COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT CORPORATION MEETING
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 7:30AM
Evendale Municipal Building, 10500 Reading Road, Evendale, Ohio
Attendees: Hugh McKinnon, Jeff Albrinck, Chris Schaefer, Bob Szczur, Al Pearlman, Stiney Vonderhaar, Chris Patterson, Cindy Vaske and Jack Cameron.
Recurring Business:
1. Approval of Minutes from November 15, 2011 Meeting (1st Vonderhaar, 2nd Szczur – 6 aye, 0 nae, Harwood not present for vote).
2. Economic Development update.
a. GE announced 5,000 jobs to be added globally and 400 noted for GE Aviation Evendale facility.
b. Kinetic vision will appear at Planning Commission tonight to have a parking lot expansion reviewed. They have seen 30% growth in 2011 and need additional parking for the increase in employees and will need the lot next door sooner than later. Hugh McKinnon, Cindy Vaske, and Pam Morin toured kinetic vision several weeks ago and they do some very interesting work in the high tech field.
c. Thru the Valley I 75 project funding was announced to be pushed back to 2026. It was recently scheduled to begin in 2014. Jack talked to Jay Hamilton, ODOT, and Jay’s feeling is that the funding will be put back in place. Jack also talked to the GE Aviation representatives reviewing along with ODOT and the Village. GE is interested in seeing the design completed. Jay’s desire is to have the plans ready for construction so when the funding becomes available we have a project to submit.
d. Anchor Properties are still pursuing a tenant for the A2 retail lot. Although the talks have been ongoing for months, it is still a possibility and timeframe for a decision is not known at this point.
e. Al Pearlman asked if the Village was pursuing Paycor who announced a site search recently. Jack explained that the Evendale Commons site was presented to Paycor by Miller Valentine and Anchor. The feedback was the Evendale site was not being considered because the CEO is in Anderson and their current location is downtown. Therefore, the geographic location was the reason for not pursing an Evendale location.
f. Jack updated the CIC that The Sphere was back to Sports Plus after Greg Martini, owner, ended his lease arrangement with Darrell Alexander.
New Business:
Old Business:
1. Business Ready Evendale Strategy action item update including; zoning code revision status, website, etc.
a. Bob updated the group on the Zoning Code Working Group actions to date. Bob prepared a spreadsheet which summarizes the notable aspects of each Chapter. This spreadsheet is attached to the minutes for clarification. Hugh thanked Bob for his tremendous effort in being involved in the Zoning Code Working Group on behalf of the CIC and for providing the CIC with thorough updates. All concurred that Bob has a done a great job. Bob said that his updates will be more general in the future with the revisions moving out of the District Chapters.
b. Jack provided a summary of website comments and asked that any further comments be sent his way.
c. briefly explained that the website is back on track after the recent delay.
2. Village Landing – no report.
3. Village Crossings – Jack has a meeting with Kelvin Hanger this afternoon to discuss the Medical Center’s recent discussions with Al. Neyer, Inc.
Other:
1. Central Collection of local earnings tax by the State of Ohio
Cindy Vaske, Village Tax Administrator, updated the CIC on the central tax collection discussions going on in the Governor’s Office and State legislature. Since the fall, there have been rumors of discussions about the State assuming collection duties for municipal earnings tax. The South Western Ohio Tax Administrators’ Association, SWOTAA, has been keeping tabs on the discussions. Although nothing official has been announced by the Governor’s Office, the rhetoric is that this change would address complaints about the tax structure in Ohio being too complicated for businesses. The rhetoric has also included the assertion that having the State collect municipal earnings taxes would be more efficient and save money.
Cindy advised that various State Representatives have had some discussion about either central collection or simplifying the tax code with a very recent meeting held by Representative Grossman, Columbus area. No legislation has been provided although it is assumed that draft legislation is underway.
The Village is opposed to central collection by the State for a variety of reasons and Council has already passed a Resolution stating their opposition to municipal tax collection by the State. Cindy and SWOTAA are vigilantly watching the progress of any discussions or opportunities to be a part of any discussions. The Village recently engaged Government Strategies Group, lobbyist, to help navigate the issue and make sure Evendale has the best intelligence about the conversations and meeting opportunities.
In short, the Village would be opposed to the State being the collection agency for our municipal taxes because they would keep 1-2% (not known at this time), the State does a poor job administering anything, the tracking of tax payers would be less effective than at the local level, tax collections would decrease from less effective collection, personal touch would not be available to our businesses or residents, and collecting local earnings tax at the State level does nothing to address an issue of complexity.
CIC agreed that this is an important issue for the Village and supports any activities opposing this change from the Village. CIC pledged support and will rely on Government Strategies Group to advise when we should take further action.
Discussion Items for Next Meeting
Date of Next Meeting and Adjournment (1st Vonderhaar, 2nd Albrinck – 6 aye, 0 nae).
Next Meeting Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at 7:30am.
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