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MONROE — After twice tabling a vote on a tax abatement agreement that twice delayed the city moving forward with a final vote on the city's Home Depot project, it turns out Monroe City Schools was right to question the matter.

Monroe city and school officials came to an agreement that the district doesn't have to approve the deal between the city and developer Vandercar Holdings Inc. for the home improvement retailer to locate a $33.9 million regional distribution facility at Corridor 75 Park off Ohio 63 and Interstate 75 in Warren County.

The parties and their attorneys and the developer of the project, Rob Smyjunas, met exclusively Monday night, May 12, with The Journal prior to the school district's board meeting to show a united front.

Kelley Thorpe, Monroe schools treasurer, said the board kept tabling the deal because it wanted to make sure it was doing the right thing.

"We wanted to legally make sure that the school board was protected and all the 'i's' were dotted and the 't's' were crossed legally. Our understanding from our attorneys didn't quite match what everybody else's attorneys were saying, so it took awhile to get all three attorneys on the same page," she said.

"Now that they're all on the same page, we were correct in the first place that the school board doesn't need to take any action for the city to be able to implement the abatement to Vandercar."

City Manager William Brock said the confusion was over whether a modification to a community reinvestment agreement approved last year also required the district's OK.

Smyjunas, the owner of Vandercar Holdings, said everything in the whole process has been "thoughtful conversation."

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