43
Commissioners expected to approve Liberty hotel tax exemption
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Trumbull County commissioners will have a public hearing at 10 a.m. today regarding a 49 percent, 10-year real-estate tax exemption for a $6.5 million Liberty hotel.
After the hearing, commissioners are expected to approve the exemption and send it to the Ohio Department of Development Services for final approval.
The hearing will be in the fifth-floor meeting room at the County Administration Building on Courthouse Square where the commissioners have their meetings.
Perni and Perni Equities LLC of Hubbard has a target of March for construction to begin and March 2015 for it to be complete, said Dave Dubiaga, community planning director for the county.
The company plans to build a 90-unit Comfort Suites at the Belmont Avenue site formerly occupied by a Ramada Inn. It would employ 15 full-time workers and 12 part-timers.
In other action, the commissioners will consider today whether to support the effort of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy of Cleveland to acquire conservation easements for two county properties using Ohio Public Works Commission funding.
The first is called Eagle Creek Wetlands Protection Project and involves 142 acres on Eagle Creek and Nelson-Mosier Road in Braceville Township.
The area provides protection for forested land and 54 acres of high-quality wetlands considered valuable for species habitat and water-quality improvements in the Mahoning River.
Among the species there is the Eastern straw hedge, a potentially threatened species. Also present are sphagnum moss hummocks, which make it a prime habitat for the four-toed salamander. The land serves as a breeding habitat for the redheaded woodpecker and a nesting, resting and feeding area for migratory waterfowl.
The second area is the 52-acre Grand River Wetlands Protection Project on Countyline Donley Road in Mesopotamia Township. The area contains about 1,133 linear feet of Grand River and 22 acres of forested and riverine wetlands. It will protect a wide variety of wildlife and plant species and protect water quality for communities in the Grand River Watershed.