Now that George Welling has stated that he is satisfied that the election was run properly and that he will not challenge the election results I want to take a moment to officially congratulate all of our winners.

Supervisor: Walt Wilburn
Treasurer: Sherri Meyer
Clerk: Bob Schockman
Trustees: Gail Hauser-Hurley, Larry O’Dell, James Goebel, and Paul Francis

I hope that in this time of economic turmoil that we face nationally, in the state, and within our own township that each and every one of our elected officials will cast aside any differences in the name of unity and togetherness; this is precisely what we require from our officials as we face daunting financial decisions in an uncertain economy.

To our seven elected office holders please note that we will all be watching you very closely to see how you guide our township and we will be proactive. We will raise our voices at concerns and rejoice together in triumph. All of us, including yourselves, only hope for the best in this township. Please keep that in mind when making your decisions and casting your votes.

Thanks and congratulations.

General Election results are in for the township and a quick congratulations to all of the winners from yesterday’s election. Also, a quick thanks to all of those who ran for office - your dedication and love for this township is immensely appreciated.

Obviously there were no surprises in the race for Supervisor and Treasurer as those seats were uncontested. Walt Wilburn (Supervisor) and Sherri Meyer (Treasurer) will serve another four years for our township.

In what I won’t call an upset but perhaps a surprise Clerk Bob Schockman held onto his post for another four years. Mr. Schockman held off George Welling who ran a tough and spirited campaign for the Clerk’s office. Mr. Schockman won 9 of 14 precints but the clear advantage came in absentee ballots (I am guessing that is what the AV stands for on the pdf sheet) where Schockman picked up 525 votes over Welling; considering the total margin was 818 this was huge. Write in candidate Dennis Steinman reportedly garnered 15 votes.

In the race for Trustee I would say there were some surprises, serious surprises. Former County Commissioner Gail Hauser-Hurley ran away with the vote total and will serve her first term on the board as will former Bedford Public Schools Superintendent James Goebel (the big shocker). Both Larry O’Dell and Paul Francis will be holdovers from the previous board.

The surprise in the trustee race, to me, is the elimination of Rick Steiner from the board, and the selection of Goebel and not Tom Covrett who is the chairman of the Planning Commission. I do think that Mr. Covrett perhaps lost some votes over his handling of the PC meeting on the Whitman property rezoning. I had assumed that Mr. Goebel would struggle due to the notion that he did not effectively lead our schools. Maybe I am the only one surprised, maybe not.

Finally, for the first time in 28 years of township board will not feature a familiar face in Dennis Steinman. I hope that, regardless of how you may feel, that we will all take the opportunity when we have it to thank Mr. Steinman for the years and countless hours he has given to this community. Not only has Mr. Steinman given back to this community he has raised his family to do the same; Tim has given generously of his time and I know was recently involved in landscaping at the Pocket Part and Doug is a volunteer fireman at the Lambertville station. Allow me to be the first to publicly thank Mr. Steinman and his family for all they have done and I am sure will continue to do for our township, thank you.

What does everyone else think? Surprised, disappointed? Share your thoughts, thanks!

Ok, so after reading, deciphering, and coming to a (speculative) conclusion I proved myself wrong and then right. You’ll see.

It was my earlier contention that there were similarities between 2008 Indian Acres residents and 2000 New Colonial Gardens residents. 2008 Indian Acres residents are battling the potential rezoning of land immediately east of their neighborhood on Sterns while in 2000 New Colonial Gardens residents were up in arms about the potential Kroger Plaza being built immediately east of their neighborhood off of Sterns. HOWEVER, the land Kroger was to be built on was also zoned C-2 Shopping Center; therefore, no rezoning needed to take place for the plaza to be built.

BUT

I did find out some history where my contention was off approximately 21 years. Follow along.

The land at Secor and Sterns had been zoned C-2 Shopping Center dating way back into the 60s. In December of 1978 Bedford Land Improvement, Inc. came to the township asking that all but 25 acres be rezoned. The rezoning asked that 9.92 acres on the far west side of the parcel be changed from C-2 to RM-2 (multiple family) and an additional 6.55 acres adjoining the other parcel from C-2 to R-2B (multiple family and single family).

At that time residents of New Colonial Gardens (the subdivision immediately west of present day Kroger) were against the rezoning. Unfortunately the minutes do not indicate why. The motion to approve and reject never passed the Planning Commission  on December 20, 1978 mostly do to an absent member; the votes for each went 3-3. At this time the Township Board would have the final say.

