May 19, 2011
Flooring contractor will move to city By LISA AURAND ThisWeek Community Newspapers A jobs growth incentive agreement passed May 16 by Grove City Council will spur Ohio’s largest commercial flooring contractor to move to town. Legacy Commercial Flooring Ltd., currently located in Columbus, will move to an existing building at 2235 Southwest Blvd. and bring 49 office employees to the city. Owner George Holinga, a Grove City
resident, spoke before council at the May 16 meeting. “My wife has had a business here for 12 years,” Holinga said. “(Legacy is) 111 years old. We moved from Denver to Columbus in 1914, and I’m here to break that 97-year tradition.” Holinga said the business has downsized significantly since the start of the recession, reducing its payroll from $5.9 million to less than $2 million. The five-year agreement with Grove City grants Legacy a 25-percent local
payroll tax abatement if it meets or exceeds a payroll of $2 million. Under the terms of the agreement as originally proposed, the company would receive no abatement if the number of employees dips below 49. An amendment proposed by the city administration and passed unanimously by council May 16 changed the requirement to a $2 million total payroll. “Rather than the number of jobs, we’d like to base it on a dollar amount,” city administrator Phil Honsey said.
In addition, Honsey pointed out that Legacy still must pay its payroll taxes. The city will make an annual payment back to the company out of that amount. “This is all done ... so that the city does not extend itself financially,” Honsey said. Following up on a complaint from the May 2 council meeting, Grove City resident Bob Mazzola asked council to consider a proposal to mitigate traffic noise and light pollution caused by a new parking lot and access road for the new Rave
movie theater. “The original drawing indicated that there would be no more than one (access point). … Now there are three different driveways,” Mazzola said, adding he had a signed petition from 134 households that want protection from the light and sound caused by the new commercial development in the area. “We ask that you approve the recommended solution or negotiate an acSee COUNCIL, page A2
City’s IRS audit results expected in 1 or 2 months
CLEANING UP
By LISA AURAND ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Paul Vernon/ThisWeek
Craig Severance (right) and Tim Wright of Local Waste Services in Columbus take a load of used tires during the Community Environmental Day at the Jackson Township administration building May 14.
Big Splash pool ready for opening day By LISA AURAND ThisWeek Community Newspapers
A closer look
Grove City’s public pool is cleaned, polished and ready to open for the season Memorial Day weekend. Tim Baker, recreation coordinator for the Big Splash, said fresh sand has been added to the volleyball court and play area and 56 new chairs have been purchased to prepare for opening day, Saturday, May 28. “We’re ready for some hot weather without any rain,” Baker said. As always, the waterpark features a zerodepth entrance, interactive water toys, two body slides, a smaller slide for younger children and climbing walls. For the second year in a row, the park earned top honors from Jeff Ellis & Associates, an international aquatic safety and risk management consultant group. The Big Splash uses the company’s lifeguard training program, Baker said. An auditor visits the park unannounced and observes safety practices. Based on those observations, the Big
Opening day will be Saturday, May 28. Season pass-holders are allowed early entrance to the park at 11 a.m. Regular park hours are from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The Big Splash is closed on weekdays while South-Western City Schools are in session.
Splash earned the company’s Platinum Award. “They compare all the scores with their other (facilities) around the world and we scored in the top the last two years in a row,” Baker said. “I’m very proud of the staff. They worked very hard and I think they deserve all the credit,” Baker said. One change that will be less visible to the public is an update to the park’s security system.
The city spent about $8,000 on a new fob system. Employees will use the fobs to enter restricted areas. Access will be available to police and firefighters, Baker said. New steel doors protect the area where money is kept. Annual events include Pirate Day and Safety Day, which feature police and firefighters, and Safari Day with animals from the Columbus Zoo. In addition, the annual Soggy Dog Swim will take place from 1-3 p.m. Sept. 11. The swim is for dogs only and takes place after the pool closes for the season Sept. 5. “Last year, we raised almost $1,400 for a local animal shelter with our dog swim,” Baker said. The Big Splash attracted 1,049 season pass-holders last year and more than 53,000 total guests. About 275 children participated in swim lessons. Season passes are on sale through July 4 and range in cost from $60 for a single youth Grove City resident to $190 for a nonresident family of five. See BIG SPLASH, page A2
Whether charges will be filed in connection with Grove City’s IRS debt will be determined after the state auditor’s office releases audit results in the next month or two, city safety director Mike Wasylik said. City police in January called in a special forensic team from the state auditor’s office to shore up a potential criminal case against a person or people who may have stolen from Grove City. “(The auditor’s team has) looked at a number of the documents. Keep in mind, we’re looking at 10 or 11 years’ worth of documents,” Police Chief Steve Robinette said. “I don’t think it’s a secret right now. We do believe a crime has been committed.” Wasylik said it didn’t make sense for GBQ Consulting, hired by the city in January to review Grove City’s books, to tackle an audit when the state auditor’s office already had been tasked with the job. GBQ never had a chance to review documents relating to the case and has shifted its focus to policies and procedures at the direction of city administrators, city spokesman Don Walters said earlier this month. GBQ is still contracted for up to $20,000 of work for Grove City. “The police weren’t withholding anything from GBQ,” Wasylik said. “It just didn’t make sense to anybody to duplicate exactly what the state was doing. Why pay somebody else to do that again?” Grove City will pay a maximum of $54,000 for the special audit from the state, Robinette said. Records being held by police are still accessible, Robinette
said. “In terms of the documents, we have made them available to anybody that has a legitimate need to see them,” Robinette said. “We still fill public records requests and those kinds of things.” Normally, public records requests for city documents would go through city administration,
“
(The auditor’s team has) looked at a number of the documents. Keep in mind, we’re looking at 10 or 11 years’ worth of documents. I don’t think it’s a secret right now. We do believe a crime has been committed.”
”
STEVE ROBINETTE —Police chief
but because the police department is holding the IRS-related records as evidence, certain records requests must be fulfilled through that department instead, Robinette said. “We have to have ... discussions with the (Franklin County) prosecutor’s office in terms of what they want to represent in court.” he said. “It’s just a long process. We’re going through it methodically to make sure we’re doing it correctly and sometimes, it takes a second set of eyes.” Wasylik said the state auditor also is conducting the annual review of Grove City’s financial statements. Those results will be released within the next See IRS, page A2
City collects first business survey responses By LISA AURAND ThisWeek Community Newspapers The results are in from Grove City’s first business survey, but they aren’t ready to be revealed quite yet. “There are some interesting results and there are some items for us to re-
spond to,” city spokesman Don Walters said. “We will be able to act upon what we found out, which is always a good thing.” The city paid Columbus-based research company Saperstein Associates $22,000 to develop questions and administer the online survey.
About 470 online surveys were filled out regarding the needs of the city’s businesses. In addition, the city hoped to collect an e-mail address for each participating company, to contact each company without using the postal service. The survey included a few questions
relating to the Grove City Center for Higher Education, such as whether employers would be willing to provide tuition reimbursement or flexible work schedules so workers could attend relevant classes. The answers will help Columbus State Community College determine
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whether a full-time campus would be warranted in the Grove City area. Walters will present the results to city officials within the next few weeks and to city council in four to six weeks. Meanwhile, Saperstein Associates is See CITY COLLECTS, page A2
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