First off, changes at the Meeting Haus. What everyone knows is that Katharine Moore, our fearless leader of 13 years, has resigned. I'm filling in as interim executive director, so feel free to contact me with any questions you may have previously asked of Katharine. I can be best reached by e-mail, jgraichen@germanvillage.com. I've got a lot on my plate right now, but I'll do my best to respond quickly.

What you may not know is that while I'm serving as interim executive director, I'm putting my historic preservation duties on the back burner. Preservation is my first love so I'm not thrilled about it, but it comes down to having enough hours in the day to best serve the community. Having a historic preservation resource at the Meeting Haus is a big benefit to the community, but having leadership for our community association during a time of transition is more important.

So, the plan was to defer the everyday historic preservation and commission questions to the City Historic Preservation Office. I'll be around to handle any major crises, but the day to day things could be effectively handled by the city while I focus on my new duties.

Except that the City Historic Preservation Office, previously staffed by five people, is as of this week, being staffed by two. Two people who will now account for reviewing applications and staffing the German Village, Italian Village, Victorian Village, Brewery District, and Historic Resources commissions. Two people will be left to meet the preservation needs of Columbus.

Obviously this accounts for the "not-so-good" change. At a time when my preservation hours are limited, the city's hours are nearly gone altogether.

So what does this mean for us?

It means us having patience with longer-than-usual review times. It means us having patience with code violations because our Code Enforcement Officer relies on Certificates of Appropriateness issued from the City Historic Preservation Office.

At this point, I'm not certain what the status of staff approvals will be -- with a bare bones staff left to review applications, there simply might not be enough hours in the day for administrative review. Currently applications for repair, replacement in kind, and paint are reviewed by city preservation office staff. I just don't know how many staff approvals a staff of two will be able to generate for all of the city's historic preservation districts.

There's really no sugar-coating it: the reduction in staff at the City Historic Preservation Office will be difficult for German Village and the city at large to absorb. The preservation needs of this city are too large for a staff that small -- no matter how knowledgeable that staff is, and trust me, they're knowledgeable.

So this column is, in essence, a plea for patience and consideration. I'm getting my bearing as interim director, and the city preservation office is working with heavier than usual work loads.

In an effort to streamline the process, I ask that if you plan to submit applications for Certificates of Appropriateness, print them from our Web site, www.germanvillage.com, and mail them directly to the City of Columbus Historic Preservation Office, 109 North Front Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215 with all of your supplemental materials -- paint colors, architectural plans and elevations, photographs, etc. The more complete your application is, the quicker it can be reviewed.

And if you can imagine adding to all of thatÉmy number one priority right now is Oktoberfest. (Incidentally, the biggest party in town is only 31 days away.) That's actually not a change at all. My role since day one at the Society has been to manage operations for the event, so this time of year I always transition from historic preservation mode to "where should the water lines go?" mode.

Indeed, we have lots of changes to deal with, but if we're anything, it's adaptable. Thanks for your patience!

Jody Graichen is the interim executive director of the German Village Society and columnist for ThisWeek German Village.

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