January 27, 2011
Menards to try again at new location By TOM SHEEHAN ThisWeek Community Newspapers
A closer look
Nearly three years after its home-improvement store plan was denied in Orange Township, Menards is back and hopes to build at a different location. A tax incentive for the proposed store won the unanimous endorsement of township trustees at their Jan. 18 meeting. Trustees Robert Quigley, Jennifer Christian and Nelson Katz passed a resolution recommending the Delaware County commissioners approve a $1-
The $7.5-million, 162,000-square-foot store would sit on 22 acres of a 68acre site north of Orange Point Drive on the east side of U.S. Route 23. It will be developed by Planned Communities, county economic development director Gus Comstock said. There would be room for up to 19 outlots on the remainder of the property, he told trustees. The store would employ 60 full-time workers, 90 part-timers and have a $2-million annual payroll.
million tax abatement for the store to Drive on the east side of U.S. Route 23. help with an estimated $5-million in inCounty economic development difrastructure costs. The proposed store rector Gus Comstock told trustees at the would be built north of Orange Point meeting that the tax incentive negotia-
tions committee — a joint county-township group made up of representatives from the county, township and Olentangy schools — supports a 10-year tax abatement for the store. Menards and county and township officials have been engaged in private discussions about the proposed store since late last year. The $7.5-million, 162,000-squarefoot store would sit on 22 acres of a 68acre site to be developed by Planned Communities, Comstock said. The property would have room for up to 19 outlots, he told trustees. The store would employ 60 full-time workers, 90 part-
timers and have a $2-million annual payroll. Menards would pay the balance of the $5-million in infrastructure costs to extend several roads, including Graphics Way. “The sales tax (from the store) would generate hundreds of thousands of dollars” annually for the local economy, Comstock said. Trustees chairman Quigley said thorough discussions have been held on the abatement and the proposed store. See MENARDS, page A2
Agencies ask city to hold off on TIF
DRUMLINE
By BONNIE BUTCHER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Tim Norman/ThisWeek
Olentangy Liberty junior Abby Long plays the marimba during warm-up in the school’s theater as the Olentangy Liberty High School’s Winterline gets ready to perform during the Ohio Indoor Performance Association drumline and guard contest at the school on Sunday, Jan. 23.
Joint task force
Liberty Twp. invites Powell to talks By BONNIE BUTCHER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Liberty Township trustees have asked the city of Powell for the second time to create a joint task force. Trustees Robert Mann and Mary Carducci approved the resolution Jan. 18. Trustee Curt Sybert was ab- Robert Mann sent from the meeting; he attended the Powell City Council meeting that occurred at the
same time to voice concern about Powell’s recent move that placed all its commercial property in a tax-increment-financing dis- Mary Carducci trict (TIF). In the recent past, the two entities have had disputes and legal battles over a number of issues including: • Liberty’s appealing to the Delaware County Common Pleas Court Powell’s 2007 decision to issue building permit for a Target store.
In July 2009, judge W. Duncan Whitney ruled that the township lacked standing to appeal. • In 2008, Powell accused the Curt Sybert township of violating a 2002 cooperative economic development agreement (CEDA) between the two because of actions then-township trustee Peggy Guzzo’s took regarding a citizen-led initiative petition seeking to limit commercial building square footage to 10,000 square feet for a single user
and 65,000 square feet for multiple users. Powell and Liberty remain in mediation on the issue. • In 2009, Powell accused Liberty Township of interfering in its annexation of the Market at Liberty Crossing, also known as the Giant Eagle shopping center. The CEDA prohibits the township from interfering in annexation of properties south of Home Road. The township in November 2009 proposed a task force with Powell. Trustees also: • Agreed to seek several grants
A number of county agencies on Jan. 18 asked Powell City Council to repeal the new commercial tax-increment financing district it approved in December. The city put all commercial properties within the city — not already within the downtown TIF district — into the new commercial TIF for 30 years. In TIF districts, certain tax income is defrayed and used for infrastructure costs. Criticizing the new TIF were representatives of the Liberty Township Fire Department, Delaware County Board of Developmental Disabilities, Preservation Parks of Delaware County, Delaware-Morrow Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, and the Delaware General Health District. All said the TIF puts a strain on their tax income. Council members said they might consider making payments to the fire department from the funds, but said more discussion is needed. “Having thought it through we may want to reconsider the fire department,” said mayor Art Schultz. He said no to the other agencies, noting that not all taxing is fair. Powell residents must pay for things that they aren’t getting benefit from, such as the county sheriff’s office. Schultz and council member Tom Counts said council is charged with looking out for Powell residents and the TIF eventually will provide much needed funds for infrastructure. Schultz said, “It will try to offset some of those things we tried to cover when we went to the residents (on the November ballot) to increase the income tax so we can pay for capital improvements.” Voters rejected the proposed tax increase. Liberty Township trustee Curt Sybert and fire chief Tim Jensen asked council to repeal the TIF or consider making a payment to the department in lieu of taxes, as will be done for the Olentangy Local School District. Council member Sara Marie Brenner made a motion to repeal the new TIF district, but the motion See TIF, page A5
See LIBERTY, page A2
School board makes 7.9-mill levy official for May ballot By TOM SHEEHAN ThisWeek Community Newspapers
The Olentangy school board on Jan. 19 took the final step toward seeking a 7.9-mill operating levy, combined with a no-new-millage bond issue, in the May 3 election. The board voted 4-0 to approve a resolution to place the three-year combined tax issue on the ballot. The filing deadline is Feb. 3. Board members Julie Wagner Feasel, David King, Stacy Dunbar and Kevin O’Brien voted for the issue. Scott Galloway, who did not attend the meeting because of a previous commitment, previously had opposed a levy at 7.9 mills. He had favored a 6.9-mill levy.
O’Brien also had favored 6.9 mills until the Jan. 12 board meeting, when he voted “yes” on a resolution to move forward at 7.9 mills. At the Jan. 19 Julie Wagner meeting, O’Brien Feasel said the scenario for the levy had changed and he was more comfortable with going for 7.9 mills. In particular, district officials have now pledged to pursue budget reductions of about $5.5-million during the next three years instead of a previous budget reduction goal of $2.1-million. “A balance was struck between what the district is willing to do and what we
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are asking the taxpayers to do,” O’Brien said during the meeting. Wagner Feasel, King and Dunbar have said that seeking anything lower David King than 7.9 mills could result in cutting academic programs. Galloway contended that 6.9 mills was feasible. Board president Wagner Feasel said the process to determine a fair millage amount had been well-debated and discussed throughout the community over the past few months. “I’ve been working on levies in this district since 2000,” she said. “Going on
the ballot is never easy.” If voters approve the combined tax issue, the owner of a $100,000 home will pay an additional $241.94 annually in Stacy Dunbar taxes. The county auditor has determined the levy would raise $25.2-million a year. The bond issue would require no new millage because the district would restructure its current bond debt. It would raise $24.4-million to build a new elementary school and pay for textbooks and some capital improvement projects. Lewis Center resident C.J. Fenrick, speaking during the public comment
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segment of the meeting prior to the vote, said he opposed the tax issue. “I’m a homeowner for a long period of time,” he said. “I Scott Galloway have no children in this district. ... As a senior (citizen), you are going to price me out of this community.” He said he currently pays about $6,000 annually in property taxes. While Fenrick said he doesn’t blame Olentangy schools for the way schools are funded in Ohio, he said the state legislature needs to do something about that. See LEVY, page A5
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