December 26, 2010
County weighs in at egg farm hearing By LIN RICE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
A closer look
Union County officials testified to the Ohio Department of Agriculture why they think a proposed egg farm is a bad idea for the county, and now they must wait to see whether or not ODA agrees. County engineer Jeff Stauch said he was called to testify in a three-day hearing that began on Dec. 14. The hearing was requested by representatives of the Hi-Q egg farm, whose proposal for a large chicken egg farm in the northern part of Union County has met opposition from both the county and ODA. Stauch said his part in the testimony dealt with describing the effects the pro-
Hi-Q proposes to construct 15 layer houses with 400,000 layers each, for a total capacity of 6million chickens, on a site at 22450 Davis Road, West Mansfield, in York Township and the Upper Scioto Watershed.
posed farm would have on Union County’s secondary roads. “For the most part, my discussion was centered on our concern for those roads,” Stauch said. “We were able to share a list of our concerns in that setting with ODA
staff, and the hearing officer seemed to be understanding.” Hi-Q proposes to construct 15 layer houses with 400,000 layers each, for a total capacity of 6-million chickens, on a site at 22450 Davis Road, West Mansfield, in York Township and the Upper Scioto Watershed. In August, ODA director Robert J. Boggs sent a certified letter to the company stating the department’s intent to deny those building requests, citing the company’s failure to furnish all the needed paperwork. Hi-Q representatives contested that decision, and requested a formal hearing before the ODA earlier this year. Stauch has previously said that several county roads in York Township sur-
rounding the site would need to undergo improvements before a significant increase in commercial traffic begins, while the county commissioners have maintained that an agreement between the county and the farm’s developers expressing how those improvements will be funded, and by whom, must be in place before the project can move forward. Stauch said his testimony included providing an overview of how those roads would be affected from an engineering and financial standpoint. “It was a challenging two hours, but I felt pretty good with most of the information we presented,” Stauch said. County prosecutor David W. Phillips submitted a letter to ODA as part of the
Commercial SHOWING HER SPIRIT property values rise in Colemans Crossing By LIN RICE ThisWeek Community Newspapers Commercial property values have gone up significantly in the Colemans Crossing area of Marysville, following an appeal filed by the city and its financial advisers. Following an appeal to the county auditor’s board of revisions earlier this year, the overall commercial property value of the Colemans Crossing area has risen from about $29-million to $43.5-million. City administrator Jillian Froment said a discrepancy in property values in that area was suspected about a year and a half ago when the city and school district became concerned that the district’s TIF (tax increment financing) wasn’t going to generate enough income to pay on the initial loan for infrastructure improvements to the area. “For some general background, the Colemans Crossing TIF started with an agreement with a developer (Cincinnati-based Mike Dever) that came in and developed this area, and involved a $7-million investment in infrastructure, such as the roads, the original retention pond, and in turn we would place a TIF on the property and any increases in property taxes would flow into this TIF fund,” Froment said. “Then the City Gate area was developed, and the TIF was expanded.” Froment said that the city took out loans for the infrastructure (a total of $12-million), with the developer holding the letter of credit. The city pays on the Colemans Crossing portion of the loan from the area’s TIF fund, and is currently in the sixth year of the 30year TIF. “Everything was going pretty well, and then the economy slumped, bringing development to a stand-
By Paul Vernon/ThisWeek
Alexis White, 6, cheers along with the junior varsity cheerleaders during the junior varsity basketball game at Marysville High School on Dec. 17. For this week’s coverage of local sports, see page A5.
