City of Hillsboro water emergency extended; council OKs legislation for Fairground Road 'incentive district'

The City of Hillsboro announced it is extending its Phase II Water Emergency,  while city council members also voted to approve preliminary legislation for a new “incentive district” in the Fairground Road neighborhood during their Thursday, Oct. 17 meeting.

As previously reported, Hillsboro Safety and Service Director Brianne Abbott advised at the Sept. 12 city council meeting that the city’s water reserves were at approximately an 80-day supply. Five weeks later, the situation remains the same, according to Abbott.

Abbott issued the water emergency order Sept. 10. It is the second-most serious emergency classification of the three levels permitted under city code.

As of Oct. 15, Highland County is still in a drought, although the level has lessened to a D0 (Abnormally Dry) classification.

“In light of the ongoing drought conditions, the city of Hillsboro is extending its Phase II Water Emergency declaration,” Abbott said. “Our current water supply is at an estimated 80 days, with no significant precipitation expected in the upcoming forecast.

“Even with the rain we received in the previous weeks, our supply is back in the same position it was at the time of the initial emergency.”

Under the current Phase Two Water Emergency, it is unlawful to use water from the city water system for the purpose of:

(a) Watering lawns, flowers, trees, shrubs, or gardens;

(b) Washing parking lots, driveways, or sidewalks;

(c) Cleaning of motor vehicles, except in a high-pressure pay car wash facility;

(d) Filling swimming pools or fountains; or

(e) Any other non-essential use.

“We urge all residents to continue conserving water and adhering to the established water usage usage restrictions,” Abbott said. “Together, we can work toward ensuring the sustainability of our water resources during this time. Thank you for your cooperation and commitment to our community.”

In other discussion, council approved an economic development plan for a proposed “Fairground Road Incentive District” as an emergency, following a brief presentation by attorney Andrew Spoor of Keating Muething & Klekamp.  

According to the legislation, the district is being proposed to “host a mix of single-family attached, detached, multiple-family dwellings and commercial uses.

“The Incentive District will include single-family homes, multiple-family homes and two-family dwellings within the portion that is zoned Residential B,” the plan says. “The Incentive District will also include a commercial venue in the portion zoned Residential A, and the Business and Residential D portion can be a combination of permitted uses. It is expected the Incentive District will ultimately contain 50 to 60 homes.”

For infrastructure improvements to this area, it is proposed that the “Incentive District” — which totals 24.3 acres — will be a tax increment financing (TIF) district, which is what Spoor explained in more detail to council.

The Ohio Department of Development defines a TIF as “an economic development mechanism available to local governments in Ohio to finance public infrastructure improvements and, in certain circumstances, residential rehabilitation. Payments derived from the increased assessed value of any improvement to real property beyond that amount are directed toward a separate fund to finance the construction of public infrastructure defined within the TIF legislation.” The city has utilized this for many developments in the past.

According to Spoor, the city is seeking a 75-percent, 10-year TIF in the Fairground Road area “to capture some incremental value — primarily in this case, to offset the city's expenditures that it incurred on public infrastructure for that development.

“This one in particular is on a bit of a fast track,” Spoor said. “This is for the primarily residential, but also partially commercial, development that's going in up on Fairground Road next to Pea Ridge Road.”

Spoor said the reason for the “fast track” is that this type of TIF, under ORC 5709.40(C), has a different notification window than other similar districts.

“This particular variety of TIF, you have to notify all the people that are within the district 30 days prior to a public hearing that you set, which has to be 30 days prior to the ordinance being adopted to create the TIF,” he said. “In order to adopt the ordinance in calendar year 2024, it has to be done on a fairly short basis, like this, with the emergencies.

“The reason for adopting it in ’24 is because in order to set tax year 2024 as the baseline year for the increment, the ordinance has to be passed and effective within calendar year ’24.”

According to Spoor, the legislation ultimately approved by council Thursday is “for the limited purpose of adopting economic development plan, which is an antecedent step to the economic development director being able to send the notice out to the residents within this district” for a public hearing.

