Officials are planning a groundbreaking ceremony for the new village administration building. Above is a drawing of the proposed building.
(Photo submitted)
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Another step in the process has been made to expand parking in the Plain City uptown area.
According to Village Administrator Nathan Cahall, the village has reached an agreement with the three owners, Buckeye Brass and Winds, Joe Craft and Ralph Smucker for the lot located just behind Lovejoy’s Plaza. Owners have agreed to lease the lot to the village for $1.
“I’ve been in negotiations with all three owners over the last six months and we gave some options: they could donate the land to the village, we could get an easement or we can lease it for a dollar,” Cahall said. “They’ve all decided to just lease it for a dollar.”
In exchange for using the lot, the village asks that after business hours and on the weekends, the lot is free and open to the public. They also said the village would maintain the area.
“We’ve actually agreed to improve the lots. We’ll put in some nice landscape islands and some lighting, fix drainage and repave them,” Cahall said. He hopes to have the lease agreements ready for a first reading of council at the Apr. 22 regular meeting. If the measure is accepted by council, the village hopes to move forward on improvements by summer.
Also on Monday evening, council passed a supplemental appropriation of funds for the new municipal building as an emergency. The village approved the contract to 2K General Company at the March 25 council meeting for $2.9 million.
“This will allow us to enter into a contract with 2K Construction to start this process,” Cahall said. “The reason why we had to wait and do this as an emergency is we did not know what the final numbers would be on the closing of the note sales. Those proceeds will actually be in-hand (Tuesday) morning.”
A ground-breaking on the new municipal building will take place Friday, Apr. 12 at the Village Blvd site next to the former Lovejoy’s Market building at 11 a.m. The new 12,000 square foot facility will house village administrative offices under the same roof as the Plain City Police Department.
In other meeting news:
– Cahall said that contractors have completed work on the sanitary sewer portion of the Maple Street project and are moving onto water mains. Even with delays and sewer issues, the village hopes to have the project finished by June 15.
– Council had the second reading of legislation that end the contractual relationship with the Regional Income Tax Authority.
– Council member Shannon Pine said the Village Board of Zoning Appeals approved the expansion of the Der Dutchman building. Officials with the restaurant submitted plans to the Planning and Zoning commission in March but were asked to resubmit a more detailed plan. The plans have to be approved by the zoning commission before going to council for a vote.