COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT CORPORATION MEETING
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 at 7:30AM
Evendale Municipal Building, 10500 Reading Road, Evendale, Ohio
Attendees: Chris Schaefer, Carolyn Smiley-Robertson, Stiney Vonderhaar, Bob Szczur, Al Pearlman, Chris Patterson, and Jack Cameron.
Recurring Business:
1. Approval of Minutes from March 1, 2010 Meeting (1st Schaefer, 2nd Szczur – 5 aye, 0 nae).
2. Economic Development update.
a. Evendale Commons PBD amendment was approved at the April Council meeting.
b. White Castle is being reviewed preliminarily at Planning Commission tonight.
c. So Low is nearing completion of their expansion project.
d. GE engine funding is not in the 2011 federal budget but GE is hoping to get approval to continue the development at their own expense. Currently they are deploying the F136 engine development employees to other projects which mean no job loss but also mean no job gains from the 500 they announced in October.
New Business:
1. Enterprise Zone Area expansion application.
a. Hamilton County is pursuing an amendment to the Enterprise Zone Map area in Evendale which would include the area on Evendale Drive which was carved out of the map originally as well as the Village owned property on St. Rita Lane. This map amendment is to facilitate Mike Albert’s expansion project and utilizing an EZ abatement for them and also to facilitate the Village owned property development.
b. CIC recommended that Council approve the map amendment.
Old Business:
1. Business Ready Evendale Strategy
a. Zoning Code revision – staff continues to meet and work through an amendment to the code. All districts are complete with other sections of the code to be worked through to present a draft amendment to Planning Commission.
b. Development Ready Guide
c. Design Character Cookbook
d. Website – The design has been forwarded to Virtual Town Hall to make the changes to our site. Expected completion is the beginning of May.
2. St. Rita Lane project
a. Marketing brochure is complete which was presented at the CIC meeting.
b. Bob questioned how we move forward on a developer or development of the property.
c. Jack suggested that he create some criteria for the CIC to review at the next meeting which would help establish a selling price based on use, earnings tax generation, and current market value.
d. A few questions in regard to the criteria being revenue based, GE interest based, audiology in conjunction with St. Rita’s, and/or estimated property value.
e. Although CIC did not indicate a preference on one particular use (office, light manufacturing, education, or the like) they did agree that our first priority should be to see it developed as a whole property and not in parts. The idea of parceling off the frontage for retail uses was not desired, at least not before the property had a good opportunity to be marketed.
f. Bob made note that he wanted to be pro-active and not reactive.
3. Village Crossings
Other:
1. Jack briefly explained happenings at the former Sports Plus facility, now The Sphere. Darroll Alexander has a land contract to purchase the property and is currently running the operations. Greg Martini, the property owner and former operator, no longer has any involvement in the activities there. Darroll has made significant investment and spent a lot of time getting things cleaned up and ‘straightened out’. Of note; he has hauled 8 dumpsters of trash and debris away, painted the basketball court area, refinished the basketball court floors, finishing construction of a baseball practice area, re-carpeted the entry area, repaired and refinished the ice hockey areas, renovated the restaurant/bar including a complete 4 day professional scrubbing of the kitchen, un-invited a few
problematic basketball teams, instituted various policies that set a new tone for the facility including a regular bathroom cleaning schedule, and has a few dozen tournaments from local, regional, and national organizations.
Darroll had called the Village and I met with him about a week ago. He is asking the Village to consider a $25,000 loan to make landscaping, parking pavement, parking striping, parking lot lighting, and other exterior improvements. CIC would be amenable to a loan and Jack is to run with details. Bob suggested that as part of the exchange for a loan that The Sphere host an event for an organization that benefits handicap activities like Special Olympics. Al suggested that we meet at The Sphere. Jack will work with Tim Burke on a loan agreement and get back with the CIC as more details are known.
2. Al wanted to stress that the Village needs to promote our good news like; expansions of Mike Albert, So Low, and Gold Medal for example. Jack agreed and stated that the current plan for the website is to include ‘testimonials’ from satisfied customers and more could certainly be done.
Discussion Items for Next Meeting
Date of Next Meeting and Adjournment (1st Schaefer, 2nd Pearlman – 5 aye, 0 nae).
Next Meeting Tuesday, May 17, 2011.
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