See VALUES, page A2
hearing, outlining six reasons the county is encouraging the ODA to deny the final Hi-Q permits. The letter claims that (1) the applicant has failed to disclose all owners and/or operators; (2) Hi-Q has failed to meet the requirements imposed by Ohio law on a Major Concentrated Animal Feeding Facility regarding infrastructure improvements; (3) the applicants have failed to disclose civil actions filed against other animal feeding facilities owned or operated by them; (4) the pest control management plan required by Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) is inadequate; (5) the Manure Spill Emergency Response Plan is deficient; See HEARING, page A4
Russells Point
Honda plans to expand its transmission plant in Ohio By LIN RICE ThisWeek Community Newspapers Union County’s largest employer announced earlier this month an expansion project that will bring more than 100 full-time jobs to Ohio. Honda Transmission of America Mfg. will spend $70-million on a 200,000-square-foot expansion project at its Russells Point facility, increasing the plant’s capabilities to manufacture Honda’s transmission technologies when Honda’s new production line begins in 2012, according to spokesman Ron Lietzke. The expansion project is expected to create more than 100 full-time jobs, and the company also announced that it is currently adding 60 jobs for the start of a second shift in early 2011, according to Lietzke. Russells Point is about 40 miles northwest of Marysville. The project, called “Transmission Technology for the Future,” will increase production flexibility for the entire plant, including improvements in overall product flow, as well as increasing the plant’s capacity to produce more than 1-million automatic transmissions annually, up from 800,000 transmissions now, Lietzke said. “The start of this project is recognition of the accomplishments of a great team of associates, and the strong partnerships we have established in this community,” said Yuji Takahashi, Honda Transmission president. “Together, we have created a solid foundation for growth into the future to meet the needs of our customers.” The $70-million expansion will include the installation of a third assembly line, along with other new operations for the production of advanced automatic transmissions, and the reloSee HONDA, page A2
City wants landlords’ Process to obtain copy of opinions on utility billing birth certificate is eased By LIN RICE
city,” Froment said. “We want rather than allowing applications
ThisWeek Community Newspapers to talk about balancing the is- over the phone; whether or not
Marysville administrators intend to sit down with local landlords to talk about how the city handles its utility billing. City administrator Jillian Froment said a public meeting is scheduled for January. The discussion will focus on how those bills are collected, not on Marysville’s utility rates, Froment said. “This isn’t a simple issue, once you start weighing all the different points of view, including the tenants, the landlords, the
sues, to discuss the pros and cons.” Froment said Marysville analyzed how other communities in central Ohio go about collecting utility payments and came up with a check list of options that could be incorporated. Froment said Marysville doesn’t necessarily plan on instituting the ideas; administrators just want to open a discussion to get the community’s input. Some ideas from other communities include having a written utility application process,
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landlords should approve tenants; how to ensure that individuals are not simply changing addresses to avoid past-due bills; the topic of electronic billing and suppressing credit statements; whether or not to move a bill’s due date to the fifth of the following month; whether or not minimum utility amounts are too high for vacant houses; whether or not the city should be responsible for the collection of overdue bill payments; how to
By LIN RICE ThisWeek Community Newspapers Getting a copy of your birth certificate will now be easier in Union County. The county’s health department can now issue birth certificates to people born anywhere in Ohio, according to public information officer Jennifer Thrush. The change comes following a new statewide improvement project initiated earlier this month, and the department is one of many that began offering the new service last week, Thrush said. “These changes will help to streamline birthrecord requests across the state and more quickly connect Ohioans with essential records,” said Alvin Jackson, ODH director. “They will
be especially helpful for individuals who need a birth record in a hurry; a person will now be able to travel to the closest office and purchase the record they need.” Previously an Ohioan had to go to the county of birth to acquire a birth certificate copy. In 2006, the Ohio Department of Health began scanning more than 20-million birth certificates, with the oldest dating back to 1908, according to Thrush. The project was completed this month. Thrush said that issuing birth certificates is one of the Health Department’s most-used services, with an average of 150 birth certificates issued each month in 2010. See PROCESS, page A2
See BILLING, page A4
Sally, left, is one of the homeless pets still waiting to be adopted from the Second Chance Humane Society. Her shelter mate, Daisy, was featured in the October video at www.ThisWeekNews.com and is also waiting to be adopted. For more information on adopting one of the dogs, visit www.secondchancehs.com or call (740) 967-3700.