There was something that caught my eye in the minutes which leads me to believe why the residents were against the rezoning. Richard Mueller, a PC member at the time, stated that there had been no commerical growth at the intersection of Secor and Sterns for the past ten years. This would date back to 1968. It is my contention and belief that the reason they were against rezoning the land was because they wished for that area to remain void of any structures - residential or commerical!

Unfortunately for the residents on February 6, 1979 (the night before I was born!) the township board by a vote of 4-3 voted to approve the rezoning. Needless to say the residents weren’t happy and the predecessor to BedfordWatch.com was born. The residents petitioned and gained a referendum forcing a special election to overturn the rezoning that was approved …. and won! At this time the entirety of the property returned to C-2 Shopping Center zoning.

So I was wrong in my contention about a similarity between Indian Acres residents of today and residents of Colonial Gardens in 2000. However, I was somewhat correct … just off a few years!

I’ve tried to find articles indicating displeasure regarding Kroger building there and creating a plaza and haven’t come up with much - mostly because internet archives for the BN and MEN don’t date back past 2005 it appears. I found one quote from the recent Whitman meeting, made by Gail Keane, that mentioned the anxiety of residents living near Secor and Sterns circa 2000 regarding the Kroger build but that she believed it turned out ok.  I would tend to agree and it appears that during the site plan approval meetings in 2000 that Kroger made it of great importance to listen to the nearby residents and address their concerns. The type of lighting was discussed, an agreement to move a dumpster, ensure that there would be no loading docks behind the strip plaza, and that deliveries would only occur during normal waking hours, and that trucks would enter and exit off of Secor Rd.

It seems to me a lot can get done at the site plan approval meetings. This could be of great benefit to the Indian Acres residents.

I still support the rezoning. If it is of great issue to the Indian Acres residents should the rezoning pass they should follow suit of the New Colonial Gardens residents of 1979. Otherwise work through the proper channels to ensure that any potential disturbances are discussed and handled via site planning approvals. It seems to me that Kroger has been a great corporate neighbor (I live nearby myself). The lights aren’t intrusive (it’s quite dark behind the plaza at night), the area is well maintained, they sponsor the car show, etc. Who is to say that a similar great corporate neighbor couldn’t be a part of that property at Sterns and Lewis?

I received some terrible news today that has reminded me of how absolutely precious life is. While I had another post planned for today this clearly takes precedence. Bedford lost one of it’s absolute finest today in Dr. Herb Moyer.

Dr. Moyer was our former Superintendent of Bedford Public Schools, serving from 1984-1996, and hands down one of the most genuine and outstanding individuals you would ever meet. His passion for education and his students was unrivaled - even to this day. Undoubtedly Dr. Moyer will go down as the most influential and greatest leader of our school district.

Dr. Moyer was responsible for intiating the PTA within Bedford Public Schools; an act that I must continue to thank him for as it allows me great access to my child’s education and gives me increased ability to help and be of assistance.

If memory serves me correct Dr. Moyer was also responsible for establishing the ‘Guaranteed Graduate’ for those students who graduated from Bedford High School.

Few people have ever impressed me more than Dr. Moyer. I can remember, the exact year escapes me but I know it was while at the Jr. High, I had been kicked out of the classroom and was sitting in the hall doing my work. Dr. Moyer happened to be in the building and stopped to talk to me in the hallway where I sat. He asked me what I had done and made me promise I would no longer get into trouble so that I could be in the classroom learning. I wasn’t an unruly child to begin with (my folks may disagree) but what kid didn’t find themselves in the wrong from time to time? I was impressed that Dr. Moyer cared greatly for each individual student; he didn’t need to stop and check on me but he cared enough to. A great leader.

It is situations such as Dr. Moyer’s passing that makes me realize (or remember) that we should all cherish the passion he shared … for whatever we’re passionate about. Dr. Moyer was a champion for all things Bedford and wanted what was best, in his eyes, for the schools and this community. Imagine how much more great this community could be if we all shared that passion!

To Dr. Moyer’s family I send you my best wishes and condolences. God bless you all.

Civility is defined as polite and/or courteous behavior. Recently my father asked me what ever happened to civility, common courtesy, and respect for others. It gave me something to seriously ponder and think about and all I could muster was …. I don’t know.

I’m certainly aware that I am not always the most civil person in the world but it is something that I am certainly working on and strive towards being a more well rounded, positive, respectful person. I never mean ill will towards anyone but I have certainly not done the best job in decision making and word choices in the past.

But the issue doesn’t reside solely in me. I see this lack of civility everywhere I go. At work, at home, in the community, on the Bedford Chatter.

