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Vivian Moon View Drop Down
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    Posted: May 12 2015 at 5:13pm

Posted: 4:07 p.m. Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Council to consider tax abatement, TIF district for AK research center

By Ed Richter

Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN 

In the next few weeks, Middletown City Council will be considering several items concerning the development and the construction of the new AK Steel Research and Innovation Center.

Denise Hamet, the city’s economic development director, recently gave City Council an update of upcoming presentations relating to a number of agreements to facilitate the development of the $36 million state-of-the-art facility that will be located on the east side of Interstate 75. The city is also expecting the site to become another catalyst in the development of the Renaissance District.

Hamet said council will be asked to review and approve a Tax Increment Financing district for North Pointe; tax abatement for the district; an agreement with the Franklin City School District; a development and infrastructure agreement with AK Steel; the issuance of industrial revenue bonds to equip and furnish the facility similar to the same type of bonds issued to equip and furnish Atrium Medical Center; a land purchase agreement; construction contract documents; various grant agreements; and a research and development agreement with AK.

She reminded council that the city competed at various levels, including with another state, to win the deal for the facility to stay in Middletown. The new research and innovation facility is a strategic initiative to further AK Steel’s focus on next generation high strength steels as well as provide technical support for customers, product and processing expertise, and material testing and analysis, Hamet said.

City approves contract to remove airport obstructions

City Council approved a $9,300 contract for the engineering and grant administration to remove obstructions from around the airport’s runway and also approved the funding to do the engineering and the actual obstruction removals. The work will focus on removing the trees from the western portion of the airport grounds in order to comply with FAA mandates for maintaining a safe and obstruction-free runway safety area.

According to a report from Matt Eisenbraun, assistant economic development director, the project qualified for and was awarded an Ohio Department of Transportation airport maintenance grant, which will provide 90 percent of the related costs up to a maximum of $88,200.The project was brought before council last August for the approval of the grant application and appropriation authorization, but state funding was not awarded until after the closing of the 2014 accounting period.

The project was not included in the 2015 airport capital project fund, which required council to approve a supplemental appropriation of $98,000 that includes $88,700 for the removal and restoration costs and $9,300 for the engineering and grant administration costs. The city will be providing $9,800, or 10 percent, of the costs as its share of the project. The removal and restoration portions of the project will be handled through the regular bid/issuance process as required by the city and ODOT.

 

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Factguy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Factguy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 12 2015 at 9:45pm
TIF created, no prop taxes, no payroll taxes, pretty much a West Chester deal for AKS in Warrent Cty.

Thanks to previous council for setting stage for capital gift, as a shareholder, like to see the company start rising.

Only one paying taxes in Middletown are the residents. Some might have thought AKS would have some loyalty to Middletown than rubbing it in their face, another state was in running unless they gave them everything. Wouldn't expect anything less. Mr. Wainscott surely played whack a moe with the union. Aim high, cruise deep and silent.

Magnificent work by Denise and Doug.      
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swohio75 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote swohio75 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2015 at 9:11am
But Factguy, weren't you claiming that getting corporate back in Middletown is within arms reach?  
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spiderjohn View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote spiderjohn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2015 at 9:13am
current Council has continued the giveaway process--By PAYING people unconditionally to take properties in the former downtown area, Councils have pretty much sent the message out that local property is worthless. So why would ANYONE actually pay to own anything down there?
Largest property value drop in the area continues to be here.

If u want to pollute or pay no business/property taxes, Middietown continues to be the cheapest place to do so. Schools suffer---conditions suffer--public safety suffers--and the same crew keeps running the show--incredible
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TonyB View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TonyB Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2015 at 9:32am
Factguy: I'm sure the city can put another tax levy on the ballot in August or some other low turnout election to make up for the "gift" to a corporation. Since when did you give a damn about taxes on the citizens? You just bragged that they'll never be another tax levy fail in this town so why would it matter to you how out of balance taxes are in Middletown compared to the surrounding area?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Factguy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2015 at 9:46am
Of course AKS corporate is considering a move back to Middletown/ Franklin at the Pointe. Moreover, that is the reason for the request for capital, TIF, and a complete package that will exceed what the city provided Atrium.

TonyB, there won't be a levy failure because the city is very organized. They can raise money to put on the ballot, an election in a time considered a period atypical. That being a period other than November. You missed the point as well. Every council member already knew the package AKS wanted before the deal was announced. And it was approved. Minor concerns downtown is Franklin may have some problems on school taxes with its board. Middletown got full green light. Another advantage of having everyone downtown.  
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VietVet View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2015 at 9:47am
FactGuy:

"TIF created, no prop taxes, no payroll taxes, pretty much a West Chester deal for AKS in Warrent Cty."

