Category Archives: Letters and Updates

Click here for the notes from an August 4, 2011 meeting among Community Resources, the Village of Yellow Springs and Jacobs Engineering.

In a recent article Lauren Heaton mentions that the process at the Center for
Business and Education (CBE) is taking longer than expected.  It is indeed true that the process is taking longer, but it is also true that expectations have not necessarily been aligned with the reality of the scope of the work.

Community Resources is , however, hopeful that the various parts of the process
will come to fruition and that the economic development potential will become realized.  We are in conversation with the Chamber of Commerce as well as members of the Villageʼs Economic Sustainability Commission.  We have established a development partnership to assist in marketing the complex and feel this will significantly broaden the potential customers.  Community business owners who wish to expand in Yellow Springs can be assured the CBE is a viable option.  Hopefully the economy will improve and financing will become available regionally and nationally to support construction of the quality properties anticipated.

Though it is our desire to do so, Community Resources cannot give a precise
time when groundbreaking will occur.  That event depends on a variety of factors that are outside of our control and involve timelines of the various entities like ODOT and the Village of Yellow Springs.  There are deadlines that need to be met by the various players for instance in the process of getting road annexation accomplished and the infrastructure finally installed.

As to the overall project, it must be remembered that while Community
Resources was instrumental in obtaining nearly $1 million in federal funds for the project, responsibility for administrating these monies is vested with the Village.  They are the manager of the project.  While we would like to give a specific date of groundbreaking and until there is a comprehensive project schedule, any date we would suggest would be speculative.

Community Resources will keep the citizens and businesses informed of
developments.  We share the frustrations of all awaiting recovery of the regional
economy; however, we are confident the CBE will be positioned to enable the Village to participate fully in the recovery.

Sincerely,
Kathryn Van der Heiden
Community Resources President

Community Resources is a non-profit community improvement corporation (CIC) with deep roots in Yellow Springs and Miami Township, located less than 20 miles east of Dayton, Ohio.

For more information on Community Resources, see About Us and to learn about the Center for Business and Education, a 40-acre commerce park we are developing click here.

For information on Yellow Springs businesses, please visit the site of the Yellow Springs Chamber of Commerce. If you’re interested in moving your business in Yellow Springs, or starting a new business here, contact Sarah Wildman, Village Economic Sustainability coordinator or visit the Village of Yellow Springs website or the website of Miami Township.

Thank you for visiting and be sure come back often.

April 14, 2010

Dear Councilors Hempfling, Askeland, Booth, Walkey, and Wintrow:

This letter comes in response to a communication from Council to Community Resources requesting CR’s formal position on the issue of designation. After thorough consideration, including advice from former members and others present at the beginning, Community Resources (CR) board members believe conditions are not ripe for CR to become designated as the Village community improvement corporation (CIC).

We agree that close cooperation and collaboration between the Yellow Springs Council, Miami Township Trustees, Community Resources and other economic development organizations is imperative. Historically, there has been such collaboration; the consequence is the retention of approximately 100 jobs and 750 college students in the community.

As you know, designation imposes restrictions on our own ability to act and to be responsive in a timely way to the aspirations of the Village. By remaining an independent corporation, the Village retains in CR more tools in its toolbox to address economic development. By remaining undesignated, we are positioned to work creatively with the Chamber of Commerce, the new Yellow Springs economic sustainability committee and the Economic Sustainability Coordinator. CR will continue to work closely together with these entities on potential commercial developments including the retention and expansion of existing businesses.

As a corporation separate from a municipality, CR may assume certain community-building activities that would be difficult, either legally or politically, for the political entities to directly undertake. As an example: a designated CIC can be an effective tool as an agent for a municipality in expediting various administrative functions associated with the development or disposition of public property or other functions. This was the case of Miamisburg and the recovery and re-use of the Mound land and facilities. In any designation the powers and authorities bestowed must be explicitly set forth. The Visioning process is as yet incomplete, so we suggest waiting until a broadly-supported direction is defined and a role identified in which you deem a designated CIC would be effective.

Consistent with the nature of its efforts, CR intends to continue to make our processes and decisions as public as possible. Means include holding public meetings from time to time and information releases regarding significant decision points. Furthermore, we encourage and support Village staff in their responsibility to provide Council (and thereby the community) with regular updates as to the progress of CBE development projects they manage.

