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 Members of the Wapakoneta Middle School Student Council pose for photo outside the classroom earlier this year. To date, the group has raised nearly $2,300 in which they have donated to various local and area organizations throughout the 2009-2010 school year. Photo provided By KRISTA HAYES
Staff Writer
With the end of the school year nearing, Wapakoneta Middle School Student Council members are hoping to end their term on a positive note.
During the school year, the school government raised nearly $2,300 for various local and area organizations.
“Each year, we try and raise as much money as we can for various clubs and organizations that we vote on and decide to help support at the beginning of the school year,” Wapakoneta Middle School Student Council President Neal Maxson said.
Elected a Student Council representative of his homeroom, Maxson, a seventh-grade student, said this is his second year serving on the council. This year as president, his main responsibility is to set forth an agenda and preside over the group’s monthly meetings which are held the first and third Thursday of each month.
“I joined the Student Council because I was looking for a new activity to do and thought it’d be challenging experience,” Maxson said. “Politics have always been one of the things to stick out in my head and when I grow up, I want to be a lawyer.
“Overall, as president I think I have done a pretty good job,” he said. “Being president is a lot harder than what I thought it would be since I have to make the agendas, run the meetings, and keep the advisers in the loop. I have the whole weight of the council on my shoulders, and at times it can get frustrating, but I would recommend it to all the kids coming to the middle school next year because it’s a fun activity to be involved in.”
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Safe Routes plan readied for state |
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Thursday, 22 October 2009 |
By WILLIAM LANEY
Managing Editor
The next step for Wapakoneta city administrators in securing $250,000 through the state’s Safe Routes to Schools grant funds is the submission of a sidewalk plan to the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) by Nov. 2.
Wapakoneta Engineering Supervisor Mary Ruck submitted Wednesday a sidewalk plan, which included more than $500,000 worth of walkway improvements, to Wapakoneta City Council’s Streets, Alleys and Sidewalks Committee members to consider.
Wapakoneta 4th Ward Council Dan Graf explained his committee members directed Ruck on how to determine the proposed sidewalks to include for this initial round of funding. City administrators can seek funding for five straight years.
“We look to be in really good shape for this program to move forward,” said Graf, who chairs the Streets, Alleys and Sidewalks Committee. “We’ve asked Mary Ruck to develop plans for the first phase of the program to extend out from Wapakoneta High School and the new Wapakoneta Elementary School as far as the money, which we expect to receive about $250,000, can take us.
“The reason we are starting at the schools is because the schools are new and there are areas where no sidewalks exist, such as along Redskin Trail, and some of the sidewalks are not in place, such as through Bramblewood,” Graf said. “We want children to be able to walk safely to and from school.”
Graf said Ruck intends to do a more in-depth cost analysis for sidewalks from the high school along Redskin Trail to existing sidewalks near Defiance Street. If this does not deplete the funds, she plans to do a cost analysis from the schools through Bramblewood Estates.
Graf also said residents need to be aware that the grant only pays for sidewalk installation along one side of the street since the impetus of the grant is to help children walk to school safely.
Mayor Rodney Metz supported the decision as well as to use a sidewalk map developed by DGL Consulting Engineers, of Maumee, to start a grant request for the next year.
Committee members also instructed Ruck to consider curbs along the roadway or a tree lawn to keep the sidewalk from the edge of the street.
“I think a curb would help protect pedestrians, children and adults, from someone driving who is putting on their make-up or texting on their cell phone to drive off the roadway,” Graf said, referring to a previous conversation among his committee members. “I would hope the curb would stop the car or at least grab the driver’s attention. If a curb is not possible, I would like to see a tree lawn between the street and the sidewalk.”
During the meeting, Ruck said ODOT officials recommended city administrators concentrate on improving the intersection of Redskin Trail and Ohio 501 by installing double flashing lights, enhancing crosswalks and “really beef the safety measures in the area up.”
Ruck explained the sidewalks is required to be 5-feet wide along major roadways. She expects the funding to be released in March.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 23 October 2009 )
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