There was talk about a whole lot of ongoing projects, talk of a land swaps and a rental inspection program at this evening’s Bridgeport Development Authority meeting.  And rather quietly, there was also the announcement that a new business is in place at Charles Pointe.

 

During the economic activity update by Bridgeport Community Development Director Randy Spellman, he noted that Sherri’s Closet and Cleaners would be – or may already have – opened up for business at the massive development along Jerry Dove Drive. The business, he said, is located in the same building that houses Fire House Subs, Cardinal Pediatrics and Mia Margherita.

 

“They’re close to opening or maybe have already opened,” said Spellman. “They’re a few doors down from Mia Margherita.”

 

Along with selling clothes, Spellman said he believed they would be doing dry cleaning as well. The names listed on the building permit are Marty Knoose and Sherri Lowther, but there was no listing that could be found for the business on whitepages.com.

 

The permit total was $42,150 for the building. The construction work done in a building owned by Dave Biafora with the work being handled by his Metro Rentals out of Morgantown.

 

While that seemed to get everyone’s attention, it wasn’t the issue that drew the most discussion. Most of the talk by the BDA came during discussion of a proposed trade of property involving the owners of the Meadowbrook Industrial Park. The proposal would involve the city giving 3.173 acres appraised at $250,000 to the park owners for 1.54 acres appraised at $185,000. The acreage would give the Meadowbrook Industrial Park a contiguous piece of property.

 

There has been thought that even though the trade would not give the city a dollar for dollar exchange – which City Attorney Dean Ramsey pointed out happens often to facilitate development – that future development that might come as a result of the land transfer would allow the city to get the dollars recovered in economic development activity. The dollars would come in the form of B&O, particularly during the construction of anything on the property.

 

Members went back and forth on the merits of the change and the drawbacks. Resident Mike Fresa, who attended the meeting and was extremely familiar with the land, called the matter a “shell game” and asked for the BDA to at least table the matter to see exactly the slope of the land and other issues.

 

“You can’t take taxpayer money and best it on what may come down the road,” he said.

 

Whether the BDA agreed with that, they did agree to table the matter. City Council’s representative on the board, Darrell Bowen, pointed out that keeping the parcel wouldn’t prohibit the owners of the Meadowbrook Industrial Park from making a deal with a potential client. Bowen said the potential client would have to simply buy the parcel of land the industrial park would want to close the deal from the city.

 

Spellman did say that in discussion with the owners that they indicated they had a potential client that would like to buy the entire parcel available in the area, which would include the 3.173 acres they would like to include in the swap with the city.

 

After much discussion, BDA member Jeff Smell asked that the matter be tabled. He suggested that before anything is done that the nature of what type of development could be on the way and how serious that development was should be disclosed if possible. There was also discussion to further review the acreage the city would receive in the land swap. Smell’s motion was seconded and unanimously passed.

 

Another item that came up for discussion was the planned rental inspection program. Spellman as well as City Manager Kim Haws both said the need for the program has come about due to the increase in rental units. Spellman estimated the number to be at more than 600 in the city.

 

Spellman said he thought there would be about 300-plus inspections per year as they would occur on each unit bi-annually. He said the inspection would involve a checklist of items from things such as smoke detectors to windows properly opening and closing and would cost landlords $25. In the event a problem was found, the landlord would be required to get a building permit to fix the problem.

 

According to Spellman, there shouldn’t be many problems as many apartment units have their own maintenance teams. He said once someone moves out, they immediately go in and check everything before returning someone’s security deposit. He said he would be surprised if the number of issues that arose from the inspections reached 20 percent.

 

“Our intention is not to make this a highly intrusive program,” said Haws.

 

In other discussion this evening, the BDA learned:

 

- Work is ongoing on the $1.9 million Total Dental Building. Spellman said the dentist’s office will occupy the top floor, while space for three new tenants will occupy the bottom floor.

 

- The Comfort Inn and Suites and the Courtyard by Marriott – both located at White Oaks – should be opening in the next 60 days. Spellman said both groups are hiring staff.

 

- Spellman said Meagher's Irish Pub should open later this month. It's located at Charles Pointe.

 

- Heard from Haws that plans for a reconfigured Harrison County Development Authority will have no impact on the BDA. Haws did say Bridgeport will likely be involved with the reconfigured HCDA, which is looking at requiring voting members to pay for their seats at the development table.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Community Development Director Randy Spellman and second photo shows resident Mike Fresa both discussing a potential land swap by the city. The third photo is of City Manager Kim Haws, while City Attorney Dean Ramsey is pictured in the bottom photo.