January 29, 2004

EDITORIAL

A refreshing change of position
Village Council members made a good decision last week when they said that they would drop their efforts to limit the scope of Caboose Bike & Skate and honor the Village’s lease with the business, which rents the two cabooses in the Corry Street parking lot from the Village. Amending the 10-year lease was a dubious proposition to begin with, and forced an unnecessary confrontation with a local business, when other solutions were available. It was certainly refreshing to see Council make this about-face and acknowledge that it could not pursue its initial course of action.

In addition, Council, in a prepared statement that Council president Tony Arnett read at Council’s meeting Jan. 20, made clear that it would not renew its lease with Caboose Bike & Skate after it expires in 2009. Council said that it based this decision on two related beliefs: that allowing the Caboose to offer sales and rentals and the cabooses’ location “so close” to the bikepath are not in the “best interest of the public.”

Council’s effort to amend the Caboose’s lease was a misguided attempt to fix a mistake the Village made more than 10 years ago. Village officials maintain that the Village always intended to set up a bikepath amenity in the cabooses, such as a rental shop, but at some point, the Village included both rentals and sales in the business’ lease. The owners of Caboose Bike & Skate, Chris and Doug Roberts, dispute this assertion, saying that their business has sold bikes and skates since it opened. Indeed, all three of the Caboose’s leases with the Village say that the business can offer sales and rentals.

The Village seemed to be on shaky ground when Council agreed last summer to amend the Caboose’s lease to limit the business to just rentals. After all, the Roberts signed a 10-year lease in 2000. Council’s initial decision also sent mixed signals to the business community and local residents, who may have been wondering whether Council was truly serious about its pledges to support business in Yellow Springs.

Council’s statement last week raises questions about the future of the yellow cabooses, which the Village acquired from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in the 1980s, and which sat empty until local resident Selwa Whitesell rehabbed the railroad cars and established a skate and bike shop. Perhaps another enterprising person will come along with a plan to keep the cabooses occupied. We have five years to work that out.

—Robert Mihalek