Council had plenty on agenda to consider
Sunday, May 11, 2008
While the vast majority of last Tuesday's Middletown City Council meeting focused on the rezoning of the 157-acres Bake-Martin parcel targeted for a $340 million coke-making and electric generation plant, there was still a number of items that were addressed during the meeting.
Prior to the public hearing on the Bake-Martin rezoning, council also held a public hearing to establish zoning districts for the Mad River/Brenley annexation that totals 234 acres in Franklin Twp. between Union and Shaker Roads and north of New Covenant Church.
Extras
Later in the meeting, council heard first readings of ordinances that would rezone 112 acres for low density dwellings and about 125 acres to be rezoned for industrial office park use.
City Council is expected to give final approval of these rezoning ordinances at its May 27 meeting.
Another emergency ordinance was unanimously approved last week modified an enterprise zone tax abatement with Quaker Chemical Co. on Yankee Road.
The modification of the 10-year, 75-percent tax abatement on real property was necessary due to changes in the construction period and that Quaker will own the property and not have a lease/buyback with the Butler County Port Authority, according to Bill Murphy, city economic development director.
Due to the unavailability of City Manager Judy Gilleland, Councilwoman Anita Scott Jones and Mayor Lawrence P. Mulligan Jr. for the May 20 meeting, the council decided to move its meeting to May 27.
Gilleland and Mulligan will be with the city delegation to the international retail convention in Las Vegas to meet with retail representatives as well as with senior management of the companies that own Towne Mall and the Middletown Shopping Center. Jones had a schedule conflict and would not be able to attend the meeting.
City Council will hold its work session at 5:30 p.m. May 27 in Conference Room 2C on the second floor of the Middletown City Building, One Donham Plaza, followed by a 6:30 p.m. business meeting in the Council Chamber on the lower level of the city building.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2871 or erichter@coxohio.com.
