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Jun 30
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The pre-club: Old Precinct finds a niche
Thursday, June 25, 2009 By Katie LibeccoSometimes one-night stands turn into something more.
Youngstown, OH – It certainly did for Old Precinct, a new downtown bar. Manager T.J. Parker says the owner, Mike Fonda, 52, used to run a deli at the Phelps Street location but closed for about a year.
The Old Precinct in Youngstown, Ohio
Fast forward to February 2009, and Fonda asked Parker, 24, and his friends, Patrick Bokesch and Michael Howley, to open the bar up for one-night for the Kelly Pavlik fight. It went so well that Old Precinct is now open every Friday and Saturday night.
Fonda, a 17-year veteran of the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department, says Old Precinct benefits from the increasing number of people coming to downtown Youngstown. “Downtown is becoming more of a destination itself,” he says. Parker says they’ve tried to keep Old Precinct “laid-back” and “chill.” He says it’s a place to “pre-game.” “We want it to be a place to go before you go out,” Parker says.
Parker, a teacher at Austintown Middle School, says Old Precinct’s crowd is generally made up of patrons in their 20s and younger 30s. The deli transitioned into Old Precinct with the addition of a bar, a renovated loft area and TVs. At first, it was only open Saturdays nights, but after about a month, Old Precinct was also open on Fridays. There’s a gentlemanly vibe to the building, erected in 1923, due in part to the Youngstown Police theme in the decór.
The music selections lend to the low-key atmosphere: While the sound of dance music echoes from Downtown 36 and the music of local bands emanates from Barleys, Old Precinct sticks to more mellow musicians like Dave Matthews Band, O.A.R. and Jack Johnson. In the future, Parker says Old Precinct will be open Sundays and Mondays for sporting events.
Fonda and Parker say that so far, they’ve relied heavily on word-of-moth advertising, although they plan on some marketing in the future. Additionally, they say oldprecinct.com is in the works. Parker says in addition to the wraps the bar currently serves, they plan on grilling out on the sidewalk more frequently this summer, including cooking on a spit. He says they also plan on a cornhole tournament.
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Apr 30
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Housing out as use for old Fonda site
St Albans Messenger – April 30, 2009
City eyes incubator space development
St. Albans City, VT – The vacant Fonda/Solo paper products plant on Lower Newton Street is no longer destined to become a housing project.
An amicable split between the City of St. Albans and South Burlington developer Yandow-Dousevicz transpired in late winter, after Yandow-Dousevicz realized environmental clean-up costs would exceed what it wanted to invest in the property, said Dominic Cloud, city manager. The city then sought the flexibility to pursue a different use of the building to recover those costs. The city purchased the building for $300,000 and was working with Yandow-Dousevicz to build a 100-unit senior housing complex at Solo.
Solo Paper - Fonda Group - St. Albans, VT
Yandow-Dousevicz is also responsible for the Hawk’s Nest, a senior residential facility in St. Albans Town, at the intersection of Route 104 and Route 36. “Yandow-Dousevicz continues to be interested in congregate housing in the city, and we continue to be interested in assisting them,” Cloud said. “Just not on that site.”
In mid-January, a state health department health official said it was “reasonable to conclude” that past workers of Fonda and Solo had some risk of chemical exposure to chemical contaminants. Tests conducted through the Northwest Regional Planning Commission’s brownfields program have revealed contaminants in groundwater, soil and concrete in the main building. Specifically, the site has elevated levels of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and TCE (trichloroethene). The manufacture of PCBs was stopped in the U.S. in 1977 because of evidence they accumulate in the environment and can cause harmful effects.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the ink used at Fonda, a leading U.S. food container company, contained PCBs, potentially toxic environmental compounds, and was spilled on the concrete floor, leaving it contaminated.
Cloud has said environmental mitigation could cost anywhere from $900,000 to $1.5 million. The city awaits word on a $400,000 grant application to the Environmental Protection Agency for cleanup at Solo. The city has subdivided the property into two parcels and, with approval, will split the EPA grant between the two sites.
Cloud called Solo “a viable development site located in a designated growth center, with rail siding.” The city could either sell the property as part of a redevelopment effort or lease it as business incubator space and use the revenue to bolster other economic development projects in the city, Cloud said.
Tim Smith, of the Franklin County Industrial Development Corporation, said at an industrial event in St. Albans last week that the region is short on incubator space. Neighbors of the Solo plant were worried about water runoff from the site. The city met with those neighbors in March and assuaged their fears. “We haven’t heard any concerns from the neighbors since that meeting,” Cloud said.
The Solo Cup Company closed the former Fonda Container plant in late 2005, displacing all 168 employees. The paper-products company was among the oldest and continuously run commercial operations in the city. Among its many products were cups and plates once used at large sports ballparks and stadiums.
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Nov 22
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Shoreline rules pinch Coupeville property owner’s bottom line
Whidbey Examiner – September 26, 2008
The first complaint from a Front Street property owner about restrictions imposed by Coupeville’s new shoreline master plan has officials at Coupeville (WA) Town Hall barely holding back a big “I told you so.” “This is exactly the kind of situation we were trying to avoid,” Coupeville Mayor Nancy Conard said.
Coupeville property owner Millie Fonda stands in front of her building on Front Street. Fonda said restrictions placed on her building by Coupeville’s new shoreline master plan are putting her finances in dire straits.
