of the Franklin Street project, which will help take care of standing water after heavy rains. Mescher said Phase 1 will take place on North Franklin Street from Beatty Avenue to Mulvane Road. New water and sewer lines, storm lines, curbs, sidewalks and resurfacing of the street will be part of the first project. Another addition to the project will be handling storm water that collects on the street and nearby areas. The solution seems to be installing a “barracuda,” which is new…
The Monday night regular meeting of the Richwood Village Council began with Mayor Scott Jerew swearing in new member Laurie Elliott. The Grove Street resident was chosen to fill the vacant seat of Von Beal, who resigned from council a few months ago. The second order of business was swearing in officer Alfred Blevins. Blevins was hired to fill the full-time position of officer Sebastian Walker who left the department for other employment. Blevins has been in law enforcement for seven years, working on the South Point and Cole Grove police departments. He was also a corrections officer at the…
North Union School Board heard many different presentations Monday night. Vice president Jean Wedding presided over the meeting in the absence of president Dennis Hall. The first presentation was by Mike Nicholson, an associate with the Batelle For Kids organization. It is a not-for-profit group that works with school districts and is considered a learning hub for schools. It offers assistance to administrators and staff. Erika Bower, North Union’s Chief Academic Officer, talked with the board about professional development in the school district. The NUniversity program works with school staff on professional development, technology, community events, a safety series, social…
Mayor Scott Jerew told Richwood Village council members at Monday night’s meeting, that the village has received a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). The grant money will be used for the upcoming Downtown Revitalization Project. The project involves new storm sewer lines, street repaving and sidewalks for Franklin Street. If the amount of money allows, the project will include North and South Franklin Street from Tawa Road to Landon Road. There will be four phases to the project, which will coincide with the Ohio Department of Transportation’s plan to resurface State Route 37 (Franklin Street through the village). The…
On Monday night, the North Union Board of Education witnessed the presentation of the September NUPride Award given to Lisa McKinley. McKinley has been in education teaching for 38 years. She is an intervention specialist at North Union Middle School. One of her greatest desires is to see that students get all the help they can in learning to read. She has tutored during the summer and is a mentor to another intervention specialist in the district. She was instrumental in bringing back a dedicated reading program where students needing extra instruction in reading can get that extra help during…