January 19, 2006

By Robert Mihalek

Village Council on Tuesday took action to rezone the area where Antioch University McGregor’s new campus will be built, as part of the Center for Business and Education.

Council members voted 4–0 to approve the second reading of an ordinance that changes the zoning on 11.12 acres of property to an Educational Institution District from Agriculture. Council president Jocelyn Hardman was absent.

No comments were offered from the audience during the ordinance’s public hearing.

The McGregor campus is considered the anchor of the Center for Business and Education, which will be located at East Enon and Dayton-Yellow Springs Roads. The commerce park site, which is being developed by Community Resources, includes a total of 46 acres. The remaining acreage was not rezoned through the ordinance Council approved this week.

Council members Bruce Rickenbach and Karen Wintrow highlighted the important role McGregor plays in Yellow Springs as they expressed support for the ordinance.

Wintrow said that the new campus helps Yellow Springs retain McGregor, which she called one of the community’s largest employers. She also discussed Antioch College’s Renewal Plan. According to Wintrow, the college has received the most applications in its history.

Rickenbach, who is also a member of Community Resources’ site building committee for the Center for Business and Education, said the process to develop the commerce park and McGregor’s new facility has been public and should surprise no one.

After the meeting, Dan Young, the vice chairman of the Community Resources board, said rezoning the McGregor property was an “important step” in the development of the commerce park.

“All of our board is excited that we’ve gotten to this point,” he said.

He said he’s confident the commerce park will be a “net benefit” for the area, including Antioch College. He said five years from now the community will see “exciting” results from the college’s Renewal Plan and McGregor’s new campus.

The comments from Rickenbach, Wintrow and Young seemed aimed at responding to concerns raised earlier this month by Council member Judith Hempfling that the new facility for McGregor could be detrimental to Antioch College.

Community Resources members and McGregor and Village personnel are working to “integrate” federal funding into the project. Community Resources and McGregor applied for $435,000 in federal funds for water and sewer improvements for the Center for Business and Education. Young said that President Bush has signed the bill containing those funds. The organizations also expect to receive funds for the park’s roadways, he said.

Young said that in 60 to 70 days McGregor will seek building permits for the project. Construction of the McGregor campus is expected to begin in late spring or early summer, and the new campus could be open in the fall of 2007, he said.

Council’s approval of the rezoning request follows a recommendation from the Village Planning Commission, which held a public hearing on the matter last month.

In other Council business:

• Council approved 4–0 a second reading of an ordinance adopting a temporary budget for 2006. This gives Council time to adopt an official budget for the year, before the end of March.

• New Village Manager Eric Swansen told Council he wanted to review three documents, giving him time to make a recommendation to Council about each. The documents are a draft of a revised noise ordinance, a draft of an amended annexation policy, and an opinion from attorney Shannon Martin, who works in Village Solicitor John Chambers’s office, on the Village ability to donate surplus items to communities affected by Hurricane Katrina. Swansen said the draft annexation policy includes technical changes that do not represent an actual shift in the Village’s policy on annexing land.

Council also asked the Village Environmental Commission to review the revised noise ordinance.

• Council agreed to hold a public hearing during its Feb. 21 meeting to consider an appeal by Micki Adams and her son, Scott Avnaim, of a decision by the Board of Zoning Appeals that allowed their neighbors to build a shed near a shared property line.

• Council approved by votes of 4–0 two resolutions to pay dues for 2006 to the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission, for $1,730.06, and to the Dayton Regional Hazardous Materials Response Team, for $526.54.

• Council reviewed the final reports for 2005 of Village investments and the Economic Development Revolving Loan Fund. According to the investment report, the Village earned $99,862 in interest during the year.

The loan fund report shows that the Village has two outstanding loans, one from Gypsy Cafe, which owes almost $34,220, on its original $50,000 loan, and Euphorbia Landscaping, which owes $18,641, on its original $30,000. Gypsy Cafe paid almost $4,577 in principal and almost $928 in interest during 2005. Euphorbia, which is now defunct, did not make a payment during the year, according to the loan report.

• Council met in executive session to discuss matters related to personnel, employment and potential litigation.

Council took action on one matter, voting 4–0 to accept the resignation of Treasurer Charlotte Collins and agreeing 4–0 to name the clerk of Council, Deborah Benning, the interim treasurer. Council members and Swansen would not comment on the other matters discussed during the executive session.

Contact: rmihalek@ysnews.com