Public hearing held on transfer of Fire Station 63 to Loveland Community Improvement Corporation

The City Council opened a public hearing on a proposed transfer of Fire Station 63 to the Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) and heard remarks from Todd Osborne, who identified himself as a former council member and a former CIC member.

Osborne said the property transfer should be discussed in open session with attention not only to the transfer itself but to how the CIC would handle sale or lease proceeds in the future. “I think that the property should be discussed in open forum, tonight regarding, not the sale, but, the lease, by the CIC to whomever,” Osborne said. He urged council to consider mechanisms that would ensure a steady funding stream to the CIC for future projects, noting the CIC’s ability to lease, rent, bond and sell properties.

City staff and council clarified the action at this meeting was a first reading to transfer the property into the CIC; it did not approve any sale or lease. Councilmember Hart asked to confirm that the current proposal only transfers the property and does not authorize sale or lease at this time; staff confirmed that was correct and that questions about proceeds would be addressed if and when leases or sales were proposed.

The ordinance transferring real property on East Loveland, Fairmont County, Ohio to the Community Improvement Corporation of Loveland was presented for first reading; no final council vote to sell or lease the property occurred at the meeting.