CLICK HERE for Groman's obituary.
Most Icon viewers aren’t aware that former Bluffton council member Morris Groman once saved the Village of Bluffton $4,000 in federal fines, plus lots and lots of headaches and embarrassments.
Most people think of Morris Groman as a polite, quiet guy, which of course, he was.
He used this persona to get things accomplished and it worked. Here’s an example.
It’s paraphrased from our book “Bluffton: A Good Place To Miss.” The story comes from an interview with Sam Diller, who at the time was Bluffton village solicitor and Morris was a council member.
Sam Diller:
About 1990 during a particularly hot summer some boys noticed fish struggling in pool in Riley Creek by the Cherry Street bridge.
The fish were in distress only because the pool was too small to accommodate the large number of fish and the fact that the stone quarry, for some reason, was not pumping as much water out of the quarry into the creek, causing the water level in the creek to diminish. The boy’s families called the EPA who initiated an investigation.
Morris Groman, a member of council and a chemist, looked into the matter, and as expected, confirmed the facts as mentioned above— there were too many fish, too little water, and too little oxygen.
The EPA proposed a fine of nearly $4,000 and council, led by council member Harold Klingler, instructed me to write a letter refusing their request and explaining the situation.
This didn’t do any good and at a later council meeting we were visited by a representative of the EPA, who proceeded to explain the situation—the village had done something to cause the problem.
Obviously, council and Morris did not agree with this assessment. The EPA representative was forced to sit back and endure a lecture from Councilman Klingler.
This lecture went on for quite awhile, to the effect that Councilman Klingler informed the EPA rep that he should learn the basic rules of chemistry before being let out of his office and being allowed to impose fines.
(It should be noted here that the chemistry facts delivered by Councilman Klingler were given to him almost in teleprompter fashion. The “teleprompter” was Mr. Chemist, Morris Groman, who sat beside Klingler, whispering in his ear.)
After Harold’s castigation – via Morris - the EPA rep lowered the fine to $50. This resulted in an even angrier lecture from Harold informing the rep that we were not going to pay any of the fine because the village had done nothing wrong.
This statement results in our being informed that the fine would remain on the books forever, and a future council might be forced to pay.
At this point, Councilman Klingler, barely able to remain civil, instructed the village clerk, David Doty, to spread the entire matter upon the minutes of council as a guide to these future councils.
Thanks to Morris, Bluffton had the last laugh on this incident.
To my knowledge, nothing further has ever been heard.
