Pictured above is an artist’s rendering of the proposed new Memorial Hospital inpatient pavilion which will be part of the hospital’s expansion project slated to begin in 2018. News of Memorial’s expansion plans were voted among the top 10 local stories of 2017.
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Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series detailing the top 10 local stories of 2017 as voted by the J-T newsroom staff. Today’s article looks at stories falling in the 6 through 10 positions on the list.
Stories about area development dominated a portion of the top 10 stories of 2017. Four of the bottom five positions were occupied with reporting about housing developments, tax base increases, hospital expansion and utility agreements. Only one breaking news development made its way onto this half of the list, though crime related news stories are featured more prominently in the top five stories which will be detailed in Friday’s newspaper.
10 – Plain City chooses Columbus over Marysville for water and sewer
After months of negotiations with the City of Marysville, Plain City decided in July to contract with the City of Columbus for water and sewer service. Village Administrator Kevin Vaughn made the recommendation, explaining that over 20 years, by using Columbus rather than Marysville, Plain City would save an estimated $191-million.
Plain City officials said they tried to negotiate with Marysville but were told there was no room for negotiation in rates. Plain City then added the option of contracting with the City of Columbus for water and wastewater service.
The city of Columbus negotiated to allow Plain City to keep capacity fees, the one-time fee charged to new customers when they connect to the water and sewer systems.
“There is no opportunity for us to get capacity fees with the City of Marysville. All capacity fees would be paid to them,” Vaughn said at the time.
Vaughn said that in addition to allowing the village to keep those fees, water and sewer users would also see a savings by using Columbus over Marysville.
“Most everybody’s water is pretty similar. The waste water is where it gets a little bit more expensive,” Vaughn said. “Marysville has significant wastewater charges. Actually, Columbus’ waste water charges are a little less than ours.”
He said that over a 20-year period, Plain City water and sewer users would see about a $20 increase in their bills, if the village goes with Columbus.
Marysville officials have disputed Plain City’s numbers, saying the rate for wastewater would initially be slightly higher, but given Columbus’ history of raising water and sewer rates Marysville’s wastewater rate will be cheaper than Columbus’ in 10 year.
9 – Couple dragged from burning car
In mid-February, what was initially reported as a two-vehicle crash turned into matter of life and death. After hitting a semi after running a stop sign, a small sedan-style car drove a short distance before running into a field, hitting a tree and catching on fire.
Ron Durant, of Delaware, and Jeff Thompson, of Cardington, were luckily nearby.
“We just came across after the fact and pulled them out,” Durant said at the time. “We literally thought we were going to watch the (man) die.”
The men rescued the two inside and, and according to Durant, the car was “completely engulfed” within a minute after the rescue. The two inside the car were transported for medical attention. Thompson said the man wasn’t complaining of any pain.
“We’re just glad both are alive. They can survive those injuries, but not a fire,” Thompson said.
7/8 tie – Property values increase
Property owners around Union County were shocked to see the increase in their tax bills in 2017.
“Value increased pretty much all across the county, due largely in part to the fact that home prices are going up. People are paying more for their homes,” Union County Auditor Andrea Weaver said. “Since Ohio law requires that I value property as close to market as possible, with prices going up, it stands to reason that property values would follow that trend.”
Weaver said that of the county’s 44 taxing districts, 40 saw some level of value increase and values were flat in just four of them.
In 2015, the total taxable land in Union County was valued at $1.495 billion. In 2016, with taxes billed and collected in 2017, that total county valuation increased to $1.714 billion. Some of that increase is attributable to new construction and some to the rising value of property in the county.
Weaver explained that every six years, she is required to a complete value assessment for every property in the county. In the middle of that six-year cycle, the county is required to perform a triennial update, when the auditor evaluates property sales in the market and applies the statistical trend to values. She said it was this triennial update, completed last year, which led to the increase in values.
She said the triennial update, “simply serves to bring property values inline with what is actually happening in the market.”
Weaver said that for taxing purposes, she is required to value property at 92-95 percent of market value.
Weaver explained the millage generated about $5.1 million in property tax for 2016, but because of the increased total value, she estimates the county general fund would receive about $5.5 million in 2017.
Other entities funded by property tax also saw an increase in revenue.
Members of the Marysville School Board learned about increasing property values in the district, but the increase won’t translate into a massive infusion of cash into coffers.
