COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT CORPORATION MEETING
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 7:30AM
Evendale Municipal Building, 10500 Reading Road, Evendale, Ohio
Attendees: Hugh McKinnon, Chris Schaefer, Carolyn Smiley-Robertson, Bob Szczur, Al Pearlman, Dave Harwood, and Jack Cameron.
Recurring Business:
1. Approval of Minutes from April 19, 2010 Meeting (1st Szczur, 2nd Harwood – 5 aye, 0 nae).
2. Economic Development update.
a. Gold Medal expansion of flavor department proceeding and should be complete in the very near future.
b. White Castle has submitted plans but has not started construction on the site.
c. So Low basically done with their expansion and using the space.
d. The Enterprise Zone expansion is at the State of Ohio level and should take 60 days of which we are around day 30. Once this EZ map amendment is made, Mike Albert plans on pursuing an EZ abatement for improvements to their facility.
e. The Sphere – The former Sports Plus facility. Darryl Alexander, new owner/operator, has requested that the Village consider some financial support of his new business venture. Jack Cameron worked with Tim Burke the past month to draft a loan document which the CIC could consider. However, during some recent activities at The Sphere the concern of future cooperation with Village rules, regulations, and the like raised a red flag and the loan was pulled from consideration. CIC agreed that this was a large facility that had a significant presence in Evendale but to direct any funds to them would not be appropriate and there are certainly many other businesses in Evendale that could benefit from financial support too. Chris would be interested in helping on the landscape
buffer along Reading Road and/or possibly parking cooperation. Bob was not in favor of any unsecured type loan and Hugh expressed that he wanted to be business friendly but not rollover friendly.
CIC concluded that no loan would be extended to The Sphere. Al emphasized that they need to be in business for a few years to establish a track record before considering any type of financial support. CIC made clear that they want to support the business venture and agreed that meeting there in the future was a possibility to get a firsthand look at what improvements have been made.
New Business:
Old Business:
1. Business Ready Evendale Strategy
a. Zoning Code revision – staff continues to meet and work through an amendment to the code. The expectation is that Planning Commission get the draft staff recommended revisions at their July 19th meeting. Jack stressed that Planning Commission would own the process of making recommendations to revising the Zoning Code but CIC would be asked to have some participation.
CIC offered a few thoughts on items to keep in consideration; farming regulations and chickens in the residential area and solar/green regulations.
b. Development Ready Guide
c. Design Character Cookbook
d. Website – Virtual Town Hall has the design and is working on changes.
2. St. Rita Lane project
a. Jack presented a simple spreadsheet that suggests levels of discount to a property purchase price based on the use. CIC would like to have this sent to Council for discussion purposes. CIC questioned what the Tax Administrator’s ability was to offer revenue generation per acre based on the use?
b. How much can the Village expect to generate per acre? Based on use? Other?
c. Jack stressed that initial question on the property have always included how much is the Village asking. Jack stressed that having some purchase price was desirable to be proactive. CIC suggested that an appraisal be done on the property to better set possible purchase price for the property. Jack will research appraisal cost for next meeting.
d. Jack had a ‘for sale’ sign design to approve. Chris noted that it was recommended to list on the sign – brokers protected. This was suggested by Front Street Analytics during our discussions about marketing the property.
3. Village Crossings – Al. Neyer, Inc. and the Medical Center/Kelvin have a dialogue but nothing new has happened since the last CIC meeting.
Other:
1. Bob asked if there was something that could be provided from the Village that could show the current state of the business climate in Evendale. This could be something quarterly that the CIC get to utilize and it would be helpful with his decision making and during discussions at CIC. Jack suggested that the best option is the monthly Tax Administrator report that shows tax collection for that month and year to date. Jack will get that to the CIC for next meeting.
Discussion Items for Next Meeting
Date of Next Meeting and Adjournment (1st Schaefer, 2nd Szczur – 5 aye, 0 nae).
Next Meeting Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 7:30 A.M. but that may change for a meeting at the Sphere.
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