The public hearing is being scheduled for Nov. 18 at 6:30 p.m. at Hillsboro City Hall, 130 North High St.

“The actual putting into effect of the TIF would not take place until the ordinance is heard and voted on in December, because there also has to be certain other notices that are sent out to the school district in advance of that,” Spoor said.

Spoor pointed out that there are already residential developments being built and nearing completion within the district.

“If the TIF is not passing this year, those projects will be most likely put on the tax rolls starting for tax year 2025,” Spoor said. “If you pass the TIF at that point, you would not be able to capture that incremental value of the TIF, because it would be too late, so the reason for the time crunch on this one is essentially to capture the full value of those incremental improvements.

“To clarify, this type of tax increment financing district does not change the taxes that people that live in the district otherwise pay. It's the same bill, with or without the TIF. This is primarily an accounting measure at the county level on where the tax revenues that are collected are ultimately distributed.”

Council president Tom Eichinger asked if this particular TIF is exempt from needing approval from the Hillsboro City Schools district.

“Correct,” Spoor said. “This is a proposed 75-percent, 10-year TIF on this one, and that would be within the statutory limits that the city can propose without school district [consent].”

Eichinger also asked the city to verify that the TIF would “allow the city to recoup pretty much all of the infrastructure costs” in the area, where the city is in the process of completing their multimillion-dollar Roberts Lane extension project.

“When we talked about this project, that was how we were going to help pay off the loans, what grants that we didn't get,” public works superintendent Shawn Adkins said.

Following their discussion, council voted 6-0 to suspend the three-reading rule and 6-0 to approve the legislation on its first reading.

Also approved on its first reading were the following ordinances and resolutions:

• A resolution to adopt the 2024 version of the City of Hillsboro Policy and Procedure Manual was approved as an emergency to revise the city’s vacation policy, after suspension of the three-reading rule.

Civil service and employee relations committee chair Dan Baucher said that his committee met Oct. 15 to review the change proposed by city auditor Dawson Barreras, with all three members voting in favor.

According to Baucher, the current policy states: “For an employee initially hired on or after July 5, 1987, the employee's prior service with the city of Hillsboro shall be counted for the purpose of computing the amount of employee’s vacation.” The new language reads: “For an employee initially hired on or after July 5, 1987, the employee's prior service with any governmental entity within the state of Ohio shall be counted for the purpose of computing the amount of the employee's vacation.”

• Following pay changes passed in September for Hillsboro Municipal Court, two different ordinances were approved Thursday.

First was an ordinance to establish the annual pay of the Municipal Court clerk pursuant to R.C. 1901.31(C)(1), which was authorized as an emergency measure.

According to Abbott, Barreras advised her that “since the Municipal Court runs in a deficit, the legislative authority of the City of Hillsboro shall decide the annual compensation of the clerk of courts. This is pursuant to the Ohio Revised Code. He is requesting suspension of the three-reading rule and passage by emergency to comply with the ORC.”

As previously reported, an ordinance to adjust compensation for certain city employees was approved as an emergency, following suspension of the three-reading rule, in September. The ordinance approved last month includes two assistant law directors with a pay range of $25,000 to $30,000; a victim rights director at $20-$25/hour; a city building paralegal at $10,000; a municipal court paralegal at $45,000-$55,000; a clerk/court administrator at $31-$40/hour; a deputy clerk I at $25-$30/hour; a deputy clerk II at $19-$24/hour; and a security officer/bailiff at $25-$35/hour.

Under the legislation approved in October, the clerk’s salary will be set at $31.24 per hour.

“They're not allowed to have a range,” Abbott said. “If they're in a deficit, it has to be a set amount.”

The ordinance presented Thursday says that “the 2023 revenue of the Hillsboro Municipal Court as certified is in a deficit.” Under the ORC, “if the revenue of a municipal court, for which the population of the territory is less than 100,000, for the preceding calendar year as so certified is not equal to or greater than those expenditures for the operation of the court for that calendar year as so certified, the clerk of a municipal court shall receive the annual compensation that the legislative authority prescribes.”