CR has long welcomed members of village council, trustees and staff to seats on the CR board; this continues. However, the village solicitor’s opinion, and at times, conflict of interest considerations, have inhibited village representatives from full participation. The invitation remains, however, as you would wish to take advantage of it.

Should in the future, Council and the Trustees deem it appropriate to designate CR as their CIC, upon appropriate resolutions in accordance with ORC 1740.10, we will be happy to entertain the possibility in accordance with our by-laws, which require a super-majority prior to agreeing to such an arrangement.

Best regards,

Lisa Abel Community Resources, Chair

February 11, 2010

Dear Village Councilors,

I write on behalf of all members of the Community Resources Board to express our appreciation for the meeting held on January 13.

As we all know, the Yellow Springs community takes a lively interest in matters that affect it. We are very much aware that the Center for Business and Education is the kind of project that stirs great interest and, perhaps, concern about future directions. We came away from the January 13 meeting with a clear sense that you seek greater transparency, more effective communication, and greater confidence that the Board’s plans are aligned with the best interests of Yellow Springs. We agree. We understand that several Council members are interested in Community Resources becoming a designated CIC; we will continue to work on addressing that question, with emphasis placed on attending to the issues noted above.

Our purpose in writing is this: As we look forward to another opportunity for discussion with you, we seek your suggestions about how best to achieve these goals. To be candid, what steps would you wish the Board to take to assure that we are positioned to discharge our responsibilities in a way that gives you confidence in our work?

With your guidance in hand, we are confident we can pursue the CBE project and such others as may prove appropriate in the future for the success of Yellow Springs.
I will contact you soon to follow up and plan for next steps.

Best regards,

Lisa Abel Chair

Yellow Springs and Miami Township Community Improvement Corporation

(dba: Community Resources)

Community Resources (CR) was incorporate June 17th 1998 and it was determined to be a publicly supported, tax-exempt organization under Internal Revenue Code section 502(c)(3).

As stated in its Code of Regulations, Community Resources was formed exclusively for the purposes authorized for community improvement corporations by OH Revised Code 1724.01 et seq. to provide leadership in the creation and implementation of strategies to address the needs for economic development that are congruent with the values of the community. The basic mission is the retention and expansion of business in the Yellow Springs area. One of its first initiatives was to conduct a commerce park feasibility study under an agreement with the Village. This agreement and the feasibility study results are the basis for where the Center for Business and Education stands today.

September 30, 2002 a Cooperative Economic Development Agreement (CEDA) in accordance with ORC Section 701.07 was established between Miami Township and the Village of Yellow Springs to promote economic development within the designated district. Three properties [the first 14.93 acres, the second 31.259 acres and the third 39.562 acres] on the southern edge of the village on Dayton-Yellow Springs Road were included in this district. The CEDA allowed the Village to annex these properties if they were zoned for commercial use.

May 5th, 2003, Council authorized the Village Manager to enter into a development agreement with CR regarding these properties and to make certain loans pursuant to that agreement [Res. 2003-18]. Under this agreement, CR prepared a master economic development plan and negotiated to acquire properties within the CEDA District.

Funds loaned under the agreement between the Village & CR ($300,000) were part of the purchase price for the first and second of these parcels from Vernay Laboratories, Inc. on June 25, 2004. Education Village, Inc., a 501(c)(2) charitable non-profit subsidiary of CR, held title to this property. Education Village was established by CR for the purpose of developing a Center for Business and Education. These 46.189 acres were annexed to the Village of Yellow Springs April 18th, 2005.

February 24, 2006, 11.144 acres of this property was conveyed to Antioch University for the purpose of constructing a facility to accommodate their McGregor graduate programs. March 2006, the Village Planning Commission approved Concept Plan/Phase of the Antioch PUD-1 Zoning Request. August 2006 ground was broken on this property for the construction of Antioch University McGregor. October 2006, the Village Council approved the final construction plan. Today AUM has nearly 50 full-time employs (almost 80 full-time equivalent employees) and accommodates 750 students.

The remainder of the property [35.227 acres] was rezoned by the Village to Mixed Commerce District in February 2007.

CR applied for, and subsequently received, Utility and Transportation Federal Grants. As a condition of these grants various impact, archeological and soil studies were commissioned. They resulted in a ‘Finding of No Significant Impact’ by the US Army Corps of Engineers on August 20, 2007.

