Celina looks to sell land for business expansion

CELINA - The city of Celina may sell 12.5 acres of its industrial park land to Grand Lake Warehousing, a new business expansion of Celina Moving & Storage.

Celina City Council members Monday night heard first reading of an ordinance detailing an agreement to sell land in the northeast corner of Grand Lake Industrial Park for $10,000 an acre. Council members Angie King, Myron Buxton, Mike Sovinski and June Scott all voted yes, while Bill Sell and Ed Jeffries voted no and Jeff Larmore abstained.

Rob Krane wants to increase the company's volume and needs to expand. Celina Moving & Storage is located at 1901 Industrial Drive in the Celina Industrial Park. Grand Lake Warehousing would be a 60,000-square-foot facility in the Grand Lake Industrial Park along Havemann Road.

Company officials want to construct a facility that could double in size in the next few years, Celina Planning and Community Development Director Kent Bryan said. The company now has 20 full-time employees and would add 15 over three years with the expansion.

Grand Lake Warehousing moves, distributes and warehouses various goods for commercial and residential purposes.

Jeffries is opposed to the legislation, which mandates the city to relocate a portion of Havemann Road at an estimated cost of $78,000.

"Yeah, I have a lot of problems with this deal," Jeffries said, pointing out the city will have to tear out a perfectly good, unused road. "It just isn't a good return."

Jeffries said he favors creating jobs, but at what cost?

"It's too much of a lopsided deal," he said.

The existing road doesn't work with the proposed layout design of the facility, according to Bryan. All work would be paid through the Staeger Road Tax Increment Finance fund, not the general fund.

"It's almost like a Catch-22," Councilman Angie King said, adding that people would be upset about the city's infrastructure investment, but also upset if the business would move to St. Marys. "No matter what we do, we're not going to make (everyone) happy."

Larmore supported the proposal, pointing out the owner's intent to create 15 jobs is probably conservative.

Sell voted no because his requested amendment - to require the company to add 15 jobs to keep a 15-year, 72-percent tax abatement - would not be included until the second reading of the ordinance.

"I think we're being as stretched as far as we can be stretched," Sell said about the deal.

Larmore said there must be some kind of cushion. For instance, if 14 jobs are created instead of 15, the business shouldn't be penalized, he said.

According to the pending agreement, the company would pay for the land by making annual payments of $8,352.67 for 15 years at zero percent interest.

The city also is attempting to secure as much as $400,000 from the Ohio Department of Development. The money would be used to provide a 12-inch waterline to the edge of the property along Havemann Road and an 8-inch waterline on the north side of Braun Drive.

It also would provide sanitary sewer service to the property line and storm sewers in front of the property in the right of way of the relocated Havemann Road.