By MARGIE TRAX PAGE
Staff Writer
mtrax@starbeacon.com
HARPERSFIELD TOWNSHIP - - The Ashtabula County commissioners accepted a $500,000 check Wednesday from the Ohio Department of Development for the benefit of the Harpersfield Township/Geneva joint economic development district (JEDD) sewer project.
Representatives of Gov. Bob Taft, and officials from Growth Partnership for Ashtabula County, the Ashtabula County Department of Community Services, the city of Geneva, Harpersfield Township trustees, the Ashtabula County commissioners, the Ohio Department of Development, Andover Bank, and Nordic Air owner Ron Clutter shook hands and exchanged thanks outside the Nordic Air plant in Harpersfield.
The industrial heating and cooling business is credited as the catalyst for the JEDD agreement. The agreement was sparked last year when Nordic Air secured a five-year $45 million contract with the U.S. Marine Corps, leaving the company with plenty of work but no sewer system for the needed plant expansion.
This sharing of tax dollars will bring a $1.6 million sewer system to Harpersfield, which will run from LaFever Road and under Route 90 to the JEDD. It will also allow for Nordic Air's needed expansion and bring at least 100 jobs to the area, Trustee Ed Demshar said.
The JEDD includes 28 properties on both sides of Route 534, covers 330 acres, and will link the city and township financially and physically for the next 99 years.
A JEDD is a partnership between a township and a municipality (village or city) which allows the separate entities to combine efforts within a geographic area without annexing any property. A JEDD allows the governments to impose income taxes on businesses and employees located within the specified JEDD. This money, which Geneva and Harpersfield will share, also will pay for road improvements, sewer work and other infrastructure improvements. However, residential and agricultural properties cannot be included in the JEDD.
Geneva will take 70 percent of tax dollars generated from the agreement, with Harpersfield collecting 25 percent; 5 percent will be used for the business of the JEDD itself, including infrastructure needs, maintenance and to compensate the JEDD board. Geneva will assume $800,000 to $900,000 in debt for the project but will collect a portion of Harpersfield's bed tax in the future, the agreement states.
While the sewer extension from Geneva is vital to Nordic Air's growth strategy, the infrastructure also brings industrial potential to Harpersfield Township, Growth Partnership for Ashtabula County Executive Director Joe Mayernick said.
"This JEDD opens up a large chunk of real estate that wasn't available before. The potential for the creation of jobs is outstanding," he said.
Building infrastructure also builds possibilities and opportunities for county residents, Commissioner Debbie Newcomb said.
"Infrastructure is key to the county's future. It opens the door for development in other communities," she said.
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