The US Army Corps of Engineers administer one of these grants for the construction of water-related environmental infrastructure and resource protection in the amount totaling $596,000 of which $149,000 was provided from local, matching sources. Of the $447,000 balance, $30,000 was used by the USACE to defray their expenses. The USACE entered into an agreement with the Village to administer this construction effort in April 2007.

The second federal grant under the National Transportation Act is administered through the Ohio Department of Transportation which entered in to Local Public Authority (LPA) Federal Local-Let Project Agreement with the Village in October 2008. Under this agreement, the Village manages the project at the local level. This grant provides 100% of the $594,000 for the design and construction of the CBE Connector Road. The Phase 1 Engineering Design study for this Connector Road effort was awarded to the JACOBS engineering firm in March 2009 and, following necessary coordination, the authority to proceed was given in August. The preliminary engineering report was provided to the Village project manager on December 28th, 2009, and is under review by the various parties.

As an independent, non-profit corporation, Community Resources has worked collaboratively with Village officials to provide a flexible structure for accomplishing a range of projects vital to maintaining and enhancing the economic viability of the Village of Yellow Springs and surrounding Miami Township. Moreover, CR stands ready to complete the terms of its agreement with the Village to market the properties for economic development purposes and to work with the Village to define available incentives, if any.

June 25, 2009

Clerk of Council
Village of Yellow Springs
100 Detroit Street
Yellow Springs, OH 45387

Dear Council Members:

This letter comes to take the next step in actualizing what seem to us to be the shared interests of the Village of Yellow Springs and the Yellow Springs and Miami Township Community Improvement Corporation (aka Community Resources) in economic development. We write to propose an approach to maximize the alignment of energy, time and money, and minimize lack of focus.

At issue apparently is the possible designation of agency, whereby an agent acts for the Village to encourage and facilitate, manage and supervise a range of economic development projects or functions. While both the Village Council and Community Resources are interested in this issue, we are aware that the Yellow Springs Chamber of Commerce, the Miami Township Board of Trustees and other entities share this interest.

We propose–before any further step–that representatives of those creditable organizations, which have local economic development as a part of their mission, meet together to develop a strategy to achieve our common desire for the economic viability of Yellow Springs, Miami Township, and all who live here.

The purposes of the meeting would be fourfold:

First, have all participant groups share their current economic development agendas (for example, Community Resources key agenda is the Center for Business and Education).

Second, have participants share their near and longer term economic development goals and objectives and to discuss their strategy including an estimate, and sources, of resources needs to achieve each. In this way, we all will further our understanding of the terrain of ambitions we harbor for our community.

Third, have a guided review of the critical legal obligations and requirements imposed by OCR 1724 both on the designated agent and on those seeking to designate such agent. We would be glad to facilitate this part of the meeting.

Lastly, based on the above, have the participants jointly propose a roadmap forward.

We believe this preliminary discussion will allow parties to understand where our activities are aligned; where we have different ambitions; and whether an existing entity can now serve (or must be adapted to serve) as the economic development agent of the Village and possibly Miami Township. Proceeding for this discussion, the governmental agencies can make informed decisions about designating an agent and the other parties can engage in further discussion to align our activities toward the goal we all seek.

The Village has limited resources. Community Resources is a volunteer-driven organization without a source of operating funds. We suspect other parties operate under similar constraints. We urge your agreement in this proposal as a way to concentrate our strengths and maximize our likelihood of success. We look forward to further discussion.

Best regards,

Lisa Abel Chair

Community Resources (CR) has been in existence since the late 1990s, with a core mission to benefit Yellow Springs/Miami Township via the retention and expansion of businesses here. Since that time, we have conducted several economic studies for the Village/Township, identified land within the master plan for economic development, purchased a plot of land and annexed it into the Village, secured federal funding for infrastructure development on that land, assisted with development of the new Antioch-McGregor site, and secured other grant monies toward creation of the Center for Business & Education (CBE).

In the last four years, Community Resources has been primarily focused on procurement and development of land for CBE. According to Lisa Abel, chair of Community Resources, “Our activities have focused on work to purchase and annex the land, obtain funding for development, and manage the process for spending government granted funding. We have learned that federally funded grants typically come with a lot of strings attached, and there is a built-in pace and intricate process for actually being able to spend the funds.”

It may appear that “nothing” has been done in the CBE since McGregor was built, but as this letter explains, there has been a lot of activity happening in the background – much of it related to securing federal grants. While there have been some unanticipated delays, our progress remains steady, as does our commitment to this vital economic development opportunity for the village and township.

