06/06/07 — Crawford County Court of Common Pleas Judge Anthony Vardaro will have two rulings to consider Friday regarding an overseer at Conneaut Lake Park.

The first will be a petition filed by LeRoy Stearns to end his court-appointed custodianship and appoint a new board of directors.

Stearns has been overseer since the summer of 2004, working with a former board, which resigned in September of 2005. He planned to sell 3.3 acres of land this spring to give the 115-year-old amusement park the money to pay down some of its $2.3 million to $2.5 million debt and to open for the summer.

When that petition was denied because of the objections of Attorney Dana Watson and no other money was received, Stearns announced in late May the park wouldn’t open. He then petitioned to end his position and to have a new board appointed.

Plans are ongoing by a group wanting to raise money to allow the park to open, but there is no written plan on how that is going to happen — or if it can happen this summer.

In the meantime, a second petition, filed late Monday afternoon by Watson on behalf of the Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County, calls for the judge to retain the position, but replace Stearns with either 11 new custodians or choose one person or several people from a submitted list to succeed him.

In addition, it calls for the judge to approve a master plan developed by the EPA and completed in February.

The petition calls for the 11 members to be named overseer for 90 days and then named as the new board of the Trustees of Conneaut Lake Park.

Explaining why he doesn’t want to end the overseer position, Watson said the original purpose for which the position was created hasn’t yet been achieved.

He expressed appreciation for the good-faith efforts of Stearns and George Deshner, director of operations, to work “in the best interest of the park and the public trust.”

He said the most important reason for not ending the overseer position is that the new board will for a brief interim “need the protection of the court custodianship” to assure the Trustees of Conneaut Lake Park are put on a “sound financial basis” and creditors are protected.

In addition, he said the court will need to assure that all creditors, debts and obligations of the park have been arranged and provided for and the board will be able to carry out its duties without court supervision.

In addition, Watson said the board will adopt a resolution to “attempt in every reasonable way to continue the traditional role that Conneaut Lake Park has served in the community, along with other and additional development plans, for the approval of the court.”

Watson said the proposed board and the EPA have “sufficient experience to meet the challenges of facing the future of Conneaut Lake Park and are capable of developing and implementing the detailed plan that addresses both the financial and physical structure” of the park.

In a letter from EPA director Mark Turner to Watson, Turner said the EPA will provide considerable administrative support for a period of a year or so and it’s likely that some additional level of direct management will be required by the Trustees.

Vardaro will hear both petitions at 1:30 p.m.



PROSPECTIVE PARK CUSTODIANS

Proposed by Attorney Dana Watson to become the new overseers as a whole and then the new board of directors of the Trustees of Conneaut Lake Park are:

–– Maryann Martin, director of grant services for the EPA.

–– Larry Morgan, counselor of Gannon Small Business Development Center and a Conneaut Lake resident.

–– Bob Moyers, retired physician and chairman of the Conneaut Lake Development Committee.

–– Debbie Pipp, certified public accountant and manager of McGill, Power, Bell and Associates.

–– Dave Stone, Vernon Township manager and owner of Mickey’s Central Fire Station and Lounge.

–– John Swick, attorney with The Shafer Law Firm and board of directors of the Meaville-Western Crawford County Chamber of Commerce.

–– Ed Kaufman, former owner of Coldwell Banker Bainbridge-Kaufman Real Estate and a Conneaut Lake resident.

–– Marc Templin, president and founder of Bright Hospitality Inc. and board of directors of the Crawford County Vision Team.

–– Edward Miller, commercial loan officer of Northwest Savings Bank.

–– Jay Vernon, president and owner of Hagan Business Machines; former vice chairman of the Conneaut Lake Park Board of Trustees; and board member of the Crawford County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

–– Denny Watson, owner of MobilCom and board of director of the EPA, a Conneaut Lake resident.