Amherst News-Times, 1999-11-03

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Amherst News-Time?
Wednesday, November 3, 1999
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Amherst, Ohio
'Don't fence me in' developer asks counc
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by STEVE BARRY
News-Times reporter
City fencing ordinances and
guidelines concerning retention and
detention ponds are creating problems in Amherst.
A fence ordinance issue was
tabled by council about six months
ago, but like the proverbial  bad   edge to the center of the pond."
penny, it has relumed.
Written in a city of Amherst
Building Department handout, concerning the installation of above and
below ground swimming pools and
hot tubs, is this statement:
In the Amherst Codified Ordinances under swimming pools is a
section dealing with fences. The
first sentence states:
"A fence will not be required around a pond that has a gradually
slopping grade  from  the  water's
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"Every person owning land on
which there is situated a permanent
swimming pool, fish pond or other
body of water, which constitutes an
obvious hazard and contains 18 inches or more in depth at any point,
shall erect and maintain thereon a
continuous man made barrier around or by the side of any open
space to prevent passage, or for its
protection, from the ground up at a
minimum height of four feet and a
maximum of six feet, which would
make the body of water inaccessible
to small children."
At the Oct. 25 city council meeting, an ordinance was passed on
second reading for the preliminary
acceptance of Ravenglass Place
Subdivision #5.
There was considerable debate
about sending the ordinance back to
committee for further work, because
the city has not yet cleared up the
issue of fences around ponds, and a
retention pond is      M ie
Ravenglass subc er
of RLR Construction, Bob Kigsoy,
developer for the Ravenglass subdivision, noted that failing to pass the
ordinance would shut down the next
phase of development and idle his
land clearing crew for the winter.
The city asked Rigsby to fence
CONTINUED on page 2
Ghouls and dolls
Financial reports
will someday be
understood by all
Students at St. Joseph School are not to be outdone in the cos-     creations, the youngsters had Jun on Friday parading in and out of
tume department. Whether male or female beneath these ghoulish     the school and classee-to-eelebration of the Halloween festivities.
by STEVE BARRY
News-Times reporter
The government will require the city of Amherst to
cport its finances in a different format, starting June IS,
2002.
The new financial reporting
model, Government Accounting Standards Board 34, or
GASB 34 is designed to eliminate financial reporting as a
political weapon. (The GASB
34 forms the government's
guidelines for CAFR and
PAFR reporting.)
According to city auditor
Diane Eswine, the current
method, the GASB 33, has
been used by some politicians
to 'Torpedo opponents by using biased financial reporting."
There are three different
ways of reporting government
financial reports: cash basis, a
modified accrual and the accrual method. The state of
Ohio operates on the cash
basis.
On a cash basis, the current date is applicable.
Whenever monies are received
or debited, the date it happens is what is reported.
Fiscal year ending dates
vary from business to busi- .
ness, and do not necessarily
correspond to the fiscal year
of city government Someone
could deliberately manipulate
income payments, so that monies due during the 1999 fiscal year arrive after the end
of the city's fiscal year.
If the same technique is
applied to paying out monies
due for the 2000 fiscal year
during the 1999 fiscal year,
the yearend report results
would not be favorable for
the sitting administration.
But in this fictitious scenario, it was skillful manipu
lation, coupled with basic
flaws in the cash reporting
system that allowed a biased
reporting, Eswine explained.
The new method takes into
account all monies designated
for a certain fiscal year regardless of the monies' actual
arrival/departure dates, thus
presenting an accurate picture
of the current financial status.
The GASB 34 forces governments to report in this
fashion, theoretically eliminating opportunity for a reporting bias. It will also mandate
that balances from several
years previous be used in
side by side comparisons,
then demand reasons for drastic variations in expenditures
or incomes in so short a time
frame.
"It will be a lot more work
- but it will be a lot more
meaningful," Eswine said.
"Whether we will do this in
house I don't know, but (if
we do) it's not going to be
this year."
Some cities and other governments intend to be GASB
34 compatible well ahead of
the deadline, but Eswine is
more cautious. "We are not
planning on being ahead of
schedule and become the sacrificial lamb."
In spite of the tremendous
increase in staff hours necessary to produce a report
GASB 34 compatible, she remarked, "I'd rather see it
done in house. If you do it
yourself you have a better
grasp of the finances. That
will require a pretty sophisticated accounting department
Tlje idea (of the GASB 34
reporting form) is, so general
laymen can understand what's
happening."
New cinema owners take
center stage in downtown
by STEVE BARRY
News-Times reporter
Mark and Cheryl Costilow have
recently purchased the Amherst
Cinema.
Mark is a 1982 graduate of Fire-
lands High School, and a "professional" dude decoy carver, while his
wife Cheryl, a 1979 graduate of
Western Reserve High School, is
currently employed at Bayer Corporation in Oberlin.
They have two children, a son
Ljike, 6, who attends first grade at
Powers Elementary, and daughter
Audrey, S, who attends pre school at
Murray Ridge. Audrey has Down's
Syndrome.
The Costilows are pleased that
the; community has supported their
new business, showing out in strong
numbers for "Star Wars, Episode
One."
The couple hope to keep the
prices for movies low and really
would like to be a family movie
center, but Mark admitted, "Unless
we show 'R' rated movies we won't
be able to stay in business."
But under no circumstances will
anyone below the age of 17 be allowed lo view an "R" rated movie
unless accompanied by an adult,
preferably a parent.
They have a lot of objectives they
would like to reach. Some, like expanding the candy line, have already
been achieved. They have brought
back favorites from the past that you
don't see much anymore like Ju Ju
Fruits. They also carry 90s candies,
popular with kids and dentists.
No changes will be made concerning their fresh popped popcorn
and a butter machine is in the
works. There is a kids combo,
which is a shallow but good sized
box filled with popcorn, candy and
soft drink for $2.75.
Plans include a new electronic
soft drink machine that automatically measures the amounts of in
gredients to ensure a uniform flavor.
The Slush Puppy machine was
headed out the door, but protests,
many of which were by adults,
caused them to change their minds.
When questioned about clean up
after a performance Cheryl said,
"Right now we measure our success
by the mess on the floor — but we
hope that will change."
Mark spends time each day sitting
in the setts, a tough job, to determine whether they need fixed.
When he finds uncomfortable or damaged ones tie tries to repair two or
three t. day.
To help eliminate the mess following a show, they are looking at
buying a leaf blower, then after the
machine has done its job, they can
vacuum up rJtc mess down front and
be done with it Keeping the price
down metins keeping costs down,
and reducing the cleaning time for
the cleaning crews will help.
CONTINUED on page 2
Mark and Cheryl Costilow are the new owners ol the Amherst Cinema.