At work a few weeks ago I had a woman screaming at me that she was going to smoke in the rental, make sure her dog shed it’s hair all over the place, and not replace the fuel in the vehicle. All this because her car had broke down which is clearly NOT something I had anything to do with. Now granted she had every right to be frustrated because she has had mechanical issues with her vehicle but did this give her the right to act towards me this way? I didn’t build her car nor have I ever worked on it. Finally, I was able to get her into a vehicle (which she complained about the type of vehicle she was given) and she squawked the tires as she drove away. This is one example of many that have happened recently. I suppose what made this particular story great to me was that later that day I found out her car stalled and broke down because it was out of gas!!

At home I see things happen too. We’re a young family and we don’t see much of each other. My wife and I generally work opposite schedules so that one of us is always with the kids. Sometimes cooler heads don’t prevail. And having kids … well if they’re not behaving we all know our blood can boil a wee bit quicker. Every family goes through this and ultimately it makes you stronger. I love my wife and my children more than anything in this world and I wish and hope the best for them.

In the community .. this is something that bothers me more so than the others. My father was telling me that he had an opportunity to speak with George Welling, the republican running for Township Clerk. My dad informed him that we (as a family) were longtime friends of Bob Schockman, the democrat running for the same position, but my dad allowed Mr. Welling his opportunity to speak. One of the things that George shared with him was the countless horrible things he has been called on the campaign trail - words including m’effer and more. How disappointing and terrible. While I won’t be voting for Mr. Welling he deserves to be commended for his time and efforts and desires to be a part of our township government.

And finally I mentioned the Bedford Chatter. Perhaps its the anonymity of the internet which makes people ’stronger’. I don’t really know what it is. I have been repeatedly assailed on the forum itself. The newest member has a moniker of NOMOREKEITH. I have had my college degree compared to a worthless piece of paper, been told that because of the amount of time I spend on the forum I must not have a family. I even had someone, before I came out and announced who I am, figure out who I am and where I live and mail me township memos to my home; something I didn’t ask for.

I have seen people say unsavory things about public officials, other poster, folks in the news, etc. For what? Why? I don’t know and I don’t have an answer for it. I do know though that if I hadn’t grown up here its this type of behavior that may make me wish to move to a different community if I were looking for somewhere to live in this area. I love Bedford and that is a large reason as to why we moved back here. I know it to be a safe community, great schools for my kids, and it is a place I want to live and be an active participant within the community.   

To my community I want to let you know that I am trying to change my ways and lend my positive voice. I hope you’re noticing a changed tone when it comes to me. I will continue to challenge those that wish to challenge me and I welcome the opportunity at sprited and respectful debate. I hope that all of you will find it within yourselves to join me in leading the charge back to civility. We may not always agree and we may not always see eye-to-eye but I hope that we can at least chose to do so respectfully.

Well, I finally had the opportunity to reach out to school administrators and business leaders via e mail today; next up is our township leaders (I just need to decide in what fashion I would like them to help contribute as I am not looking to make this blog overly political in nature).

The first individual to respond to me was my old junior high principal, Mrs. Mary Zaums. She was always an excellent administrator and I am glad to see that she is still over there leading a great group of young people as well as an excellent staff. Hopefully she is still there when Meghan, my oldest, finds her way there in 4 more years.

I found out that enrollment is indeed down at the junior high - 840 students - and less are expected next year. We, as a community, must find a means in which enrollment stops declining. I’m not sure if it is a lack of affordable housing for young families, the struggling economy, or a combination of the two. Regardless of the problem we need to fix declining enrollment as it is one aspect that could help our declining school budget.

Mrs. Zaums shared with me two great stories both of which I found to be very exciting and important lessons.

The first story came from an American History class (which I believe we took in the 8th grade) where a teacher was playing the Auction Game. The premise of the game is the teacher acts as the Treasury and controls the value of the play money with which he auctioned off desirable goods. When the teacher would decrease the value of the money the demand for the goods would then increase. Eventually the supply of the goods decreased because the teacher began gradually removing money from circulation.  The point of the lesson was to bring the current economic struggles of America into focus for these 13-year-old students. Mrs. Zaums stated that it worked very well because the teacher was a master as knowing students and being able to bring everyday practice to their level.

What a neat lesson. A focus on improving the economic struggles facing this nation is real and effects all of us; including these 13-year-old children. Imagine what a great opportunity these children have to go home and share this new experience with their families. Furthermore, imagine the opportunity to learn more at home and maybe even the parents could learn something from their child’s experience.

