Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

We never seem to complete a thought or answer questions on this site and I wanted to review some of the real questions that have come up this week.

1. There has been a lot of talk about a JEDD. I read where Terry Dunlap says the ball is in the City's Court. Then I read where a number of the City Council members deny ever seeing a JEDD document. So what is the truth here?

2. There was talk a few months ago about a CEDA (pre-annexation agreement) and now I hear nothing about that anymore. Is this because it was not controversial enough for the local media?

3. The 3.3 acre proposed development on Wright Road says that the City will receive around $30,000 in City income tax revenue but if they remain in the Township how can the City collect income tax?

4. Could someone tell me what is happening with the 17 acres of new office space being proposed for property near Kohl?’s? Why is this property not getting the support or coverage by the press and school board? It seems to have all of the required zoning, it seems to have all of the required utilities and it is nearly three times larger than the Wright Road property that has so many challenges facing it that it may never be developed as commercial.


5. Then there is the school board and the FRC report that was debated over the last week here. Somewhere both debaters left in disgust or frustration and some basic questions were never answered. Was the FRC report of 2005 ever officially adopted by the School Board?

6. If the FRC report was never adopted then what does the board say to those volunteers of this commission and future volunteers who serve and their work is ignored like the boundaries committee a few years ago with the North and Central HS districts?


7. What is the School Board using to justify the bond issue for the two elementary schools?

8. Then there is the Pickerington City Sewer plant. In 2003 the former administration had proposed and had received approval on a 3.5 MGD plant. At the time the Pickerington sewer plant had the capacity of 1.2 MGD. This expansion would have been nearly 3 times the size of that existing plant. I believe the cost of that new expansion was over $10 Million. If the availability of sewer utilities is the root of growth then why expand now?

Some real answers without the commentary please.

FRC Report

The FRB was a purely advisory body. The School Board has no obligation to accept all, or any, of its recommendations. I do not believe there is any need for the School Board to ''adopt'' the FRB Report. The School Board never adopted the report of the 1997 FRB, and they have not adopted this report either.

Personally, I have lots of problems with the recent report, and am glad the School Board has not ''adopted'' it. Some of the FRB's recommendations -- such as the one to re-renovate Heritage -- were way over the top.

Moreover, I thought the FRC was far too heavily influenced by architects and construction managers, who doubtless saw this as a business development opportunity. Believe me, one needs to take everything those folks say with a grain of salt.

The FRC also was badly boxed in by the forlorn hope for state construction assistance. Believe me, there is a long line for that, and we are near the end of it.

Finally, the FRC should not have simply adopted consultants' findings. They should have questioned and evaluated those findings, and made up their own minds. I have found some major gaps and inconsistencies in those findings, and I have not even looked at them that hard.

The FRC did produce a beautifully written report, and they have given us some food for thought. But that is the proper way to view the report -- as food for thought, and nothing more.

By Yosemite Pam

Answers (part 1)

Answers

First of all let me say I?’m grateful for honest questions without bias and I?’m always willing to talk if anyone wants to email or call me. bwisniewski@pickerington.net, or 614.975.2905

I do on occasion read PATA but had pretty much given up on it for a number of reasons. However, this was a unique posting which I felt deserved a response.

1. There has been a lot of talk about a JEDD?….

Answer. The only document I have received is a ?‘template?’ JEDD. Meaning the extent of the document is: We the city of fill in the blank hereby agreed to a JEDD with the township of fill in the blank ?….

If that is a JEDD document, then I have received one. However, there is no action I can even start to take on that document. I emailed a list of suggestions back pertaining to protecting the interests of the city and its residents. I have received nothing back. This is going to be a slow methodical process I personally refuse to rush. I have NOT received anything related to the 3 acres on Wright or anything that in my mind resembles a JEDD document. The city and the township will have to make concessions along the way and hopefully someday we will get to that point. In my mind everything is very preliminary and I?’ve been telling others to not get so excited about something until we start getting into real negotiations.

2. There was talk a few months ago about a CEDA (pre-annexation agreement) ?…

Answer. I?’m not sure what you?’re referring to about a pre-annexation agreement in regards to a CEDA. When I took office 2.5 years ago there were 10 or more pre-annexation agreements the city had entered into in which we are still trying to sort through.

3. The 3.3 acre proposed development on Wright Road ?… if they remain in the Township how can the City collect income tax?

Answer. If we enter into a JEDD on this property certain city-related options will be included in the JEDD document one of them primarily being the ability to levy an income tax, impact fees, design guidelines, etc.

4. Could someone tell me what is happening with the 17 acres ?…

Answer: We talked about this in Finance committee last night (5/18). Our TIF attorney and the developers?’ attorney are still working through the details of the TIF before this project goes forward. This is a non-school TIF ?– meaning the school will receive 100% of the tax money due them from this site ?– the first of its kind in the city! We may hold a special finance committee meeting in regards to this TIF next week provided finance committee members have time to review the document and have enough time to prepare for the meeting. Provided everything goes forward as planned you should see this area being developed this summer or fall. Very exciting project to say the least and I hope you?’ll see more coverage about this when it starts to progress.

The JEDD is getting all the coverage because of the history of city officials and the trustees butting heads and our current attempts to reach a cooperative agreement. That plus it?’s controversial J

5.6.7. ?– Non city related.

to be continued....

By Brian Wisniewski

Answers (part 2)

Answers continued

8. Then there is the Pickerington City Sewer plant. ?… If the availability of sewer utilities is the root of growth then why expand now?

Answer. We have to be able to provide sewer service plain and simple. We don?’t and residential stops (which is what most people are hoping for) but so does commercial (which most people don?’t want). The EPA will most likely get involved if we don?’t and without a doubt we?’ll face even more lawsuits which are extremely expensive, even when you win.

We are moving forward with a number of commercial projects in the city and hope to continue this trend into the future and will need the sewer capacity to do so. The important thing to understand is we are looking into some exciting technologies that may provide the ability to expand our service capacity with vastly less capital outlay vs past proposals.

City staff and the folks on P&Z (both groups of which I?’m very proud of) are working on a number of commercial projects being planned/worked within the city ?– Giant Eagle, Ashton Crossing (256/204 area), Kohl?’s out lots, Office buildings/mix retail South of Kohl?’s, Kroger expansion, Kroger out lots (front and behind), small office spaces off of Refugee (west of Credit union/Kroger entrance), office buildings behind medical center on 256 (across from PYAA/PASA complex), assisted living center off of 256 and others I?’m not at liberty to currently discuss.

We let our sewer plant max out without expanding and everything that is finally starting to come together dies. Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad, we?’re just trying to make sure the good outweighs the bad considerably.

Hopefully my answers provided you with the information you were seeking.


By Brian Wisniewski