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More deer and coyotes observed By Kelly J. Kaczala News Editor kkaczala@presspublications.com At a recent Oregon City Council meeting, there was a discussion about whether there is a coyote and deer problem in the area. “In the past week, I’ve probably had more people ask me about coyotes than I have in years,” said Councilman Steve Hornyak. “Are we seeing an increase in population in the area or is it just more visible? I’ve never had that many comments about coyotes in Oregon, knowing they’re there. They seem to be more prevalent right now.” City Administrator Mike Beazley said coyotes live in all 88 counties in Ohio. “They have lived around here for many decades. Their population tends to go up or down depending on whether the predator or hunter population is active,” said Beazley. “We haven’t had a lot of calls here. There have been a couple calls at the office.” Spotting coyotes is no different, he said, than seeing squirrels, bats, skunks, ducks, possums, and deer. “We don’t have a great plan to deal with coyotes, just like we don’t have any plans for [feral]cats. Those are the challenges we face as we go forward. It’s the natural part of living in Oregon. We have not been aware of any damage from them or problems with them, except it’s a little disquieting to see them loping down your street from time to time. If anyone has a particular suggestion, we’ll look at it. But it’s part of living.” He added that his son who lives in Sylvania saw one go through his property. “It’s part of living in the region. There’s a lot more around here than when I was a child.” “The feral cat problem has been eliminated, I think,” joked Councilman Terry Continued on page 2
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...wait, make that 26 more years - of business as usual... Thomas Knapp See page 7
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz spoke and addressed questions during “Meet the Mayor” at the Birmingham Library. Top left, Carl Peatee looks over an artist rendering of the Marina District. Behind him is Father Frank Eckart. Bottom photo, Toledo City Councilman District 3 representative Peter Ujvagi. The event was sponsored by the Birmingham Development Corporation. (Press photos by Ken Grosjean)
Marina District
Vertical development in the spring, mayor says By J. Patrick Eaken Press Staff Writer news@presspublications.com After decades of waiting for vertical development on the 127-acre Marina District, Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz says it is finally going to happen in 2019. Speaking to about 50 guests at the Birmingham Development Corporation meeting, he cites a meeting he had with developer Frank Kass of Columbus-based Continental Real Estate Companies, which plans to develop housing and retail that will complement a Metropark on the riverfront property in East Toledo. The Marina District is the name once given to that property, but that could change when Metroparks Toledo pick a name for their park. “I think 2019 is going to be a big year for the riverfront development, which I sometimes call the Marina project,” Kapszukiewicz said. “It took a long time, but I talked to the developer because it’s a two-part development. You have a 70-acre Metropark and you have a sort of housing component down to the bridge close to where the Sports Arena used to be.
“I talked to him at the beginning of the year and he said, ‘We are going to break ground in April.’ I suppose I should have asked him for clarification on what year he meant. I certainly thought 2018 was the year he had in mind,” the Toledo mayor continued, saying Kass meant in 2019. “This year, I am certain since all the legal transfers have taken place that you will see that project begin in earnest next year, and I believe there will parts of it that will be completed by the end of the year, but the full vision will be completed by the end of 2020. I may be a little optimistic there — maybe 2021.” Toledo Metroparks purchased 70 acres of the property from ProMedica and hired SmithGroupJJR to develop a master plan. The park will be the sixth Metropark on the Maumee River. All of the river parks and other sites along Ohio’s 108-mile stretch of the Maumee River are part of the newly-designated Ohio Water Trail. ProMedica also was planning to sell a portion of the land to Continental Real Estate Companies to develop housing and retail. ProMedica had purchased the property in 2016, and held its own public meetings to obtain community input before sales
to the Toledo Metroparks and Continental became final. Kapszukiewicz says he believes all of these steps are now in place and vertical development by Continental Real Estate and the Metroparks can soon proceed. “I am sensitive. I know the stereotype and the criticism that it is the bureaucratic, lumbering, lazy people in government that slow things like this down. It is actually not,” Kapszukiewicz said. “We were ready to go on the development team, the Metroparks, and ProMedica, which owns some of those parcels. They spent a long time for their lawyers to get on the same page and frankly they are on the same page now. If it weren’t on the verge of snowing, they would be ready to break ground now, and they almost did anyhow.” The waterfront park will serve the surrounding neighborhoods, with connections to Waite High School, International Park, Main Street, Front Street and the Historical Museum of the Great Lakes, as well as downtown via an existing trail that crosses the Craig Street Bridge. The park will – and has already begun to – spur adContinued on page 2
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