Northwood saw new jobs, roads, construction

Northwood is expected to collect about $345,000 annually in income tax revenue from Buckeye CableSystem.

New School for Northwood Northwood students and officials celebrated the construction oa a new school building at a ground breaking ceremony held at the school's football stadium. The new building is scheduled to open in the fall of 2017. (Photo courtesy of Kris James)

Anderson said it ties into the desire of the city to enhance economic development at the Oregon and Wales road intersection near I-75.

“People sometimes forget that it’s the western entrance to the City of Northwood. We want to start emphasizing that a little bit. We’re not forgetting Woodville Road. But we want to focus on that more. There’s a strip mall there. Jimmie John’s is going in there. Arturo’s is doing well as is a Chinese restaurant there. With Buckeye moving out there, those businesses will serve their employees. So we’d like to see that expand out there. That seems to be gaining some momentum.”

Northwood officials have been actively preparing to accommodate new opportunities by improving its various planning and economic development tools. In 2013, the city updated and expanded its Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) to provide tax incentives, on a case-by-case basis, for residents and businesses that make new property investments or renovate existing properties. There is also a jobs grant program for certain types of businesses that create and retain jobs in the community.

Revitalization District
The city last year established a revitalization district as a tool for economic development.

The district helps promote the development of new restaurants, and other social and entertainment establishments in properly zoned areas of the community, by making extra liquor licenses available. City council has been looking at different ways to encourage economic growth along Woodville Road, from the Great Eastern Shopping Plaza to I-280.

Creating the district provides businesses with better access to D-5l liquor permits, which would spur investment and economic development. The district was established through the Ohio Division of Liquor Control, which allows the sale of up to 15 additional D-5l liquor permits within the district. D-5l permits allow full liquor sales privileges.

“The reason why this tool was created is because sales of liquor permits are based upon population in the state of Ohio. The most coveted and desired liquor permit is the D-5l, which allows establishments to offer beer, wine and spirituous liquor until 2:30 a.m.,” Glenn Grisdale, an economic development consultant for Northwood, told The Press last year.

New construction
Also last year, over $32 million was spent for new construction projects in the city, a dramatic increase from the $3.6 million in new construction in 2014.

New construction projects last year included the start of construction of a new school building; the remodeling of Arby’s on Woodville Road; and an addition to Whitaker Finishing on Tracy Road. In addition, several new residential homes were built.

The process of demolishing the Woodville Mall began in early 2014 and is still underway, according to Mayor Ed Schimmel. The connecting sections of the mall, along with the Sears building, have been demolished. The former Anderson’s and Elder Beerman buildings are currently standing. “However, the city is working with grant specialists and the Wood County Common Pleas Court to demolish these areas as well,” said Schimmel.

Income tax collections were down 5.5 percent from 2014. Total General Fund expenditures increased by $380,904 or 8.2 percent from 2014.

This year started with a positive general fund carryover. The city approved a balanced 2016 budget totaling $4,751,100 and are projecting a 2016 general fund revenue of $4,697,956.

Crime down
Major crime and traffic accidents decreased last year. Major crimes are down 28 percent, with traffic accidents down 13.5 percent.

The police department has a staff of 23 full-time and four part-time employees. The communications center last year received 7,497 calls for service from the general public, along with receiving an additional 5,562 calls that were initiated by officers while out on patrol, totaling 13,059 calls for service, up 16 percent from 2014.

The public can access police reports on the Internet by going to the police department’s web page at www.northwoodpolice.com There is also a link on the city’s web page to CrimeReports.com, where the public can access neighborhood crime data in near real time.

Mayor’s Court
Mayor’s Court received a total of $199,543 in fines, forfeiture and costs last year, up 27 percent, or $42,470, from 2014. Total cases for the year were 2,019, with 1,796 being traffic and 2223 criminal.

In addition, in 2014 capital recovery collection service collected $4,900 in fine money from delinquent accounts.

Fire Department
The department last year received a total of 982 calls, a 10 percent increase from 2014. Of these, 182 were for fire runs within the city; 690 were for EMS runs within the city and 111 were for Mutual/Automatic Aid fire and/or EMS runs outside the city. In addition to service runs, the department conducted 293 initial fire inspections at businesses.

Six firefighters were added to the department, bringing the total number to 38. Nine firefighters last year continued various levels of state training. Local training accounted for an additional 3,208 training hours in various aspects of the job.

“The fire department continues to seek out alternative funding to enhance our service without adding an additional burden on the taxpayers,” said Schimmel. “As part of the FEMA Assistance to Firefighter Grant, which was received in late 2014, firefighters conducted 170 Home Fire Safety Assessments and installed over 700 smoke detectors and nearly 100 carbon monoxide detectors.”

Public Service
The department last year oversaw the completion of resurfacing and drainage projects involving Goodrich Avenue, which was a joint project with the Northwestern Water & Sewer District to install sanitary sewer lines and resurface the road.

Projects this year include resurfacing parts of Morgan and Beach streets, Curtice Road, Lester Avenue, and Tracy Road.

In addition, the Parc Du Langlade pump station project was bid at a cost estimate of $233,000. It will be financed by funds earmarked for storm water management.

Zoning
The Planning and Zoning Department is committed to continuing regular inspections and enforcement of the zoning code. Plans are being discussed with city council to put more emphasis on cleaning up both commercial and residential properties to promote growth in the community, said Schimmel.

The department will also work on economic development issues and plans this year.

“The city will continue to support and encourage the necessary enforcement of our zoning code to promote the livability and desirability of Northwood for our residents,” said Schimmel.