Millie Fonda, the owner of a historic three-story building, recently inquired whether or not she would able to move into the bottom floor of her building. The space, which once housed Great Times Espresso, has been vacant since the Coupeville Coffeehouse closed last spring. Fonda said she has been unable to find someone who wants to rent the space for a business, in part because it needs considerable renovation.
But the work will take several months, and Fonda needs to earn an income from her building as soon as possible. “I need the revenue from that space to be able to pay my mortgage,” she said. The solution Fonda came up with was to make up the lost revenue by renting out the upstairs apartment where she currently resides. Her plan was to move her belongings into the former coffee shop and live there while she works on fixing it up.
Fonda said the building’s previous owner had once used the bottom floor as a residence, which led her to believe she could do the same. But when Fonda asked Coupeville Town Planner Larry Kwarsick for a permit to use the commercially zoned space for a residence, she was told her request would likely be denied. Fonda said she thinks the rejection is unfair.
“I am being denied the use of my property in a way it has previously and historically been used,” Fonda wrote in a statement she delivered to the Examiner. According to Conard, Fonda has not been denied the permit because she never actually applied for one. Conard said Fonda was simply advised that an application would likely be denied.
“Her right to apply has not been denied,” Conard said. “We just know what the law would support.” Fonda could apply for a conditional-use permit under the current shoreline plan, but Kwarsick said the process takes months and requires the approval of the state Department of Ecology. And based on the agency’s input regarding the recently approved shoreline plan, Kwarsick said he thinks the agency also would turn down Fonda’s request. (…)
Conard echoed those sentiments, saying that many of the people who criticized the plan probably didn’t realize all the consequences those complaints would have. She speculated that most would see Fonda’s request as legitimate. “This just breaks my heart,” Conard said. “I really feel bad for Millie.”
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Sep 15
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The Power of the Eyes, Hands, Help, Care, People, Slovenia, Love, Passion, Network Everywhere and Anywhere
MarquesBlackStar – September 15, 2008
Dear global friend,
Network anywhere and everywhere…because modern life is all about the care that we have for other people. We need to respect everyone from different walks of life, because we never know what they know… imagine a Doctor Biologist taking care about your healthy fish…
Dr. Irena Fonda
Dr. IRENA FONDA IS a GREAT BRAND in SLOVENIA…
For me a networker has great passion for people. I want to tell you my point of view about that, because I’m in the city of the light… Paris, three days ago I landed in a paradise called SLOVENIA…
Networking is a way of living, making new friends for life. We just carry on traveling like the navigators without destination…We have something in our days…the power of the people that IS help others to achieve dreams… we will carry on our trip in a much safer way. NETWORK WITH YOUR HAPPY HEART AND EVEN MUSIC CAN HELP A LOT…
Can you imagine that we are on the boat…with Andreja, Tina, me, Hanka and Miss FONDA.
Every human being has got the mission of being great in all senses. CAN YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES FOR 30 SECONDS AND THINK ABOUT A SMALL BALL…
A small boy loves to throw a small ball away… now think about one bird distant at the sky…
Now imagine a ball with YOU, or a single bird look at you from the sky, don’t you think that is better to have a bird on the grass singing for him and for you AND WHY NOT THE ONES THAT LOVE YOU AND HELP YOU…
1000 kilos ball …how many hands you need to throw the big but fantastic ball way.. do you think that you can do that alone only using your own hands…!
Fonda Fishery
I’m very happy to let you know that passion, care and action help you so much that you cant imagine…You need then the great and positive power and the instant confidence for looking for what you dream about…but not eating alone or doing everything alone without the wise advise of long life learners… NETWORKING IS LIKE EVERYTHING IN LIFE… you become what you practice with vision, inspiration! You need people and mother nature…!
So, as a networker farmer …I’m very happy to advise you to plant goods seeds whenever you are or you go… feed every seed …don’t forget the small detail that make a great difference in others people life…
We learn from the most simple things in life… I KNOW THAT EVERYONE KNOWS THE PRECIOUS RULES OF A GOOD NETWORKER… BUT as a heart friend I only want to say that you should give…
and help from the heart… because the universe is great and everyone should be happy for the wind, the sun or the rain…
Thanks to BNI, ECADEMY AND ALL MY DEAREST NETWORKING FRIENDS THAT I HAVE THE SAME DESIRE OF LOVING EVERYONE AS I LOVE MYSELF.
Happy day from the city of the light.. PARIS.
Warmest regards.
Victor Marques
VitoriaKoi, Bringing Portugal to You…
Portugal @ Your Doorstep!
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Mar 20
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Rensselaer Residents Vow to Fight Plan to Build Cell Tower
WTEN.com – March 20, 2008
Cell Phone Tower
The debate over a cell tower in the heart of Rensselaer may not be over. Two weeks ago, City Council approved a cell tower to go up next to City Hall. The city would collect just over $14,000 dollars a year in fees.
Residents say, however, it would cost them a whole lot more in lost property values. The tower would be located less than fifty feet away from a neighborhood.
Resident Gloria Fonda said at a recent City Council meeting, “All of a sudden, no one is going to want to buy their home. Who on this council wants to look out their front door or their upstairs bedroom window to a tower 40 feet away?”
Residents plan to fight the tower. Their argument will rest on a provision in the city’s charter that requires a majority of the council to approve such a measure; with two members absent from the vote two weeks ago, that did not happen.