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Trustees approve development agreement



The Richfield Township Board of Trustees approved a development agreement with J.J.J. Properties at the Dec. 3 meeting.
Summit County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Ray Hartsough said the agreement with J.J.J. Properties will include the company building an extension of Columbia Road, constructing a secondary access roadway and installing water and sanitary sewer lines.
Hartsough said the agreement was originally between Richfield Village and J.J.J. Properties, but he went to village officials and asked for the township to be involved in the agreement.
According to township officials, Best Buy is interested in building a distribution center and offices in the Joint Economic Development District (JEDD), which was formed with Richfield Village, that would bring over 200 jobs and generate tax revenue for the JEDD. The JEDD is located in the township’s Light Industrial/Office District, which is located in the northeast quadrant of the township off Brecksville Road, according to officials.
Trustees also passed a resolution in support of a Summit County Tax Increment Financing (TF) agreement, which was passed by Summit County Council at its Dec. 7 meeting.
At County Council’s Nov. 30 meeting, Bryan Herschel, county project manager for Community and Economic Development, said the project involves the construction of a $40 million, 740,000-square-foot distribution center and office space, with a 10-year, 50 percent TIF agreement for the extension of Columbia Road into the site.
In other news, trustees unanimously passed the township’s organizational resolution for 2021.
The resolution includes a 2 percent pay increase for full-time township staff and includes $1,000 bonuses for full-time staff and Zoning Inspector Laurie Pinney, who is part time, and a $500 bonus to a seasonal employee for work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also reflected in the resolution is the cancellation of the Snowbird Festival, held in conjunction with the village and the Richfield Joint Recreation District (RJRD), and not making a new donation to the village’s Arbor Day Tree Giveaway if it is held next year. Trustees gave $1,000 to last year’s event, which was not held.
The resolution notes Sandy Apidone will serve another term on the RJRD Board, Chris Sivak will continue to be an alternate on the Zoning Commission and Christi Gable will continue to be an alternate on the Board of Zoning Appeals.
In other business:
• Fire Chief Phil McLean announced there were 44 active cases of COVID-19 in the township and 11 active cases in Richfield Village.
“Is there any trend or pattern as to why it’s higher in the township?” asked Trustee Janet Jankura.
McLean replied some of the cases were probably from skilled care facilities and that those are the numbers they received from Summit County Public Health.
• Trustee Robert Luther reported a road department truck had broken transmission lines that were repaired.
• Jankura said she and her fellow trustees trust the people they appointed to the RJRD Board to make the decision they feel is best for the future of the Oviatt House, and that it wasn’t the place for trustees to take a side. Richfield Village Council was considering its role in whether the house should be demolished or left standing. [See related story on Page 5.]
Trustees also approved the following:
√ a change in appropriations and transfers;
√ requesting engineering assistance to receive a cost estimate for 2021 road projects; and
√ accepting a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes distribution from Summit County for $1,161 for Cuyahoga Valley National Park land in the township.
The next Richfield trustees’ meeting is set for Jan. 7 at 6:30 p.m. It will be held via the Microsoft Teams meeting application, with a link to view the meeting at www.richfield-twp.org.