City, Krohn Aviation agree to land leases

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Two new hangars are set to be erected at Grimes Field after Urbana City Council on Tuesday waived the three-readings rule and passed on first reading a resolution authorizing Director of Administration Kerry Brugger to enter into two ground lease agreements, one for each hangar, with Springfield-based Krohn Aviation LLC.

Under the terms of the two 30-year ground leases, the city will lease 16,450 square feet of city-owned land at the airport to Roger Krohn, who will pay a combined yearly rent of $4,441.50 in the first five years of the contracts or .27 cents per square footage. During the duration of the leases, a 3 percent increase will be applied every five years.

Beginning this fall, Brugger said, the city expects Krohn to begin construction on a 50-by-231 T-hangar just west of the airport’s current T-hangars. The 10 units in the T-hangar will be rented out by Krohn.

“I’m not sure how Roger is going to manage that. It will be up to him,” said Brugger, who added there is a waiting list of 20 to 24 pilots seeking space to house their aircraft.

Once the T-hangar is erected, work will take place on a 70-by-70 corporate hangar for Krohn Aviation.

As for prepping the area for construction of the hangars, the city will be using Federal Aviation Administration grant along with a local match to not only extend taxiway “C” west from its current terminus to a designated point past the site of the new hangars, but also to construct the majority of the asphalt taxi lanes that will surround the hangars.

The taxi lane work will begin once Krohn has completed the concrete pads (foundations) for the hangars, Brugger said.

“I think it’s a win for everybody,” Council member Pat Thackery said. “I think this is going to be a real economic stimulator that shows some growth and shows things are happening.”

Annexation agreement returns to council

A first reading was held for an ordinance to provide a statement of services to 638 Childrens Home Road, approve an annexation agreement with Urbana Township, and authorize Brugger to sign the agreement on behalf of the city.

On July 21, 2015, council passed a resolution agreeing to provide water and sanitary sewer services to the property on Childrens Home Road , which the property owner was required to annex into the city.

Earlier this year, an ordinance approving the annexation agreement between the city and township was voted down, Crabill said, due to “miscommunication” centered around the amount of compensation the city was prepared to pay the township, which came out to $542.46.

Under the new agreement, the township has agreed to sign off on the annexation agreement if the city agrees on a single, one-time payment to the township of $1,084.92. Crabill said this amount was calculated using a 13-year payment model outlined in the Ohio Revised Code.

“It is a larger amount, but essentially that is what the township said they would agree to in order to move this forward,” Crabill added.

If council votes down the annexation agreement, it could elect to shut off water and sewer services to the property since the property owner did not met the terms of the deal by annexing into the city within the required time frame, Director of Law Breanne Parcels said.

Signage changes discussed

An ordinance to amend the Urbana Corridor Development Standards (UCDS) as originally established by chapter 1127 of the city’s codified ordinances underwent a second reading.

The two primary proposed changes to the ordinance, which were recommended by the Urbana Planning Commission, involve language in the signage section (Section D) of the UCDS.

Crabill said if the ordinance is passed, businesses located in the Urbana Corridor Overlay District (commercial or industrial properties located on a state or U.S. route in the city) would be allowed 2 square feet of signage for every lineal foot of occupied frontage. Currently, the ratio is one square foot of signage for every lineal foot of frontage.

Businesses on a state or U.S. Route in the downtown overlay or in a planned unit development (PUD) are not included in the Urbana Corridor Overlay District, Crabill added.

The other primary change to the signage section of the UCDS is the elimination of the language that limits the total amount of square footage of signage a business can have. As the ordinance reads now, businesses are allowed no more than 100 square feet of total signage, while large-format retail establishments are allowed 150 square feet.

In other business:

•Council approved the purchase of $8,000 worth of investigative equipment from the LEA Aid Acquisition Company for the Urbana Police Division.

•Director of Finance Chris Boettcher was given authorization to enter into a three-year contract with Kennedy, Cottrell, Richards LLC for the compilation of the annual financial statements for fiscal years 2016, 2017 and 2018. The yearly fee for the service will be $12,750, which is a $1,000 (9 percent) yearly increase from the previous three-year deal.

Boettcher said the city has been working with this firm for a while, and this is the first increase in the yearly fee in the past six years.

By Joshua Keeran

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Joshua Keeran may be reached at 937-652-1331 (ext. 1774) or on Twitter @UDCKeeran.

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