Council, developer, crowd battle over Van Wert Armory

Not off subject, at least to me.
Yes, IN just passed right to work, we shall see how that works out for them. I do know that a lot of southern states have been working on attracting new business and they are pretty much booming right now.
Mitch Daniel absolutely said NO to anything this year. By the time 2016 rolls around he may be redundant. I kind of like him, though.

rwb wrote:

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Yeah, regretfully I know that. Now using that right to work thing, had nothing to do with the past with Indiana. They just passed the right to work legislation. As far as the right to work, no I don't believe it is really going to be beneficial in the long run. I do believe it is going to be a race to the bottom. Indiana sold off its highways to foreign investors several years ago. I don't think that is beneficial in the long run either. In 06 Indiana lawmakers decided to lease their entire toll road system to two foreign companies, Cintra in Spain and Macquarie Bank in Australia. Under the agreement of the 75-year lease, the Spanish and Australian team will pay $3.6 billion. You know Republicans keep talking about protecting our children's future, yet with this type of agreement, what are they doing for the future of these children they say they are trying to protect? As far as Mitch Daniel's flip flopping on this issue, is it more about the state of Indiana or a looking at a possible future presidency?
Sorry to go off subject.

The truth is Indiana got both Honda and Toyota because Mitch Daniels did lease the toll road, giving him immediate money to pay for the infrastructure improvements needed.

Kirby R Kelly wrote:

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The truth is Indiana got both Honda and Toyota because Mitch Daniels did lease the toll road, giving him immediate money to pay for the infrastructure improvements needed.

Agreed.
But you cannot deny that OH can't compete with IN when it comes to taxation, worker's comp, etc.
Even before IN passed the right-to-work law.
Why would any company locate in VW when they can go 20 miles west into IN which is a much more business-friendly state?

hum wrote:

Not off subject, at least to me.
Yes, IN just passed right to work, we shall see how that works out for them. I do know that a lot of southern states have been working on attracting new business and they are pretty much booming right now.
Mitch Daniel absolutely said NO to anything this year. By the time 2016 rolls around he may be redundant. I kind of like him, though.

In total, there are 23 right to work states. So far there is a difference in RTW states over non-RTW or CBS states. CBS states do have a slightly higher unemployment rate compared to RTW states having slightly lower unemployment rate. On average, Indiana has a slightly lower cost of living index than Ohio. Indiana ranked 5th and Ohio ranked 16th in the 1st quarter of 2012. Yes wages are higher in CBS states by approximately 3.2% than CBS states. Also pensions and employer sponsored health care is lower in RTW states than CBS states. They say on average the RTW states workers make about $1,500 less annually than those in the CBS states.

hum wrote:

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Agreed.
But you cannot deny that OH can't compete with IN when it comes to taxation, worker's comp, etc.
Even before IN passed the right-to-work law.
Why would any company locate in VW when they can go 20 miles west into IN which is a much more business-friendly state?

I do know at one time unemployed OH workers did receive a much better unemployment check than IN unemployed workers. I am assuming on the taxes, you are meaning taxation in IN is more favorable than OH for businesses and industries. From what I can see, the tax burden is placed more directly on the citizens than businesses. There is a disparity between the W/C rate between OH and IN.
Here is a story of interest from earlier this year on IN.
http://www.examiner.com/article/business-frie...

BTW, I did see where Miller Precision did purchase the old Kongsberg building here in VW. Not a huge thing, but it is something!

Remember the historical Elks Lodge building that was located on South Washington St?. What about the beautiful old historical home that was located beside the Elks Lodge?Do you see them now?

So it sounds like the council members are hoping Wass and the foundation go away - especially since the law director said they could named in lawsuits for interfering with the building sale. So what's next?

candy wrote:

Remember the historical Elks Lodge building that was located on South Washington St?. What about the beautiful old historical home that was located beside the Elks Lodge?Do you see them now?

Candy, old does not mean historical. The old Elks building was not of architectural significance. In fact I think some of the windows of doors had been boarded up. The addition to the back had no architectural connection to the original part of the house.The lodge benefited by selling it and building new.