In late 2005, Community Resources received notification that it had been awarded federal funding, from Department of Transportation and Army Corps of Engineers, for roads and infrastructure for CBE. Carol Gasho, a former CR board member who is still involved in the grant use process, explains a hiccup that occurred in 2005: “There was a mistake on the transportation grant that named the location of CBE in Virginia instead of Ohio; it literally took an act of Congress to correct the mistake, and this took at least six months. We could do nothing toward use of the grant monies until this was fixed.”

The federal grants had a matching fund requirement and the CR board thought spending from a Dayton Street water/sewer project could be used as credit, but as the Dayton Street project was initiated prior to commitment of the federal funds, they could not be credited as a ‘match’. This resulted in another delay of several months in 2007, while matching funds were awarded from a private foundation, before continuing the federal grant use process. Once the appropriate agencies were notified of the official grants, and the matching funds were in place, CR began work in 2007 on environmental and archaeological studies, and structural core sampling, of the land for CBE. In August 2007, a major milestone in the grant process was reached with a ‘finding of no significant impact’ on the land, allowing it to be developed. The final hurdle before design work could begin was to get official project agreements with both funding agencies, which took until mid-2008 to complete.

Abel explains the timing process of using federal grant monies: “Any time there is a decision point in the development process, the granting agencies (ODOT and Army Corps) must review our decision and approve it. This adds months to each milestone.” Federal grants require a local municipal agent to expend the funds. Through various agreements between the parties, the Village is that agent and has secured a contract with a development consultant, bid-out the design work for roads and infrastructure, and selected a design firm. For the rest of 2009, CR, the Village, ODOT and the Army Corps will review design options, choose the best one and finalize the design. In 2010, the Village will bid-out the construction of these plans and select the construction firm. CR hopes to break ground on construction of roads and infrastructure before the end of 2010, and expects to have shovel-ready parcels for sale in 2011.

CR has received grant and loan funding for purchase of the land, installation of McGregor’s parking lot, and infrastructure for CBE. Funds have been spent for the land and parking lot, and spending of grants committed to installation of roads, water lines, sewer lines, and storm water retention ponds for CBE has begun.

Community Resources will continue to work with the Village, Miami Township, and the community to carry out economic development projects that benefit us all.

Current CR board and officers: Lisa Abel (chair), Megan Bachman (secretary), David Boyer, Mark Crockett, Norm Glismann, Kathryn Van der Heiden (ex officio), Tim Rogers, Jerry Sutton (treasurer), and Karl Zalar.

Community Resources (CR) has been in existence since the late 1990s. Since that time, we have conducted several economic studies for the Village/Township, identified land within the master plan for economic development, purchased a plot of land and annexed it into the Village, secured federal funding for infrastructure development on that land, assisted with development of the new Antioch-McGregor site, and secured other grant monies toward creation of the Center for Business & Education.

CR is going through a significant transition in board membership and leadership. I would like to publicly thank the following board members who have recently completed lengthy and productive terms on the board: Carol Gasho, David Heckler, Glenn Watts, and David Heckler. You will all be missed. I would also like to introduce the current CR board and officers: Lisa Abel (chair), Megan Bachman (secretary), David Boyer, Mark Crockett, Norm Glismann, Kathryn Van der Heiden (ex officio), Tim Rogers, Jerry Sutton (treasurer), and Karl Zalar.

Most of CR’s efforts this year will be focused on implementation of infrastructure at the Center for Business & Education, including installation of roads, water lines, sewer lines, and storm water basins. We plan to keep the community informed of our progress, and we look forward to working with citizens and local government to carry out economic development projects that benefit us all.

Lisa Abel

Chair, Community Resources

Community Resources hired a part-time intern, Susan Couser, from Wright State University to help with a variety of tasks, including grant applications and coordination of site development plans. Officers of the board were elected to a one-year term: Carol Gasho, president; Dan Young, vice president; Barry Hoskins, secretary; Sam Bachtell, treasurer. Tim Rogers (Village Drug) was elected to the board for a three-year term.

Community Resources is applying for appropriations grants through the federal government to help with the costs of water and sewer line installations for the Center for Business and Education. The annexation and rezoning processes for the Center for Business and Education property have been started.

Community Resources will co-sponsor Tecumseh Land Trust’s smart growth forum in April.