Crossroads project is updated for councilors
CRIDERSVILLE — It was business as usual for council members here Monday, with reports highlighting the majority of the regular monthly meeting.
Josh Bloomfield, project manager for the Crossroads project on the east side of the village, said a signed marketing agreement with Sperry Commercial Global Affiliates, a worldwide network of affiliates that work within the commercial real estate industry, has resulted in the first letter of intent to locate a data warehousing concern on the site. He said the project will likely need 20 acres in what is to be a business/light industrial park area. Best case scenario, he said, has that construction complete in 24 months.
Working in cooperation with the Dayton Development Coalition, Bloomfield said he and his team are pursuing grants for warehousing construction. Job creation with these kinds of projects, he said, are a good catalyst to spur the next phases of development.
He told councilors the availability of electricity, and telecommunications — citing TSC specifically — makes Crossroads “an attractive place internationally…so we’ve got a lot of those positives going for us.”
Another positive for the village — there are 30 food trucks booked for the fire department’s Food
Truck Festival scheduled for April 30, Chief Rick Miller reported.
“We have everything from lobster rolls to hot dogs,” he said. “That’s how big the menu choices are.”
He said organizers are still trying to figure out where to put all the truck; the committee meets at the first of the month to finalize details.
Miller said the department remains busy and is averaging three calls a day: in February the EMS responded to 69 calls while there were six fire runs. That brings the total to 170 calls through March 1.
The police department is also experiencing a high volume of calls. Chief Paul Robbins said 186 calls were logged in February, up from 137 in February 2021. He continues to research a new vehicle for the department, reporting he can get a
patrol-ready vehicle for $46,203. He had wanted to obtain a Tahoe for the department; however, GM has temporarily ceased production due to the chip shortage.
Dorance Thompson reported the Street Committee members amended the policy regarding fines for non-compliance with snow shoveling. The new fine will be $50, the same as the fine for not mowing property. Thompson said they’ve asked the police chief to use his best judgement in cases where the landowner is sick or absent from the property.
Councilors were also presented a draft of a possible ordinance that would allow the village to collect a 3 percent lodging tax in addition to the 3 percent collected by Auglaize County. Mayor Rick Walls said the village has no mechanism in place at this time to collect a lodging tax and told councilors it is “food for thought” for a future discussion.
Cridersville Village Council meets again April 11 at village hall.