Owner plans new motel off I-80

A motel official hopes the 15 golf courses in the area will attract patrons.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
HUBBARD -- A Pennsylvania motel owner is proposing to build a $3.5 million motel off Interstate 80 in Hubbard Township.
Word of the planned 65-room motel along state Routes 7 and 62 behind McDonald's restaurant surfaced Monday during a caucus session before the regular city council meeting.
The proposal is being made by Ashok Kochhar, a partner in M.K. International Inc. M.K. owns the Super 8 motel in West Middlesex, Pa.
Golfers
Contacted Monday evening, Kochhar said a motel can be sustained because there aren't any in Hubbard and Brookfield townships, and he hopes to attract golfers who are drawn to the area because of its 15 courses.
Kochhar said he has a purchase agreement for 3 acres on Commerce Lane behind the fast-food restaurant.
Mayor Arthur U. Magee said the city is prepared to provide utilities to the motel.
The parcel is part of the Hubbard Joint Economic Development District managed by a board of township and city officials.
If the motel is built, the city would receive the income tax paid by employees, and the school district would receive most of the property taxes.
The land would remain in the township, and the township would receive some of the property taxes.
The proposal calls for 15 to 20 employees at the national chain motel.
When it would open
Kochhar said that he wants to close on the land purchase by Sept. 10, with groundbreaking this year. If on schedule, doors would open in spring 2005.
During regular business, council advanced to a second reading of legislation pertaining to the cap on the city tax credit.
The tax credit is at 1 percent for city residents who work outside the city. The proposed legislation would keep the credit at 1 percent.
If the proposed legislation is passed by council, there would be no increase in the tax credit. If voters approve an increase in the income tax rate to 1.5 percent during the Nov. 2 general election, all residents will be required to pay the additional 0.5 percent increase in income tax rate.
Council will meet in special session at 7:30 p.m. Monday in council chambers.
Magee wants legislators to approve the tax credit ordinance before it goes into summer recess during August. It would also allow the campaign committee to begin preparing its literature.
The issue was not considered by council as an emergency Monday because it takes six votes to pass as an emergency. Councilmen William Williams, D-at large, and John Marshall, D-2nd, were absent.