Maggie Hall Takes Reins As Chamber Board Chair
BY KAREN BERGER — MIRROR REPORTER
The 2012 chairman of the Holland Springfield Chamber of Commerce board is no stranger to the chamber – or the community.
Not only has she won several awards from the Holland chamber – for volunteering, the president’s award and executive director’s award – but she’s also received the Ohio Chamber’s STAR award.
That’s all within the three years since she was recruited to serve as treasurer. With a degree in accounting and a desire to help turn around the flailing organization, Hall served as treasurer and also as a member of every committee.
“I helped organize the golf tournament, the business expo, on the ambassador’s committee and the membership committee,” she said.
But she credits Pat Hicks, who was hired as executive director in January 2009 and now serves as president/CEO, for turning around the chamber.
“We had 85 members. There was talk of closing the doors,” she said. “Pat is the key to our success. Our growth has been phenomenal. Her enthusiasm is catching.”
Assisting members in their business growth is Hall’s main focus for 2012.
“It’s my goal to reach out and touch those businesses and keep the momentum going,” Hall said. “The key to being a chamber member is to grow your business. We’re all there to help each other.”
While some might initially be uncomfortable rubbing elbows with competitors in the same field, chamber members quickly learn that they can help one another out without losing out on clients or business, she said.
Hall said she’s been excited to see the area churches working together on joint projects to help those in need, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets. Mark Harris of New Hope Christian Church and Josh Plaisance of The Dwelling Place both serve on the chamber’s board.
Hall, who works for Ev Harris Insurance and serves on the board representing Barrsap LLC, said she often uses the chamber’s business directory to find referrals for her clients in a number of areas.
“My background is in customer service. I want to get out there and talk to people. There are a lot of small businesses who love this community,” she said.
The chamber has much to offer businesses, including something as simple as a certificate of origin, which is used for shipping items overseas. Some companies use that free service several times a month, she said.
Members learn about the community and gain knowledge from experts through monthly luncheons and the after-hours ’Tini Tuesdays, she said.
Hall grew up in Joliet, Ill., and moved to the area when she was 21. She has two grown daughters, Megan and Abbey, and a grandson, Jace, who just turned 1.
Holland Completes Designated Railroad Quiet Zone Paperwork
BY KELLY J. KACZALA — MIRROR REPORTER
The village of Holland has submitted paperwork to Norfolk Southern as the final requirement before a railroad crossing at Holloway Road becomes a designated quiet zone.
Mayor Mike Yunker said at a council meeting on December 20 that he had spoken to Charlie Dodge, of Peterman and Associates, an architectural and engineering firm in Findlay representing the village on the project, to get the latest update on the quiet zone.
The village has been working on converting the crossing since October 2005. The village had planned to have the quiet zone in place by Thanksgiving, but it was delayed due to paperwork.
“We had the document to establish the quiet zone completed, and we sent it to a railroad consultant to make sure we had all our t’s crossed and i’s dotted,” Yunker said after the meeting.
He said he would mail the document after making minor adjustments, and hoped to have the quiet zone in operation by January 18.
“Hopefully, the railroad will do their part and remove the whistle monuments along the tracks that will allow the engineers to stop blowing the whistles. We completed and fulfilled our part,” he said.
In quiet zones, train crews do not have to sound their horns at grade crossings, thereby reducing noise in neighborhoods.
Safety measures were installed at the crossing as part of the requirements of the quiet zone, including an early warning device, which warns train engineers to sound their horns when there is a power outage.
A risk factor analysis completed at the crossing as part of the project has shown that the crossing is safer as a result of the changes made to silence the train whistles, Yunker said.
“Since we have done the quiet zone and put up the barriers at that crossing, it actually makes that crossing more safe, according to the risk factors that were calculated, than it previously was with the horns. It will be a safer crossing than it was before,” Yunker said.
Pylons erected at the crossing, for instance, prevent vehicles from going around the gates that come down to warn motorists of oncoming trains, he said.
“We accomplished two goals: We looked at the risk factor to make sure it’s safe – more safe in this case – and improved the quality of life for all the residents who are constantly bombarded by the noise pollution of trains and horns going through the area,” Yunker said.
Yunker said he has received dozens of calls over the years from residents wanting to know when the quiet zone would be completed.
“When the Federal Railroad Administration approved quiet zones back in July 2005 and the public learned about it, we started getting the calls from residents asking us to inquire about it,” he said. “Then as we went along with it, I got calls, e-mails, or was stopped by people who wanted to make sure this was still on track and we were still doing it.”
More than 100 trains pass the Holloway Road crossing every day.
The village financed the $76,000 project with its capital fund.
Also at the meeting, council members:
• Approved the 2012 budget.
• Approved a 2 percent wage increase for village employees for 2012. The exceptions were probationary starting positions, for which wage rates were frozen.
Yunker said the village would continue to review wages over the next couple of years and make adjustments.
He said this was the first time the village had frozen wages for start-up positions, and the village would look at the top tier next.
He added that the village would look at starting an employee evaluation program to help guide specific wage rates for individual employees.
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