Marysville Treasurer Todd Johnson told the board that the triennial update of Union County property values set the value of property in the school district at $811 million, up from $740 million. The $71 million increase equates to a roughly 10-percent bump.
Johnson said he had budgeted for a conservative 1.8-percent increase in values and said the additional worth in the district will lead to some addition tax money. However, because of the nature of school funding, the district will not see anything like a 10 percent increase in tax revenue.
School levies are set up to generate a certain dollar amount annually and do not exceed that amount even if a district’s value increases. As a district gains value, the effective collected millage is rolled back, meaning the burden of generating the money is spread over a wider base of taxpayers.
Where the district can claim some additional money is on the set 4.7 inside mills, which helps give the district a financial baseline. The money generated by those mills is allowed to grow as the overall property worth in a district increases.
Johnson said the $811 million in property value, brings the district back to a level just behind its highest ever worth of $815 million in 2005.
The 2005 figure, however, included the value of tangible personal property, such as the machinery in the Honda of America facilities. Taxing such property has since been phased out in the state of Ohio and the Marysville district was among the most impacted in the state by this move.
Weaver said that after individual property values were released, a record 377 property owners appealed the valuations of their home with the county’s Board of Revisions.
7/8 tie – Memorial Health Expands
Memorial Health continued its growth march in 2017.
The local hospital/health system saw its fundraising campaign for its new inpatient and outpatient pavilions hit its stride during the year, securing pledges of $3.3 million from such donors as Honda Manufacturing of America, Blackburn Chasing the Cure, Honda Marysville, Impact60, Memorial Auxiliary, Richwood Bank, and Tom and Amy McCarthy. The philanthropic goal of the Memorial 2020 campaign is set at $4 million.
The total cost for the major expansion is to be in the neighborhood of $50 million and will include the construction of a new inpatient tower with 36 state-of-the-art rooms with private showers and bathrooms.
Memorial officials, clinical staff and doctors discussed potential designs for the rooms and eventually settled on a “canted” or angled layout that will allow more natural light into the rooms and allows for expanded visitor seating.
Officials also finalized details of the outpatient pavilion, which will host various services including oncology, nephrology, neurology, immunology and gastroenterology. The new outpatient area will have dedicated drop-off area and nearby parking.
Groundbreaking for the projects is scheduled for March of 2018.
Also in 2017, Memorial began construction of a 30,000-square-foot facility in Urbana that will be similar to Memorial’s original facility in City Gate. The building, located on U.S. 36 east of the city and will be leased from developer Hplex Solutions when it opens in 2018. The facility will house Memorial Primary Care Urbana, a clinic for rotating physician specialists, urgent care, x-ray imaging, lab testing services, physical/occupational therapy and medication therapies.
The price tag for the operation is projected at $9 million.
In April, a new medical office building opened in Marysville at 140 Coleman’s Crossing Boulevard, adjacent to Memorial City Gate Medical Center. Memorial Gateway Medical Center houses a host of practices to care for patients and families.
Residents of Richwood also saw the opening of Memorial Family Medicine Richwood earlier this year with physicians Pamela Kapraly, MD, and David Dunkin, DO.
6 – Housing Developments
Union County had a big year for new housing, with several new developments gaining approval from local municipalities.
In Marysville, developments on Columbus Avenue, off Milford Avenue and in Mill Valley were approved, with the city making moves to allow housing to go in on Boerger Road and behind the new Kroger Marketplace.
In the county, it’s Darby Fields going in on Plain City-Georgesville Road and Glacier Point across from Glacier Ridge Metro Park. The mixed-use Jacquemin Grand development will be going on the Jacquemin Farm property in the south of the county.
A project on Columbus Avenue will help pay for its own development. The project, which mixes residential and commercial, will connect Professional Parkway to Columbus Avenue. Once that connection reaches a certain threshold, the developer agreed to finish it out from there.
In Plain City, the Darby Fields development went though with the condition that the developer would conduct a traffic study after village council expressed concerns at how the new homes would affect local roadways.
One of the newer developments has garnered some controversy. The Ryan Home project on Boerger Road received a fair amount of pushback as well, with nearby residents expressing concern that the “rural feel” of the area could be compromised by the new subdivision.
Council is still in the process of deciding whether or not to allow the project, and is likely to make a decision at next month’s meeting.