Also approved — after Adkins obtained clarification — was an ordinance making supplemental appropriations in the amount of $5,000 in order to pay a court contractor.

Upon its introduction, no council members motioned for the legislation’s approval, as Abbott and law director Randalyn Worley were unsure which contractor it pertained to. At the end of the meeting, council member Greg Maurer moved to revisit the legislation, after Adkins said he had called Barreras and found out the legislation is to pay the court’s process server. The ordinance passed, 6-0.

• A resolution authorizing the mayor to prepare and submit an application for the FY2025 Land and Water Conservation Fund Program was approved as an emergency, following suspension of the three-reading rule. Abbott said they were seeking passage as an emergency “to meet the deadline for the grant.”

In other discussion:

• The only legislation having a first reading only with no action taken was a proposed ordinance vacating an unnamed alley between 134 East Pleasant Street and 126 East Pleasant Street. According to Abbott, the legislation came about “by property owner application” and was recommended by the Hillsboro Planning Commission.

The legislation describes the area as an “unnamed and unused alley,” and according to Abbott, there is only one property owner affected.

• An ordinance modifying the zoning classification of certain parcels, including “on Beech, Elm, Railroad, John [streets] and surrounding area,” according to Abbott, was approved on its third reading. The legislation was introduced at the Planning Commission’s recommendation.

A public hearing on the matter was held Sept. 12, where city administrators answered several questions from local property and/or business owners in the affected neighborhoods.

Under the proposal, the listed parcels will be rezoned from industrial “E” to either business and residential “D” or residential “B.”

• An ordinance amending section 155.073(M) of the codified ordinances of the City of Hillsboro pertaining to auto service station/auto repair shop standards was also approved on its third reading.

Currently, the section does not exist in the city’s zoning code, and according to Abbott, the legislation was recommended by the Hillsboro Planning Commission. As proposed, the new section will include standards for lot size (a minimum of 10,000 square feet); setbacks (at least 35 feet from the street right-of-way and at least 25 feet from adjoining property in residential districts or 10 feet from adjoining property in commercial districts); fencing and screening; exterior storage; architecture; lighting; and gas pumps.

• An ordinance vacating an unnamed alley between Trenton Street and Adams Street passed after its third reading.

According to the ordinance, the legislation was recommended by the Hillsboro Planning Commission and affects the alley bordered by 414 and 416 Adams Street and 429 Trenton Street and its adjoining parcel. All adjacent landowners “filed consent” to vacate the alley, the legislation says, as Abbott said the legislation came about “by citizen application.”

• Council heard the second reading of an ordinance amending and renumbering section 110 of the codified ordinances of the City of Hillsboro pertaining to licensing requirements for electronic gaming parlors operated within the City of Hillsboro.

• Maurer, chair of the utilities committee, discussed a Oct. 10 meeting to resume talks on a proposal for citywide trash collection. The committee heard comments from several citizens regarding recycling, costs, exemptions and other concerns. Read more at: https://highlandcountypress.com/news/citywide-trash-proposal-debate-con….

Under communications, Eichinger noted that they received a voicemail message regarding the waste pickup proposal, which was transcribed for council members and referred to the utilities committee for further review. The property owner who called, like other citizens at the most recent committee, asked if the city would consider “an exemption if you can prove that you’re already paying for garbage pickup.”

• As street and safety committee chair Adam Wilkin was absent, a report from his committee’s Sept. 30 meeting was read by committee member Jo Earley. Wilkin wrote that his committee met to discuss a proposed expansion of the days and hours of the city’s DORA district.

As previously reported, after nearly a year of planning, council voted — in a split decision, 4-3 — to approve the ordinance creating a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) in uptown Hillsboro in June 2023. Currently, the hours of the DORA are Thursday through Saturday from 3-10 p.m.

According to Wilkin, the meeting was held in response to some suggestions from area businesses. He said they plan to meet again soon with representatives from the Hillsboro Uptown Business Association (HUBA) to receive more feedback.

• At the start of the meeting, council voted 6-0 to excuse the absence of Wilkin. Also absent from the meeting was Mayor Justin Harsha.  

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