Council balks at IOM agreement

Portland City Council on Monday voted to table discussion about a resolution to a development agreement with IOM Grain.
Council previously approved paying up to $82,000 for soil stabilization at IOM Grain’s property at the northwest corner of the intersection of county roads 100 north and 100 east.
When soil stabilization only cost $17,900, IOM asked the city to pay for drainage work and the installation of a fiber optic Internet line, Mayor Randy Geesaman told council.
Portland Economic Development Corporation and Geesaman reached an agreement with IOM and recommended the city pay for the drainage improvements and $5,000 for a third of the cost of installing the Internet line at Portland Industrial Park.
Council has to decide whether or not it will approve paying $53,847.60 to IOM for the improvements, which Geesaman said will benefit the entire industrial park. Portland EDIT Advisory Committee voted Monday to recommend council reimburse IOM.
Councilmen Mark Hedges and Michael Brewster expressed concerns about footing the bill.
“We’re paying for their property improvement or upgrades and its their property,” Brewster asked.
“So why don’t we see a proposal for $17,500 or whatever the cost for the soil stabilization actually came in at,” Hedges said. “Why are we looking at something different than we initially were forced to agree to?
“It sounds like to me somebody is trying to figure out what can we spend the other $53,000 on.”
When Portland Economic Development Corporation and representatives from IOM met to discuss the work, a compromise was made, Geesaman said.
Hedges said he felt the council was being forced to pay for an agreement Portland Economic Development Corporation made.
“I personally feel like we’re paying for site development beyond the scope of the property that we sold to IOM,” Hedges said.
Councilman Kent McClung disagreed with Hedges, saying council could decide whether or not it would pay for the site improvements.
“Not one of us here is forced to do anything in our votes, I would hope. We can either vote yea or nay,” McClung said.
The drainage work had to be done, Geesaman said, and it was on land owned by the city. And the drainage work benefits 60-some acres of land, not just IOM’s, he added.
“PEDC agreed to this,” Geesaman said.
The fiber optic Internet line will also benefit all of the industrial park, and the city can use the Internet line to better market land behind IOM and Fort Recovery Industries, he said.
“One of the reasons why I thought it would be worthwhile is because at the same time Community Fiber Solutions purchased our Gym City gymnastics building … They could have located at other counties and other locations,” Geesaman said.
McClung said he feels the project is worthwhile, but the disagreement had to do with timing.
“Some of us would wish to have been told about this ahead of time and asked about it,” he said. “It’s after the fact … I can understand my fellow council members’ hesitance on this.”
Council agreed to table the discussion until its Oct. 20 meeting and asked city attorney Bill Hinkle to bring the original agreement.