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EAST LIVERPOOL -- During Thursday afternoon's Community Improvement Corporation meeting, members agreed to move $35,000 to its checking account to acquire an executive director.
According to board president Pat Scafide, the money would be withdrawn from its Field of Dreams 2020 checking account, which currently has $169,579 in it from proceeds stemming from lease revenues generated out at the McCoy Avenue baseball complex.
Currently Safety-Service Director David Dawson still is the interim planning director until the city fills the position. In the past, the planning director has received no compensation for acting as the executive director of the CIC.
Scafide said that they are hoping the $35,000, which is designed to be a one-time payment, will prove attractive to find the right candidate for the job.
The members passed the measure unanimously with a quorum present.
Before discussing the agenda at hand, CIC members re-appointed four board members whose terms were up and their executive board of officers.
Scafide also provided an update on the East Liverpool Motor Lodge, which the CIC had been given in December.
He explained that Kevin Kerr and the Veterans Energy Group had completed work securing the building, which he described as an amazing building. "They spared no expense building it," he said before adding it was a "blank palette."
Despite social media rumors to the contract, CIC member Thomas Clark, a police captain and member who had been assisting with evaluating the building's security needs, said mold abatement already had been done to the property along with adding a new roof.
ELML Investments, which had owned the property for four years, had planned to put an extended care facility in there but changed their minds due to the pandemic and rising construction costs.
The 57,000-plus square foot complex was appraised at $1.75 million, according to the previous owner.
After much discussion, members had agreed that Scafide should investigate activation of the currently dormant security system in the building as well as possible exterior cameras.
While putting together a package to market the Motor Lodge, he assured that job creation is a definite top priority. "We definitely want jobs to put these folks on our income tax rolls," he added before the commission vote to make the final payment of $1,340 to Veterans Energy Group. The total cost for the job was $2,540 with officials already having appropriated $1,200 to the work.
On two other projects, work has begun on Phase I environmental study of 640 Bradshaw Ave. (the former Advantage Auto Stores property), which has been offered to the CIC.
Scafide explained that they were able to tap into a brownfield grant through consultant Tetra Tech in Cincinnati. There had been a dry cleaner on the neighboring property, so officials are checking to make sure it didn't leach onto the 640 Bradshaw Ave. property.
There has not been much movement with the former Riverview Florist property, which had been subject of an agreement for development in late February.
Last year, the CIC had signed an operating agreement with Capital Corporatum LLC that would create the Riverview Business Park LLC operated by Jack and Bob Woomer for the creation of a business park near Parkway and Anderson. However, according to Scafide, the city has seen little action on their end except Woomer's application for a zoning change, changing the property to multi-use with the city's Zoning Appeals board.
At his hearing date, Mayor Greg Bricker said that Woomer would have to clarify his intentions for the property something that hasn't been done yet during previous engagements.
The former Riverview Florist property was appraised for $560,000 as Scafide encouraged the group to start thinking about contingency plans in case they are needed.
It also was decided that ultimately the full CIC board would need to vote on an offer by a contractor to demolish 12 of the 14 houses in exchange for one of the two that can be saved. Law Director Charles Payne, also a CIC member, told members that the matter would go to the Property Committee of the board first and then need to be referred to the board as a whole if they decided they wanted to pursue it.