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WHEELING -- Members of Wheeling City Council on Tuesday unanimously agreed to again table the final decision on the option to purchase the former Ohio Valley Medical Center property.
City council members met for the first regular meeting in June on Tuesday afternoon and decided to delay a decision on the purchase until the next regular city council meeting, which is scheduled to take place on June 16. As part of the proposed purchase agreement, the current property owners, Medical Properties Trust or MPT, have asked that if a transaction happens, they would like it to be completed before the end of the fiscal year on June 30 for tax purposes.
This means the final vote on the measure will take place after next week's municipal election on June 9. Five of the six seats on city council as well as the mayor's seat are up for grabs in contested races.
"We've had executive sessions and talked about this -- it's a very complex situation," said Ward 6 Councilman Dave Palmer, who is the only incumbent council member who is unopposed in his re-election bid. Two current council members, 3rd Ward Councilwoman Melinda Koslik and 4th Ward Councilwoman Wendy Scatterday, are not seeking re-election.
Palmer said additional information is needed before a final decision on the OVMC acquisition is made. City leaders have toured the former hospital campus and have sought answers to many questions about the facility over the past several weeks in hopes to get a grasp on the best way to proceed with the offer.
Officials with MPT, which specializes in managing hospital properties, have no interest in continuing to manage a property that is no longer being used as a functioning health care facility. OVMC officially closed its doors for good in September of last year.
Since then, the city has looked at one building in particular as a possible location for its new Public Safety Building to house headquarters for its police and fire departments.
The city implemented a new user fee at the beginning of this year, collecting $2 per week from people who work in the city, to generate money that will fund the new Public Safety Building, whether it be for repurposing an existing building on the OVMC campus or constructing a new building at another location.
MPT is willing to transfer ownership to the city for a minimal price that would cover closing costs and other transaction expenses, as well as any outstanding taxes. City leaders have stressed that these costs are insignificant compared to the estimated value of the property, which has loosely been tagged at around $40 million. Officials have indicated a sticking point in the transaction has been determining the costs associated with liability and continued maintenance as the city would take control of marketing the buildings to the private sector.
"We have dug into this very deeply," said Mayor Glenn Elliott. "It would be safe to say it's one of the biggest decisions that city government in Wheeling has made in decades, if it is made. It's a huge undertaking. There are lots of pros and lots of cons. Weighing them has been difficult. We haven't compiled all of the information yet, and we've previously committed to folks that we would make that information public in advance of any final decision being made."
The mayor indicated that the ordinance on the purchase agreement for OVMC could be tabled one last time on Tuesday while still having the item remain on the agenda under unfinished business for the next city council meeting on June 16.
Officials said Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron was expected to participate in a conference call with MPT representatives and their legal counsel on Tuesday afternoon.
Sometime before their next regular meeting, city council members are expected to meet in another closed-door session to discuss the latest round of answers to their questions about the property.