Village to vote on business park funding

Another $1 million is needed to complete the project.

Village finances are causing some council members to question how they will vote concerning the use of public funds for a proposed business park on Monday night.

Some council members agreed economic development in the village needs a boost, and they support plans for the Center for Business and Education however they have concerns about the village’s $200,000 deficit and question if now is the right time to risk taxpayer funds on the project.

More than $1 million has been invested in the business park, according to Community Resources, the non-profit organization who initiated the project, but another $1 million will be needed to finish.

The business park would be located near Antioch University Midwest on the northwestern corner of East Enon and Dayton-Yellow Springs roads.

Yellow Springs Village Councilwoman Lori Askeland said she’s not opposed to spending money to invest in the village’s “long-term economic sustainability,” but she is uncertain whether the project is a reasonable business proposition.

“We’re a shoestring operation already,” Askeland said. “So an ongoing loan expense, anything like that, is a pretty big commitment. Whether this is the best way to spend those funds, I’m really not sure.”

Yellow Springs Village Council President Karen Wintrow, who is also a ex-officio member of Community Resources, and Brian Housh, a village councilman, said they support the project, which they believe will benefit the community, but haven’t decided how they will vote at this time.

Wintrow has concerns about expenditures during a time when the village, like most communities, are feeling the fiscal impact of state budget cuts to local general funds, she said.

“I think every community gets nervous about expenditures, but you have to look at what the end game is and what the result will be,” Wintrow said.

Housh said the tax base decrease has put the village in the position where it needs to make an investment, however some residents have voice opposition to the use of public funds for the project.

“If there is community consensus and support around the Center for Business and Education, it could be a really successful thing,” he said. “… “I don’t support it unless the community as a whole is behind it.”

In 2004, Community Resources purchased 46 acres of land using a $300,000 loan from the village and $100,000 Yellow Springs Community Foundation grant. The village loaned the organization the money with the condition that it would be paid when the the lots were sold, according to the Kent Bristol, the interim village manager.

“Without the roads and utilities, the property can’t be sold,” Bristol said. “So there’s an incentive for the village to go ahead and develop the property.”

Almost two years after purchasing the property, the organization gave 11 acres to Antioch University to keep the school from relocating to another area.

Multiple funding sources have contributed to the project including $596,000 from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and $149,000 from the Morgan Family Foundation. The project’s second largest donor, federal grant through the Ohio Department of Transportation, awarded Community Resources $594,000 for design and construction in 2008, but took back the unused portion, $344,000, four years later.

Community Resources members said the project will die without village funding. Private funding is unlikely, said Jerry Sutton, the Community Resources vice president.

“Unless we do something to change our property tax base, our future looks bleak,” Sutton said.

Council is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers, Second Floor, Bryan Center, 100 Dayton St.

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