"Thanks to previous council for setting stage for capital gift".......

"Only one paying taxes in Middletown are the residents. Some might have thought AKS would have some loyalty to Middletown than rubbing it in their face"

FactGuy, you're always the one leading the cheers for the city leaders and all the poison they like to manufacture here. What happened to your "defender of the state" attitude?

You're playing turncoat here by coming across a tad bit negative, joining some of us who are constantly criticized for not going along with the program. Need to turn it around less you end up labeled and out of the club.

I'm reading the Denise and Doug comment as sarcasm.
I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Factguy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2015 at 9:53am
Nope. Previous council members which gave Atrium so much are not current council members. AKS was a better deal than Atrium, and they'll get it, but only because of what previous action did.

Nope on two, Denise and Doug worked very hard to sell council before the deal was announced. Michigan wanted the site.  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2015 at 9:57am
FactGuy:

"TonyB, there won't be a levy failure because the city is very organized"

Yeah, organized.....that's why the town is a total disaster in almost every facet.

"Every council member already knew the package AKS wanted before the deal was announced. And it was approved"

Reworded:
"It was rubberstamped"..... like everything else is in court jester/puppetland- aka.....city council. They are there to execute the desires of the MMF/inner circle FactGuy. They don't need to think, just follow directions. Mindless bobbleheads nodding yes to everything without questioning a thing.
I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2015 at 10:00am
FactGuy:

"Nope on two, Denise and Doug worked very hard to sell council before the deal was announced. Michigan wanted the site"

But, by your own admission, the city and schools got nothing out of this as to revenue. They don't get credit for things if they don't benefit the city.
I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Factguy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2015 at 10:10am
No credit?  The alternative would be Innovation Center in another state or location other than Middletown. That's the credit.

Site will feed Renaissance area and attract ancillary support businesses. That's the credit.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote swohio75 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2015 at 10:48am
 I could see where Michigan and/or Indiana would have been interested.  I believe there is much unused land at Rockport, so much so that there were concerns that AK Corporate might locate there. The Rouge plant saw $1.2 billion in improvements several year ago by Severstal

Another development is Cincinnati Eye Institute is building a new Middletown facility on the Atrium Campus which is expected to include job creation. 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/05/07/a-4-5m-project-will-expand-this-hospitals-services.html 

What's sorely needed on that site of 75 are services and amenities, like banks, restaurants, etc.   The additional of is sorely needed before other office, research and light industrial development can happen.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote acclaro Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2015 at 1:27pm
Time out.

Isn't really what is happening around the east end (Atrium corridor), is existing Middletown busninesses are voving out there, which is a haven for either:

i) NON profits
ii) TIF- profits paying no taxes or minimal taxes having same effect as non profit

So, what's moving to the 75 corridor in tax paying entities in Middletown moving to non tax paying areas within Middletown. Net sum gain is keeping working people residing in Middletown in the city, for now.

Companies are moving out of Middletown or moving into the TIF area. Those left behind shutting down, many on Breihel. Pull up property tax statutes and see the property tax laws for commercial businesses with zero occupancy and how little tax they pay (hello Courtney Duff, CSH, others.)

The true focus is to pump up residents in the Renaissance, BFHS, and Main Street. That's what will be left behind. 

 
       


'An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.' - Winston Churchill
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dean Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2015 at 4:04pm
Say what you want about this council, but what they have dome positively is hold Middletown in place before a mass exodus of business and residents. The previous council who criticized the school board and their levies, Laura Williams in particular, would have let AKS leave, and would never have done a TIF. They would have not given Quaker Chemical tax benefits, nor Akers. It would be a mess greater than what it is today.

Also, there are many in the city, everyday residents, who knew for at least two years, AKS was seriously looking to move out of Middletown for its corporate headquarters. A prominent partner at a local insurance company was telling it around his clients for years before it came true. 

Many don't see this council's job has been to hold onto Middletown businesses and residents. The previous council would been watching a flee out of town, a stampede. Credit the free fall has been controlled and slowed, for whatever comfort you may find in it.   
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Neil Barille Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2015 at 6:30pm
People like Williams, Marconi, etc were clowns and an embarrassment to their council positions.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Factguy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2015 at 6:55pm
Absolutely correct. Current council cleaning up years of mess from previous council and commissioners. Years of neglect and misguided policies. Clean up in aisle 1,2 3, 4, ....100.  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote spiderjohn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2015 at 7:12pm
Same people in Admin
How long has the mayor been on Council?
Policies seem continuous
Jmo
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Factguy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2015 at 10:03pm
Yogi Berra once said- "I never blame myself when I'm not hitting. I just blame the bat and if it keeps up, I change bats. After all, if I know it isn't my fault that I'm not hitting, how can I get mad at myself?"

