Couple asks for safety lights

A couple whose boat crashed into the breakwall in Lorain harbor years ago say the port needs better lighting to guide in boaters at night.

Meanwhile, fans of the Lorain Port Authority’s fireworks said they want the Independence Day show to happen on July 4, not another day, each summer.

Lorain voters also can expect a Port levy on the ballot next spring.

The issues came up Sept. 11 in the regular meeting of the Lorain Port Authority.

Dave and Dianna Lawson of Berea brought a contingent of supporters to the board meeting to ask

about improving the navigation lights that show the way into the Port at night.

In 1990, Dianna Lawson was left paralyzed when their boat hit the breakwall at 10 mph.

Dave Lawson acknowledged he drank alcoholic beverages that night, but was not impaired. He said he was looking for the breakwall when the boat hit.

The situation was worse this summer when two people were killed in a boat crash.

On July 4, after the Independence Day fireworks display, a powerboat with three people on board hit the inside of the outer steel breakwater at the inlet by the Black River on Lake Erie at a high rate of speed at 10:25 p.m., according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Timothy Moore, 54, of Lorain was pronounced dead at the scene, and Penny Nickeson, 49, also of Lorain, was pronounced dead at Mercy Health Regional Medical Center in Lorain from her injuries, according to ODNR. A 10-year-old boy, the grandson of Moore, was hospitalized with minor

injuries and released,

The port needs a lighted sign identifying the city and intermittent lights along the breakwall to the Lorain Lighthouse, Dave Lawson said.

The current lights are “not sufficient, because people are being injured and maimed,” Dave Lawson said. “It’s very simple, that point.”

Port Executive Director Tom Brown said he already has discussed the issue with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees the breakwalls, and the U.S. Coast Guard, which assesses aids to navigation.

He and and board President Brad Mullins stressed they want boaters to be safe on the waters of Lorain. However, the Port cannot install new lights or navigation aids without permission from the other agencies.

“We’re willing to listen to what you have to say,” Mullins said, but the Port staff and board cannot make promises about changing the lights on Lorain harbor.

Brown conceded the process of analyzing the lights may not move as fast as everyone would like.

“It’s not a dead issue with us, but there are limitations,” he said, and Dave Lawson agreed they could not expect changes to happen in the next 30 to 90

The Port each year spends about $20,000 for Lorain’s annual July 4 fireworks display. The shows generally get good reviews and draw thousands of viewers at multiple locations.

days.

In other business, Brown and Port Office Manager Kelsey Leyva announced results of a Facebook survey of when Lorainites want their July 4 fireworks.

The query reached 2,484 people and among 309 responses, 75 percent voted for the fireworks to be on July 4.

The data continued a board conversation from July, when the members discussed the best day to launch the skyrockets.

The Port each year spends about $20,000 for Lorain’s annual July 4 fireworks display. The shows generally get good reviews and draw thousands of viewers at multiple locations including Lakeview Park, Black River Landing, Lakeside Landing, the city’s finger piers and Century Park.

However, some people prefer the practice of communities that move the show date to July 3, so many people can stay out late because they have off work July 4. Other communities move the date to the weekend before or after July 4 if the holiday falls in mid-week.

Brown reported this year, the city administration and the Lorain Police Department Auxiliary had concerns about getting enough auxiliary officers to work on July 4.

But the Lorain Port Authority board rejected a city proposal that would schedule future Independence Day firework displays depending what day of the week July 4 is.

The board will set the date of the 2019 show at a future meeting.

Meanwhile, the Port will work with a levy committee to campaign for a levy on the ballot in May 2019.

In 2014, voters said yes to a five-year, one-mill levy that raises about $788,620 a year for the Port.