Explanation
BACKGROUND: Pursuant to ordinance No. 0517-2005, passed by Columbus City Council on March 23, 2005, the Columbus Department of Development applied for, and was awarded, an agreement between the Columbus Department of Development and the Clean Ohio Assistance Fund grant of $750,000.00 from the Ohio Department of Development to perform environmental cleanup at the former Seneca Hotel site in Downtown Columbus. The State Controlling Board approved the grant application at its March 13, 2006 meeting.
The purpose of this legislation is to authorize an agreement between the Columbus Department of Development and the Ohio Department of Development to receive and administer the grant and to authorize developers of former Seneca Hotel site, in partnership with Campus-Seneca Management, Inc., Managing Member, Campus-Seneca, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company to apply the grant funding toward the environmental cleanup at the project site.
The project is an adaptive reuse of the historic former Seneca Hotel site. The building, a 10-story landmark at the corner of Broad and Grant and its attached 2 story addition will be converted to a mix of apartments for students and faculty of the nearby educational institutions and retail geared toward the surrounding neighborhood. There will be a total of 93 apartments and approximately 10,000-12,000 square feet of retail, with a total project investment in excess of $12 million. Over a 16-month period, the project will return the Seneca as a vibrant contributor to Downtown Columbus.
This legislation is submitted as an emergency to commence the Clean Ohio Assistance grant process immediately.
FISCAL IMPACT: Funding for this legislation is provided by a Clean Ohio Assistance Fund grant from the Ohio Department of Development in the amount of $750,000.00.
Title
To authorize and direct the Director of the Department of Development to enter into an agreement with the Ohio Department of Development to receive and administer Clean Ohio Assistance Fund grant funds in the amount of $750,000.00; to authorize the appropriation of $750,000.00 from the General Government Grant Fund to the Department of Development; to authorize and direct the Director of the Department of Development to enter into an agreement with Campus-Seneca Management, Inc., Managing Member, Campus-Seneca, LLC to apply said grant funding for environmental cleanup work at the former Seneca Hotel site at 361 E. Broad Street; to authorize the expenditure of $750,000.00 from the General Government Grant Fund; and to declare an emergency. ($750,000.00)
Body
WHEREAS, the State of Ohio Clean Ohio Program will award $40 million per year, for five years, to communities throughout Ohio for the purpose of clean up and redevelopment of contaminated or abandoned properties known as "brownfields"; and
WHEREAS, the City of Columbus contains brownfield properties which may qualify for Clean Ohio clean up and redevelopment grant funding; and
WHEREAS, the Columbus Department of Development has been involved with brownfield redevelopment since 1999 through its administration of the Columbus Brownfield Redevelopment Program and its associated task force; and
WHEREAS, Clean Ohio Assistance grant funding will greatly compliment the efforts of the Columbus Department of Development in helping to clean up and redevelop brownfield properties in Columbus; and
WHEREAS, the Columbus Department of Development has identified a brownfield property, which is eligible for the Clean Ohio grant assistance fund, at the former Seneca Hotel site where environmental clean up is required before redevelopment can occur; and
WHEREAS, the City was successful in its application to the State of Ohio for a Clean Ohio Assistance Fund grant of $750,000.00 to perform demolition and asbestos cleanup work at the former Seneca Hotel site; and
WHEREAS, Agreements with the Ohio Department of Development and Campus-Seneca are required in order for the City to receive, administer and apply the Clean Ohio Assistance grant of $750,000.00, and
WHEREAS, an emergency exists in the usual daily operation of the City of Columbus in that it is immediately necessary to authorize the Director of the Columbus Department of Development to enter into agreements with the Ohio Department of Development and Campus-Seneca, for Clean Ohio assistance funding in order to commence the Clean Ohio Assistance Fund grant process immediately, all for the preservation of public health, peace, property, safety and welfare; now therefore,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
Section 1. That the Director of the Columbus Department of Development is authorized to enter into a grant agreement with the Ohio Department of Development to receive and administer Clean Ohio Assistance Fund grant funds in the amount of $750,000.00 for environmental clean up at the former Seneca Hotel site.
Section 2. That the sum of $750,000.00 be and is hereby appropriated from the unappropriated balance of the General Government Grant Fund, Fund 220, Grant 446018, and from all monies estimated to come into said fund from any and all sources and unappropriated for any other purpose during the fiscal year ending December 31, 2006, to the Department of Development, Economic Development Division, Division No. 44-02, Grant 446018, Object Level One 03, Object Level Three 3336, OCA Code 446018.
Section 3. That the Director of the Columbus Department of Development is authorized to enter into an agreement with Campus-Seneca Management, Inc., Managing Member, Campus-Seneca, LLC in the amount of $750,000.00 for environmental clean up work at the former Seneca Hotel site.
Section 4. That for the purpose stated in Section 3, the expenditure of $750,000.00 is hereby authorized from the General Government Grant Fund, Fund 220, Grant No. 446018, Department of Development, Economic Development Division, Division No. 44-02, Object Level Three, 3336, OCA Code 446018.
Section 5. That for reasons stated in the preamble hereto, which is hereby made a part hereof, the ordinance is hereby declared to be an emergency measure and shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and approval by the Mayor or ten days after passage if the Mayor neither approves nor vetoes the same.