Ohio County Development Authority members on Wednesday approved the sale of 2 acres at The Highlands for $1 million to a hotel developer.
Administrator Greg Stewart said the purchaser was Wheeling, W.Va., Hotels LLC. He declined to disclose the name of hotel the company plans to construct, noting he'd rather the company announce the brand. He also said he would rather not disclose company officials' names until the final paperwork is signed.
The acreage is situated near a Microtel Inn & Suites already under construction at the site. The Microtel, expected to open this spring, is owned by developer Highlands Hospitality LLC, an affiliate of Wheeling-based Century Equities Inc.
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Photo by Shelley Hanson
Ohio County Administrator Greg Stewart reads hotel tax funding requests during a commission meeting Wednesday.
Meanwhile, authority members also approved two Highlands lease agreements for two different pipeline companies - Price Gregory and Michael's Pipeline - that plan to use land as a pipe yard behind the Silgan Plastics building under construction near the Cabela's Distribution Center. Another lease agreement was approved with Yensen Landscaping, located behind the Marquee Cinemas. Members also approved a lease agreement with Technology Services Group for office space at the West Liberty Highlands Center building. Stewart said TSG is relocating from the city of Wheeling to The Highlands.
In other matters, Commissioner David Sims inquired about the authority's debts to contractors.
"Mainly, all of the old payables, the old contractor payables, everyone has been paid off since the last couple months," Stewart said.
Meanwhile, Stewart noted the authority is using a $5 million loan at 3 percent interest for 20 years from the state Economic Development Authority to pay off a WesBanco loan being used to construct the Silgan Plastics building.
"The date selected to turn it over is June 12. It has 120,000 square feet, and if you recall they're going to have 21 employees there and retain 227 employees at the other exit," Stewart said, referring to the manufacturing plant off Interstate 70 in Ohio County. "That was the big saver, the big one for me. Otherwise they were taking a hard look at moving closer to Maryland, where they would be closer to rail and where most of their customer base is."
The Ohio County Commission met following the OCDA meeting. Commissioners approved a contract to provide its annual funding contribution of $16,000 to the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department.
It also was noted a canvass of Tuesday's primary election votes is slated for 9 a.m. Monday in Room 215 of the City-County Building in Wheeling.
And commission candidate Republican Patty Levenson asked how much members of the public are charged for copies of meeting minutes. Stewart said people don't usually ask for meeting minutes, but he noted the price may be the usual cost to make copies of documents. Sims, against whom Levenson is running in November, said he did not believe the public had been charged in the past and said if there had been a charge there no longer would be.
Commissioners also approved hotel tax budget requests for fiscal 2013: $2,000 to the Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Regatta and $1,500 to Family Service's senior citizens picnic.
The next commission meeting is slated for 6 p.m. May 22, and the OCDA is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. June 5.