Quit changing bats.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mike_Presta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 14 2015 at 3:39am
Factless-guy must be a switch-hitter!!! He seems to be swinging from both sides of the plate lately!!!
“Mulligan said he ... doesn’t believe they necessarily make the return on investment necessary to keep funding them.” …The Middletown Journal, January 30, 2012
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 14 2015 at 6:16am
Originally posted by Factguy Factguy wrote:

Absolutely correct. Current council cleaning up years of mess from previous council and commissioners. Years of neglect and misguided policies. Clean up in aisle 1,2 3, 4, ....100.  



One problem with your analysis FactGuy. While current council is "cleaning up years of mess from previous council and commissioners", they are creating other problems that are hurting the city. Nothing but "problem substitution" from what I see.

I wouldn't be so supportive with the current batch of council/city building members. A lot of rubber stamped substandard performance/misdirected focus from them as well. No, the current group running this city isn't the answer this city needs to improve things. As a matter of fact, this city has gotten worse in the last 2 decades and from what I see, is continuing to go downhill.

Gut council and the city building and replace with competent people with the correct focus on addressing problems. The people we have now aren't problem solvers, they are problem creators.
I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Factguy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 14 2015 at 8:04am
Never have said once Mr. Presta supported past council decisions, just the past ones in last 8 years. They are cleaning up a mess they did not make. On AKS, to be clear, like their attitude and ability to make the best deal to meet their needs. Said previous council members set stage for what current council members are left to negotiate. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote over the hill Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 14 2015 at 10:07am
We FINALLY have Gilland out of there now get rid of mayor and ASJ along with Picard and you might get somewhere. JMO
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 14 2015 at 11:00am
Originally posted by over the hill over the hill wrote:

We FINALLY have Gilland out of there now get rid of mayor and ASJ along with Picard and you might get somewhere. JMO


ASJ stopped being effective years ago. Was hoping in the beginning that she would be different when she asked questions. Now, one of the rubber stamp crowd. Sad to see. The only one that had promise of never yielding was Josh Laubach and he was maneuvered out on council with the MMF voting block doing their job, ruining his re-election. No hope for change as long as that happens.

Ya gotta include the Mulligan brothers too. Both of them should be ashamed to have any connection with the current city condition (particularly Larry), as they both have as much time in this town as I have and both remember how nice the town was at one time.

Also need to rid the city of the Law Director (another one who has lived here during the good times) and, while we're at it, need to wave bye bye to the city manager (an outsider who doesn't know what it was like living here years ago). He just flat out doesn't get it as to the personality and type of city this really is. He's no better than Gilleland was. Just as destructive, in a different sense.

The MMF should be ashamed of themselves too. People like Ken Cohen (and, again, L. Mulligan), who were around when the city was thriving, should know better than to have guided this city to it's current condition. Other MMF'ers, who were around in Middletown's heyday, should also feel some remorse, but I doubt that they do or they would never have agreed with the current direction.
I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote acclaro Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 14 2015 at 11:02am
Council by its very purpose and definition, is to review and approve or disapprove, the actions of city leadership. At this juncture, the wheels have been been set, and the mechanism in place, to run the city as desired. That being: give tax credits on east end, give away properties downtown with nothing expected in return, and to spin everything is positive. As Mike Presta has indicated, the voter sentiment and interest, no longer exists, if it ever did. MMF doesn't run city council, sorry to disagree yet again Vet, MMF was created, by members on council and the future council, by a Star Chamber of leadership desiring to execute a long-term strategy they deem desirable. No current council member will be supplanted until they determine they no longer wish to serve. And when they do, current members are ready to be put in place, hand-picked by current council members, and supported through a pass through of cash, by MMF.  

No matter, it is what it is, and it isn't going to change. As Mike Presta has eloquently indicated, the majority just don't care, and a waste of time attempting to make change occur. It won't occur. Build a moot, make your island, and do a core dump on what is occurring downtown, on east end, in schools, roads, etc. As they say in New York, 'forget about it already.' I have.  
'An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.' - Winston Churchill
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote VietVet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 14 2015 at 11:28am
acclaro, with all due respect......

You state.....

"MMF doesn't run city council, sorry to disagree yet again Vet,".....

Didn't you just support my contention with.....

"MMF was created, by members on council and the future council, by a Star Chamber of leadership desiring to execute a long-term strategy they deem desirable. No current council member will be supplanted until they determine they no longer wish to serve. And when they do, current members are ready to be put in place, hand-picked by current council members, and supported through a pass through of cash, by MMF."

Doesn't "hand-picked council members" and "supported through a passthrough of cash" support my statement that the MMF people control who goes on council and what they will support while on council?   
I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.
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