If you don't think they should tear down old buildings, where were you when then tore down a house on North Wayne Street recently?
That house was old, but most folks thought it should come down. It is really up to the owner as to what happens to the armory. If the government can stop you from doing things with your own property then you have slavery. You don't want that do you.

what the h wrote:

So it sounds like the council members are hoping Wass and the foundation go away - especially since the law director said they could named in lawsuits for interfering with the building sale. So what's next?

Council should not even be involved! Council shouldn't even have scheduled a committee meeting. The VW County Foundation does NOT own the property in question, nor do they have an option to buy. So they have no standing whatsoever to request this change. That would be like me going to Council and asking that they rezone the Central Mutual Insurance property to "Heavy Industrial." This whole matter is an abuse of the legislative process.

where were they wrote:

If you don't think they should tear down old buildings, where were you when then tore down a house on North Wayne Street recently?
That house was old, but most folks thought it should come down. It is really up to the owner as to what happens to the armory. If the government can stop you from doing things with your own property then you have slavery. You don't want that do you.

I agree, but in this case it wasn't government stepping in to try to stop this deal. After reading today's paper it seems many on city council tried to claim ignorance on this deal though. It was Wassenberg/VW Foundation that created this situation.

Heavens what about a few years back when the county commissioners unloaded the old Lincolnway home on some sap. They new what he was wanting to do out there and didn't give a darn. The community decided it didn't want him to do what was being planned. Another business and jobs that didn't develop. Did any of the commissioners get any flack from what they did in that situation? Heck, in 04 we passed a .8 (renewal) levy (replacement) for 5 years , commencing in 2004 , first due in calendar year 2005,to operate and maintain the Lincolnway Home (Van Wert County Home). What happened to these taxes? When was Lincolnway Home sold? There is also the issue of the surrounding farm ground. Produce grown and sold had gone to the operation and maintenance of Lincolnway home also. What happened with those funds?

Tear down the Armory and put up a new building? Sounds like some construction jobs (although they may be short lived it is better than nothing).

Jobs wrote:

Tear down the Armory and put up a new building? Sounds like some construction jobs (although they may be short lived it is better than nothing).

No, my understanding it is developers and their crew from Kentucky. There may be some grunt jobs for locals. Heck if The Arts Center would be coming in, we would have a better chance with local construction doing the work. They will have to replace the roof, windows, insulation, reconstruction, renovating, updating and landscaping.

I thought the art center was always screaming "broke". Where would the cash come from? If from the foundation, why now?

the smog wrote:

I thought the art center was always screaming "broke". Where would the cash come from? If from the foundation, why now?

Because the VWCF thinks that a family dollar close to downtown is trashy, and will make our town look like poor hillbillys live here. It's a s simple as that. VWCF doesn't think A FD is classy enough.

Art center crap is a pipe dream and they are simply using each other at the moment. If this went through, the armory would just sit there the way it is empty for another 25 years.

BTW, If I was Mr. Lippi and the city actually did something stupid, You better believe I would sue their ass off. The city is not stupid. as many of you know, Mr. Lippi is actually a fairly wealth man. Hiring a lawyer is a no brainer.

You can tell how long the VW Foundation good old boys have been on that board. They still think they can pull a fast one and get away with it. That being said, the Foundation does a lot of good for the area. Thanks! But in this case, please butt out.

What good is it to tear down eyesore buildings so that people won't get a bad impression of VW, when you have eyesore people being drawn into the downtown area by seedy bars, tattoo shops, and culturally challenged businesses? They need to zone the downtown area and pass anti-loitering laws before doing anything else.

do u remember we had a family dollar some yrs back,it was where the funiture store is at odd lots,it didnt make a go in vw,and now they say they only build new,so many nice lots for sale and we have to sacfrice another old building for maybe progress,

Downtown wrote:

What good is it to tear down eyesore buildings so that people won't get a bad impression of VW, when you have eyesore people being drawn into the downtown area by seedy bars, tattoo shops, and culturally challenged businesses? They need to zone the downtown area and pass anti-loitering laws before doing anything else.

just saw a crowd hanging around outside the new tattoo shop taking up the whole width and a good chunk of the length of the sidewalk in front of two other buildings, one another new business, this is called loitering, don't we have ordinances against it? if not van wert should pass some.