Twinsburgbulletin.com - Deadline extended, township still in hall

by Andre Clayton

Reporter

Twinsburg Township -- After extending for a third time the deadline for Trustees to resume lease payments on their town hall or face possible eviction, the agency that brokered the lease has added a new twist to this months-long tenant-landlord controversy.

The Summit County Port Authority said it recently learned that the value of the Twinsburg Township Municipal Complex is much lower than what Trustees agreed to pay for it in 2005, and if the Port Authority sells the facility for this discounted price to replace the township, it wants the township to pay for the difference.

The Port Authority's new demand is outlined in a March 17 letter from its attorney, George Sarkis, to the Trustees' lawyer, Jack Morrison.

Trustees Jim Balogh and Carol Gasper voted in January, with Trustee Tom Schmidt dissenting, to stop paying the Port Authority's lease, saying the 69,000-square-foot Darrow Road facility is too large and expensive for a 2,300-person community.

Balogh declined to comment on the letter.

"I have looked over the letter," Gasper said, noting that the letter was the first time being informed the complex may have decreased in value.

"I think it shows the waste," she said March 18.

"I have not studied the letter in detail yet," said Schmidt, the lone Trustee still in office from when the lease was approved. "We will discuss the counter proposal in our next meeting in executive session, March 19."

The Port Authority gave Trustees until 4 p.m. March 20 to make a decision. Results of the Trustees meeting or the deadline were not available at press time. Check www.TwinsburgBulletin.com for updates as they become available.

Building's appraisal new issue to contend with

According to the March 17 letter, the Port Authority's recent appraisal of the municipal center found its value was $3.4 million. The 20-year, lease-to-own agreement Trustees signed in 2005 called for the township to pay a minimum of $5.59 million and potentially a couple million more, depending on when it paid off the lease.

"The outstanding bonds value is $5.3 million, so if the building sells for $3.4 million, the township will have to make up that difference," said Port Authority President Chris Burnham.

"If they put the building in the Joint Economic Development District after we find a new tenant, they can easily pay off what they owe us by using the employees' income tax," Burnham added. "Or they can write us a check at closing."

The JEDD, which township and Reminderville voters approved in 2002, allows the township to use the village's taxing authority to collect income tax from workers in the township industrial park, which is to the west of town hall.

Burnham said his agency's March 17 letter was a counter proposal to an offer it received from Trustees March 14, which the agency rejected.

"They wanted to only pay February's rent in full, make an interest payment for March and then just pay interest month to month going forward," Burnham said.

The Port Authority's counter proposal requires the Trustees to make February and March rent payments in full -- approximately $80,000 -- and then pay the interest and fees portion, $25,563, of the approximately $40,000 monthly lease starting in April 1. The remainder of the monthly payment would come from a fund set aside in 2005 by the Port Authority, at the township's direction, to construct a fire hub at the town hall.

The Port Authority's counter proposal also states the agency will give the township staff 60 days to vacate the building after a new tenant is found, and the Port Authority also agreed to work with Trustees to secure an easement so the township can continue using the $185,000 salt storage shed it built in 2006 on the leased property.

On March 14, the Port Authority sent two workers to town hall to mark certain office equipment as the agency's property. The equipment -- a backup generator, chairs and conference tables -- were financed by the agency for about $170,000, Burnham said.

"It's the Port Authority's building," Balogh said of the move.