Yellow Springs Community Resources

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.