Metamora: Evergreen conducts search for treasurer
10/19/2005METAMORA - Evergreen school officials are conducting a search for a new district treasurer to replace Linda Kidwell, who has resigned, effective Nov. 30.
Ms. Kidwell, who has been with the Evergreen district for eight years, has accepted the position of treasurer for Galion City Schools. She said that she is from Galion and has family there. Before coming to Evergreen, she worked for the state auditor out of the Toledo office.
Evergreen's school board members contracted with the Northwest Ohio Educational Service Center to assist with the search for a treasurer, said Superintendent Ken Jones, and that process is under way. Deadline for applications, which can be submitted to John Kaylor, deputy superintendent of the Northwest Ohio Educational Service Center, is Nov. 1.
Officials would like to have a treasurer hired by the time Ms. Kidwell leaves, Mr. Jones said. If the initial application timeline doesn't achieve results, then the search process would be stretched out beyond November, he said.
The Evergreen board reluctantly accepted Ms. Kidwell's resignation, said Mr. Jones who described the treasurer as a quality person who has done an excellent job. "We hate to lose someone of her caliber."
In an unrelated matter, Mr. Jones said that the Evergreen school board has not yet made a decision on the fate of the old Lyons school building. At this point, he said, the board only has one offer for the purchase of the building. A Toledo couple, Lee and Estelle Blackburn, have expressed interest in buying the building and turning it into a nonprofit arts center.
A conditional use permit would be needed for such a venture. Evergreen officials have expressed interest in seeing if that permit could be obtained, Mr. Jones said. Without the permit, it would be fruitless to sell the old school to the Blackburns for their proposed project, he said,
Lyons village Administrator Vicki Smith said the Blackburns have not applied for a conditional use permit. According to a proposal sent to the village, the Blackburns are offering $6,000 for the property. They propose to reside in the structure and have studio space.
The school building closed in December, and students from that building and an Evergreen school in Ai moved into a new elementary school on the district's main campus near Metamora, Ohio.
Jack Avery, a Lyons resident, tried to purchase the building for $5,000 and later filed a complaint in court, contending that school officials breached a contract they had with him, but that case has been dismissed.