Sale of industrial park lot approved by council

ST. MARYS - The sale of a vacant lot in the St. Marys Airport Industrial Park was unanimously approved by St. Marys City Council during their Monday evening meeting.

Lot 12 was sold to Steve’s Lawnmower Sales and Service. The 4.7 acres lot is located in the back of the industrial park, on the same west side as the Catalus facility.

City Manager Joe Fleming said the city and the owner of the business recently came to a compromise on the price of the lot. The business is currently located on the Million Dollar Highway in St. Marys and is looking to build a warehouse structure on the lot.

Fleming said the city is eager to start moving forward with the project.

Initially the city received a bid for the lot by the business which was withdrawn due to the high cost of having to install utilities. Access to electric is an obstacle on the lot. During a discussion, the business owners agreed to revise their bid which was significantly lower than their first bid.

The city has sold about six lots in the airport industrial park with another six lots available. Each lot measures 4.5-5 acres in size. Fleming said there is an opportunity to expand the industrial park another 40 acres if needed.

“The area knows there is opportunity here or even to expand their own business and I think that would be great for the community,” Fleming said.

During the meeting council approved a request to revise a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application. Tina Gradizzi, director of community and economic development, explained the request entails increasing funding to the Christian Food Bank (CFB) drive thru project. In order to do this Gradizzi said they would decrease funding to the Utility Assistance Program from $33,662 to $21,042. This would allow an additional $12,620 to go toward the CFB project. Gradizzi noted there are other agencies in Elk and Cameron county which offer utility assistance.

The CFB project is a joint project between the city and the county.

The city covered 77% of funding while the county assisted with 23% of costs. The original cost of the project was based on an estimate of $150,000 of which the city committed $115,500 plus supplies of $2,000. The total bid for the drivethru addition was $166,390.

As a result of the shift in funding the CFB would now be responsible for only $3,770 at the end of the project rather than $16,390.

Council unanimously approved the appointment of William Gerg to the St. Marys Area Water Authority.

The vacancy stems from the retirement of authority board member Lawrence Lecker, who expressed his desire that Gerg be appointed to fill the remainder of his term of office to expire on Jan. 1, 2025.

Council also approved the AFSCME non-uniformed contract as well as the Fair Housing Resolution, which is an annual item for board approval.

City council’s next meeting is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. at City Hall.