The second exciting story Mrs. Zaums shared was that she was taking four students to the Government Center to meet and talk to Bob Schockman, our Township Clerk, and to ask him to come over and register students to vote in a mock election this November at the school. Only those who registered would be able to vote in the mock election.

Again, what a great lesson in civics. I don’t recall being presented with this type of opportunity at that age. I do recall during the 1996 election, my senior year of high school, having some elected officials, or those running for office, come and speak to the Government classes. Bev Hammerstrom was there and I think Bob Schockman came to speak as well. Mr. Med Barr, a former township official, was our government teacher and I am sure this played a role in things.

Considering that the young people, my generation included, of this nation seem to not take their voting rights seriously I think any exposure at any age is important. I applaud Mrs. Zaums and those at the junior high who took this step to teach such an important lesson.

Hopefully this is the first of many posts that will focus on positive and exciting things going on at all of our wonderful schools. We truly have top notch facilities with top notch individuals leading our school system. I look forward to communicating with all of the administrators and others throughout the community to share stories like this with all of you.

Thanks to Mrs. Zaums for taking the time to communicate with me today and a thanks to all of you who have taken the time to read. You all make this worthwhile.

There has been a lot going on recently regarding the recent decision by the Planning Commission to recommend rezoning several parcels of land at the corner of Lewis Ave and Sterns Rd (commonly referred to as the Whitman land).

Much is being said about the topic at the Bedford Now Chatter site. I am actually mildly surprised at the reaction.

My feeling is that provided Mr. Whitman develops the land according to the Master Plan then he has done no wrong. The angst towards Mr. Whitman and his family for going about rezoning their land by the channels prescribed to them by the township is ludicrous to me.

A commenter on the BN Chatter, Soccerdad, put things into perspective regarding the rezoning. Soccerdad stated the following:

C-3 is not too much different than C-2; it allows all of the same uses of C-1 and C-2, plus a few extra.  This is one of the BIGGEST misunderstandings out there that everyone needs to understand - a large-scale retail development (call it a “big-box” if you want) can be placed on EITHER a C-2 or C-3 zoning…it is not limited to just C-3.  There are CURRENTLY 20.74 acres of C-2 zoning on the Whitman property along Lewis Avenue - a large-scale retail development can come in today, and as long as the development meets the Township’s ordinances, there would be no stopping it.

Here’s another big misunderstanding out there - the PC voted to recommend approval of 2 portions of current C-2 zoning to C-3 along Lewis Avenue (about 6.9 acres).  Changing of the zoning for these 2 areas from C-2 to C-3 has virtually no affect on the ability of a large-scale retail development to be placed on the property.  There are some site-design/setback differences, but nothing significant.  Also, by ordinance, the limit to the size of a building under both C-2 and C-3 is exactly the same - 25% of the net parcel area.  Changing of these 2 areas from C-2 to C-3 does not suddenly allow a large-scale retail development to come in - they could come in today under the current C-2 zoning.

Right now much is being made of nothing. As stated above under current zoning a large retail center could be built on the property today. The denial of the rezoning of the critical parcel largely disallows a Wal Mart type of center to come in and develop the land.

Lewis Ave is the commercial corridor of Temperance. The development of this area over the past 21 years, the time I have lived in the Bedford area, has been tremendous and it will continue to grow as the township continues to grow. Look at Secor as an example. I remember moving to Bedford in 1987 and at the corner of Secor and Sterns was a couple of banks, Foodtown, a gas station, Flick’s, and the cinema.  Now both roads are four lanes through the intersection and numerous more commercial businesses and plazas have developed.

Time will tell what will happen at Lewis and Sterns but my best guess is it will include significant commercial growth in some way, shape, or form.

I can get in writing funks; which isn’t very good for a blogger looking to maintain traffic. I’ve been pretty busy blogging over at The Columbus Dispatch site BuckeyeXtra and enjoying my time firing up the Buckeye faithful on my blog there.

So what’s been going on around Bedford?

School is back in session … thankful mothers and fathers abound in the township. I know my own wife is pleased to only have one child to worry about during most of the day. My oldest daughter started Community Ed Soccer yesterday; she’s never played. She’s got a  lot to learn but we got home yesterday and immediately began working on fundamentals and she promised she wanted to do that after I get home from work tonight.  I’m a proud dad and I want her to be the best that she can be (at everything).

The football season is in full swing and the Mules find themselves at 1-2. It’s going to take Coach Wood a season or two to get this program where it belongs. The thing I like seeing is that this offense is scoring points; something we’re not necessarily accustomed to.  I wonder what kind of contribution that Wallender and Messer could have brought this team but I am happy that they’re having successful seasons, respectively, at Central Catholic in Toledo (I am a bit biased in those regards seeing as how my nephew is a Sophomore there and on the football team).

