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Canfield city, township agree on tentative JEDD to pave way for Windsor House
By ROBERT CONNELLY
CANFIELD
Canfield city and township have struck a tentative tax-revenue sharing, water and sewer deal to bring a proposed nursing home to reality.
After months of negotiation, the proposed Windsor House, its location bordered by state Route 446 and Mill Creek MetroParks Farm, is a step closer to bringing 72 to 80 full-time jobs to Canfield.
“We are ecstatic,” said Canfield Mayor Bernie Kosar Sr.
The Joint Economic Development District means the city and township will share tax revenue, costs of police and fire protection and road maintenance for the facility as well as water and sanitary services.
“We just wanted to make sure that we did it properly from the very start, because this is a 25-year agreement ... and there are an additional two 25-year options,” said Marie Cartwright, a Canfield trustee.
The Mahoning County Planning Commission approved rezoning of the location, 18.58 acres, in Canfield Township to enable construction to begin April 22, 2014. The 72-bed nursing home’s land was rezoned from single-family residential to business, but the project was held up because of a lack of water and sewer lines.
“We as a community can’t walk away from 72 new jobs,” Kosar said. The project cost is between $10 million and $12 million.
“I’m very excited. I knew this would get done, I just didn’t know when,” said John Masternick, owner and operator of the Girard-based Windsor House. “I will move in a parallel manner to finish the plans, the drawings that I’ve had on hold. I will start the development process now that I’m assured there will be water and sewer.”
Masternick is moving 72 empty beds from his existing facilities to the new Canfield nursing home, which will be made up entirely of private beds. He has been paying $1,000 a day in bed fees to the Ohio Department of Health while Canfield city and township negotiated for months.
“I have a certain sense of urgency to move this forward,” Masternick said of the bed fees. “They were very cognizant of that, and it’s one of the reasons I think they worked so hard to get this agreement done.”
Masternick now will be able to submit his full plans to the Ohio Department of Health, which he hadn’t been able to submit with no sewer or water. That process takes nine to 12 months.
Involved in negotiations were Canfield city Manager Joe Warino, Kosar, attorney Mark Fortunato and now-council President Don Dragish Jr.; and Cartwright and township attorney Jim Matthews.
Canfield Township trustees and Canfield council will meet next week in a public meeting to discuss the details.
“We would as a joint body discuss the terms of the agreement,” Cartwright said. “We can break off and pass a resolution that evening.”
After the meeting, there will be a 30-day window for public comment, Fortunato said. There will be future public meetings, and this is just the first step.
The arrangement is:
The Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office, which serves the township, would police the facility.
The city and township already share the Cardinal Joint Fire District.
The city will provide water and sewer lines to the facility, which is what had halted the project.
The township would collect real-estate taxes, while the city would collect income tax from the owner and employees.
There will be a five-person board, much like the board for the fire district, with a representative from each government, a representative of employees and the employer, and then an at-large selection made by the four members. That at-large selection will chair the five-person board.
Canfield as a community is working together again after separating in 1991 into a city and township. Kosar cited the tornado from last summer where the city and township worked together during the cleanup. “We’ve had a concerted effort for people to think of us as a community,” Cartwright added.
“Whatever there was in the past — I think from my view, take on it, we’ve worked together very, very well between the city and township to form as a whole Canfield to get this done,” Dragish said.
Cartwright and Kosar have been the main conduits for the talks.
The early JEDD talk was heated. The city wanted the land to be annexed if it provided water; the township opposed that because officials said losing land could affect its standing as a township. This was in April 2014, but talks continued quietly as they worked through their differences.