Speaking as a Conneautville Borough Planning Commission member, this past Monday brought a “one-two punch” that left me feeling overwhelmed. In the afternoon I joined the Conneautville Borough Solicitor, Doug Ferguson, in Courtroom #3 for what I hoped would be a restoration plan from the owner of the former “Courier building” on Main Street. The property owner, Ishmael Brathwaite, had been granted a reprieve of two and a half months to come up with a defense for the charges of property neglect brought against him this past year by the Borough. However, the only discovery given me was the fact that the taxes had not been paid and the property is now under the trusteeship of the Crawford County Tax Claim Bureau. Although a “bench warrant” for Mr. Brathwaite’s arrest has been issued; from what I understand, unless he ventures into Pennsylvania, it will not be carried out. However, this is not the type of solution municipalities and Planning Commissions hope to see. Our hope is to hear of tangible plans for future growth. So, is there someone who will purchase this property in a private sale from the Bureau or will it continue in its deteriorating condition over another year before it is sold over the internet once again?

This was not to be the only disappointment of my day. In the evening as your Community News Reporter, I attended the Conneaut Lake Save the Lake Schools community meeting. This group composed of citizenry not unlike our own group “Parents/Residents of Conneaut Valley” who want to preserve our own community and aren’t afraid to say it. As you know from a report in the daily paper the following day, compromise for the good of the whole was NOT the topic of conversation by the Conneaut Lake folks. It was difficult to listen to people emphatic about the indispensable closure of Conneaut Valley. As I drove home after a rainy storm rivaled by the one I witnessed during the meeting, I puzzled as to why I was so sad and dispirited when I no longer have a child attending these schools?

Today as I read a quote from Charles Taylor’s Reconciling the Solitudes, I recognized the problem. “Humans need community, and most of us know it. Our communities, or cultures, and the values we are taught through them provide meaning for our lives . . . This insight has great importance. It explains why people rise up and take action . . . to fend off perceived threats to their culture.” Although Reconciling the Solitudes is a treatise on the French-Canadian culture in Quebec, Canada; we can relate to the threat of cultural change here in the Valley. As we meet, discuss, and consider school closures and lack of funding for the community life we have enjoyed for years; that is the element about which we are concerned

. . . how will it change community life in the Valley with no high school and/or elementary school for us to rally around? Conneaut Lake is considering the same difficult question. They are prepared to invest thousands of dollars in an educational attorney to argue their case before the School Board. For our part, earnest citizens of the Valley are investing countless hours in volunteer time researching the Better Utilization of School Space (B.U.S.S.) initiatives for a collective district-wide lack of funding solution. After attending several meetings I have listened and observed cooperation on a level to be respected by the entire district – including the students it serves – because I do not have THE ANSWER to what is best for the entire district. Although my loyalty tells me one thing, the research and studying will culminate in some solutions, but will it introduce solutions we are prepared to listen to as a community? I have one more question, has the School Board heard supportive comment from the Conneaut Valley regarding this issue? I’m just asking . . .

If you are interested in attending a School Board meeting, the next meeting is scheduled for October 5, 7:30 PM at Linesville.