To let West Chester and Liberty Township residents catch up with the news that they need to know, WestChesterBuzz.com will list and link to all of last week’s top local stories every Monday.
WestChesterBuzz.com also recently added a new video page last week. To view West Chester and Liberty Township related videos, visit westchesterbuzz.com/videos.
The latest proposal for Liberty Center in Butler County’s Liberty Township shaves some retail in favor of increased space for office buildings and luxury apartments. Rendering provided.
Liberty Township retail project has new look – A Columbus developer returned to Butler County Thursday with a slightly revised plan for the $300 million shopping destination spot it wants to build in Liberty Township, Sheila McLaughlin reported for The Cincinnati Enquirer. Yaromir Steiner, founder and chief executive officer of Steiner + Associates, is counting on $35 million from the county and township to make improvements around the 100-acre site, at Liberty Way west of Interstate 75.
West Chester Hospital tax status case watched closely – Butler County and the cash-strapped Lakota Local School District stand to lose a combined $43 million over the next 18 years if West Chester Hospital’s charitable tax status is upheld, Sheila McLaughlin of The Cincinnati Enquirer reported. County commissioners are appealing the case to the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals, saying the county failed to receive a hearing on the matter. School officials are keeping an eye on it.
The Home Builders Association of Greater Cincinnati (HBA) held a groundbreaking ceremony for its Homearama 2013 location, Carriage Hill in Liberty Township, on Nov. 8, 2012. File photo.
Summer’s Homearama being delayed until July – The director of the Home Builders Association of Greater Cincinnati confirmed Thursday that due to unforeseen construction delays, that this summer’s Homearama at Carriage Hill in Liberty Township is being pushed back to July. It will be the latest summer Homearama, which will now take place July 13-28, in the 50-year history of the home showcase, according HBA executive director Dan Dressman. The event was previously scheduled to take place June 8-23.
Bridgewater Falls is back on the block – Fairfield Township’s upscale shopping center, Bridgewater Falls, is for sale. And this time it’s for a positive reason, Cindi Andrews reported for The Cincinnati Enquirer. Blue Ash-based Phillips Edison bought Bridgewater Falls out of foreclosure in 2010. It boosted occupancy to 97 percent and is now testing the possibility of cashing in on its investment.
Due to fire code, West Chester residents were forced to watch a zoning commission meeting March 18 in the lobby of Township Hall. More than 100 residents attended the meeting, many of them were against a proposed shopping center being built near homes.
Kroger Marketplace discussion to be revisited – Last month, a Blue Ash developer scrapped plans to bring a Kroger Marketplace to West Chester after local residents convinced the township’s zoning commission that it wasn’t good idea. The developer, Silverman and Company, is considering a new plan, but wanted to hear from their opposition first by hosting a public input meeting at the Wingate Inn Thursday. During that meeting, many residents continued to voice their concerns.
Larry Sykes named Lakota East girls’ basketball coach – Larry Sykes was named the Lakota East girls’ basketball coach Tuesday. Sykes, an assistant at Lakota East the past two seasons, was formerly the Purcell Marian head coach during the 2010-11 season. Sykes, 40, replaces Nikki Drew, who stepped down at the end of this past season in order to spend more time with her family.
Butler County and Lakota schools stand to lose millions in revenue if charitable tax status for West Chester Medical Center is upheld. An Ohio tax commissioner ruled last year that a previous tax increment financing agreement did not apply to the hospital’s current owners, UC Health. File photo.
Sheila McLaughlin reports:
Butler County and the cash-strapped Lakota Local School District stand to lose a combined $43 million over the next 18 years if West Chester Hospital’s charitable tax status is upheld, officials said.
County commissioners are appealing the case to the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals, saying the county failed to receive a hearing on the matter. School officials are keeping an eye on it.
For the county, it means the difference between future road improvements and traffic backups at Tylersville and Cox roads as the hospital campus there expands. “If it’s ruled against us and there’s no money, there will be no improvements,” Commissioner Don Dixon said.
“Whoever is using it will make the improvement,” he said. “If they need another turn lane into the development, that development is going to pay for it.”
“We are exploring all of our options to protect the school district’s interest,” Lakota spokesman Randy Oppenheimer said.
The 17,300-student district, the second largest in Southwest Ohio, has not seen voters pass a new operating levy since 2005 and saw three school-tax issues rejected at the ballot in the last two years. The district has cut more than $36 million in personnel and programs – including laying off dozens of teachers and eliminating busing for thousands of students – in recent years, and it is anticipated to go back to the voters for a new school tax later this year.
The tax issue involves an 11-year-old agreement between the county and the former owners of the hospital land. In it, the owners promised to pay annually into a tax increment financing account through 2031 instead of paying property taxes on new buildings. For the county, that money was to be earmarked for road and other improvements as the hospital complex grows. Thirty-five percent of the proceeds were pegged for Lakota Local Schools.
Last year, however, Ohio Tax Commissioner Joseph W. Testa granted an application from West Chester Hospital’s former owner, the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, for charitable tax status on the hospital property and backdated it to 2007 when the project was under construction. Testa also ordered the county to refund payments the hospital already made – an estimated $5 million, according to Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds. (more…)
UPDATE: The 8 p.m. performance of Music Man is officially on.
The Lakota Local School District has canceled all of its after-school activities for Friday due to the threat of severe weather.
However, the Lakota West administration is monitoring the weather and hoping that the severe weather will be out of the area before the scheduled 8 p.m. showing of the production “Music Man.” If there is reason to cancel the musical, information will be posted on lakotaonline.com.
Lakota students and others who live within the school district can now enter the Why Bother? contest as part of the 2012 celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Day in West Chester and Liberty townships.
Those in grades two through six should submit a poster or other artwork highlighting their answer to the question, Why bother with Martin Luther King Day. Junior and senior high school entries should be in short essay forms.
Group entries, however, will be accepted from all students in grades 2-12 and may be in a multimedia or performance format. Students from both public and non-public schools are eligible to participate.
One winner from each of the following categories will receive a $20 cash prize: elementary, junior high, high school, English as a Second Language, and special education. An overall grand prize winner will receive a $50 cash prize.
The deadline for submitting entries is 4 p.m., Nov. 28. Entries can be dropped off at any Lakota school office. They can also be dropped off at the administrative office at West Chester Township, 9113 Cincinnati-Dayton Road; or Liberty Township, 6400 Princeton Road.
All entries will be displayed at the Live the Dream: Our Celebration of Unity event in Jan. 16, 2012, at Cornerstone United Methodist Church in West Chester Township.
The holiday is observed each year on the third Monday in January in honor of King’s birthday.
