Seniors housing gets nod

The condos will be for people with annual incomes of 21,000 to 36,000.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
CORTLAND -- City council has advanced the possibility of the city's having more senior-citizen housing.
Lawmakers approved a resolution Tuesday allowing for the construction of multiple-family buildings on one parcel of land for Walnut Run Senior Homes.
The plan calls for the construction of 40 condominiums -- four buildings with six condos each and four buildings with four units each.
Don Wittman, city service director, said MV Communities Ltd. of Cincinnati wants to build the condo units on 25 acres on the northeast corner of state Route 5 and Louis Avenue.
Wittman said council must approve the final plat, including the layout of streets, before the project can be built; it will be for people age 55 and older.
Denise Blake, a developer with MV Communities, has told council the units would be purchased by those with incomes of 21,000 and 36,000 through a lease-purchase agreement.
Blake had said the project isn't low-income housing as there are no rent subsidies. The area would be in the Maplewood School District.
Council had approved a resolution supporting MV Communities application for tax credits from Ohio Housing Credits, which have been approved by the state, Wittman explained.
New position formed
In other business, council approved a resolution authorizing the clerk to advertise for a new position of construction inspector.
The part-time position will be paid about 20 hourly. The developers are charged an hourly fee for the inspections of streets and water and sewer lines before being considered for acceptance by the city.
The actual hourly rate paid the construction inspector will depend on experience and education, Wittman said.
The inspections are done by Wittman and a city service department employee. Wittman said the position is needed because of the large amount of construction anticipated this summer.
Ambulance purchase
Also at the meeting, lawmakers authorized Fire Chief Bill Navakovich to buy a 98,805 ambulance from Mid Bus Inc. of Bluffton, Ohio.
The new ambulance will replace the oldest of two city-owned ambulances. It is 12 years old. The ambulance will be delivered by the beginning of summer. The city makes nearly 900 emergency runs annually.
Navakovich said the ambulance to be replaced is unreliable and repairs cost the city at least 3,500 in 2005 and more than 4,000 in 2006.
yovich@vindy.com