Rezoning plans on the Whitman property are back in the news. Touchy, touchy subject. My thoughts are that I believe Jon Whitman should be able to do with his land whatever he wishes provided that it fit within the reaches of the Master Plan. My other thoughts on the meeting are this:

• Did Tom Covrett cost himself a spot on the Township Board? The meeting was highly unorganized, ran long, and had little to no leadership. As Chairman of that particular board Tom needed to take control and ensure that the meeting ran smoothly and efficiently; it did not.
• I appreciated board member, Debbie (last name?) and her commentary where she pointed out that, a) couldn’t a ‘big box’ store be built there as the zoning stands now (answer: yes) and b) is there anything that Mr. Whitman could do with this land that wouldn’t met the ire of the Bedford Watch group (answer: not sure).

I’ll have more thoughts on this once further meetings are completed and we know more about the finalized rezoning of this property.

In the next week or so, as I play catch up, I will be sending out e mails to school leaders, athletic coaches, business leaders, etc. in hopes of starting a new aspect of this blog here soon. I’ll give you more info on that as the idea comes to fruition.

It’s only September and I am already sick of politics although if Sarah Palin showed up on my doorstep I may be inclined to listen.

A recent entry on the Bedford Now Chatter section got me a bit riled up inside.  A commenter started a thread ripping apart the new football coach, Jeff Wood, and his first year squad. To save you from the unsavory details let’s just say this particular individual was none too kind to those who have put in long hours and a lot of hard work.

Coach Wood needs to be given the opportunity to grow this program. Not even the best of coaches can come in and immediately change things around. Especially more so at a program that hasn’t had a winning record since 2002 and hasn’t made the MHSAA playoffs since 1990. A complete change in culture needs to occur before this program will find it’s winning ways.

For those of you more inclined towards the understanding of college football take a quick glance at Rich Rodriguez and the University of Michigan. Rodriguez is a highly successful coach who has brought about a complete change in culture to an old stuffy program. Can Rodriguez find success immediately? After watching this past Saturday’s game I think the clear indication is no. But that is okay as some of today’s best coaches struggled in their first years just check Jim Tressel and Pete Carroll.

Coach Wood has brought in a near type of offense, the veer offense and some highly skilled coaches; his father, LeRoy Wood, is on the staff and is a Hall of Fame coach. The veer is an exciting offense but one that isn’t overwhelmingly easy to run. I am sure Coach Wood is working through all levels of Bedford football to ensure that the fundamentals of this offense are being taught from the earliest ages on.

Furthermore, football is a year long committment and the players need to make that committment to ensure that this program turns around. Perhaps Coach Wood can encourage these guys to join the wrestling program (this may pay dividends to guys that play the D line), run track (to keep conditioning levels high), or find other activities to participate in that will maintain their conditioning level and their athletic focus.

So please, before you’re ready to completely cast aside the progress Coach Wood has made or is making remember that this is a process. Patience is going to be a necessity in this endeavour - patience from us, the alumni and community, patience from parents, patience from the administration, and patience from the players and coaches.

Some random thoughts while I continue to work on broadening the scope of this blog by getting in touch with local leaders of all sectors of our township.

• I really, really, really (this could go on for a while) dislike there not being a gas station in Lambertville. To me it is positively disgusting that there is only one gas station in Bedford Township right now. 30k plus residents and one gas station (unless there is one of Telegraph right over the state line I am not thinking of)
• American Table has great breaksfast. Only drawback … no corned beef hash. Maggie’s has great corned beef hash. I know you probably don’t give two hoots about my eating habits but I love me some corned beef hash.
• Speaking of restaurants … does anyone know the hours of the place at Olde Schoolhouse Commons?! I publicly promised the owner on Bedford Now Chatter that I would check it out but I have failed to do so yet and would like to.
• I saw Coach Jeff Wood at the Toledo Central Catholic football game this past Friday. I wonder if he was there to fret over the loss of Dave Wallender and Zach Messer who have (legally) transferred to play at Central this year. Wallender has won the starting QB job there and Messer seems to always be on the field. I am excited to see what types of things Coach Wood will accomplish this year and into the future. First game is a very tough matchup with Airport.
• Does anyone wish we could annually rekindle the old rivalry with Whitmer?
• School starts back up in a little over a week. Any other parents out there excited for that?!? I know we are!

That’s about all I got right now. It’s slightly late on a Sunday and I could sure go to bed early tonight!