By Katelyn Sattler
Staff Writer
Obetz City Council passed the first of several pieces of legislation that make up the Buckstone development.
On March 28, council approved creating a New Community Authority and New Community District under Chapter 349 of the Ohio Revised Code.
The Buckstone is a mixed use development that will occupy about 800 acres at the corner of Lockbourne and Rathmell roads.
“This is all the things, the parts and pieces, of the Buckstone development and it’s the layered economic incentive packages that get us to the end game,” said Obetz City Administrator Rod Davisson. “So, as a recap for everybody, it’s abating the taxes, replacing those with PILOT payments (payments in lieu of taxes), plus a 5-mill charge, and then creating Tax Increment Financing to cover the back end of that thing. So what it does essentially is redirect that tax money for a certain period of time to the city for a purpose of making infrastructure improvements, but allows for allowances for the schools at different pieces of it. And we’re working with the township to figure out these pieces, as well.”
Davisson continued, “You have to cover the technical school in there, as well. So all these parts and pieces that are kind of happening at the same time of what you need to pass and the order that we need to get them all passed as the New Community Authority Authorization. That’s the thing that forms the New Community Authority, which becomes the place where we collect the money and then distribute it for the operations and some construction.”
Zucchinifest update
Mayor Angela Kirk said the city has secured Boyz II Men to headline the Obetz Zucchinifest on Sept. 3 at 8:30 p.m. The city has also contracted Roots & Boots featuring Sammy Kershaw, Collin Raye, and Aaron Tippin to perform at Zucchinifest on Sept. 4 at 8:30 p.m. North to Nashville will open for Roots & Boots at 7 p.m. Sept. 2 is the car show and the city is still working on that day’s performance schedule on the main stage and will announce when it’s finalized. This is a free concert – no tickets required.
Other upcoming events in Obetz
•Kirk said the Hamilton Ranger Football Golf Outing will be May 29 at 9 a.m. (8 a.m. registration) at the Westchester Golf Course. A four-person scramble is $70 per person. Check the Facebook page for information.
•Councilman Mike Kimbler announced a plastic Easter egg wreath class on Friday, April 8 at 6 p.m. at the Obetz Community Center for $30/wreath. Registration is on the city’s Facebook page.
•The 40,000 egg Easter egg hunt is at Fortress Obetz April 9 at 11 a.m. Gates open at 10:30 a.m. Bring your own bag. Pictures with the Easter bunny are at 11:15 a.m. No registration required.
•The Trout Fishing Derby is April 2 from 9 a.m. to noon at Dixon Quarry. There’s an age 17 and under category and age 18 plus category. Children age five and under can fish from the kiddie pool. Pre-registration encouraged. Participants must bring own fishing equipment. Trout can be kept.
•Councilman Derek Varney gave an update on Fortress Obetz.
“Last week, we had the Under Armour Next Camp, which was the largest that we’ve had attended,” said Varney. “You can see that there’s only seven or eight places for this and it’s regional and the Under Armour guys enjoy working with our staff at the Fortress more than any others. It went really, really well. As for the future, we’ve got professional Ultimate Frisbee season beginning this weekend. There’s a championship weekend of that league on Aug. 18 and 19, the semi-finals and finals, will also be there We’re a little over a month away from the Full Throttle Thursdays, and we’re getting a ton of questions and buzz about what this actually is. This is our event for anything with a motor. It’s inclusive of cars, trucks, Jeeps, bikes. If it has an engine, bring it out, celebrate it, have fun. It’s a nice thing to do on a Thursday. So those will be starting soon.”
