PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — Portsmouth City Council voted unanimously July 13 to create the Portsmouth Community Improvement Corporation, giving the city its own dedicated agency to pursue economic development projects after the idea sat dormant for nearly a decade.
The ordinance establishes the corporation, known as the PCIC, as the city’s official economic development agency under state law, appoints its board members and authorizes an agreement between the city and the new corporation, according to the meeting minutes. Council Vice President Lyvette Mosley said the concept dated to 2017 but never moved forward, and that hiring an outside consultant to guide the board for six months would keep it from stalling again.
Mayor Charlotte Gordon told council she had opposed a similar municipal-advisor proposal in the past because the city lacked a specific project at the time. She said the city now has a project in hand — the Chillicothe Street housing redevelopment — along with secured grant money, and that the consultant’s cost amounted to a small fraction of the overall project. Gordon said the city had “pressed reset” on the years-old idea rather than reviving the original 2017 plan.
Council also gave second-reading approval, on a 5-1 vote with Councilman Dennis Packard opposed, to appropriating $52,500 in matching funds for planning, design and development of a housing project at 802 and 804 Chillicothe St. Councilman Andy Cole said the sum breaks down to $22,500 for architectural plans and $30,000 for the consultant work tied to the PCIC, and pressed for more detail on what the city would receive for that money. Packard said the legislation didn’t disclose that the $30,000 covered outside advisory work, and that the issue should have come to council as a discussion item before the vote. Councilman Chris Neff raised concerns about meeting fire-code requirements for the project’s planned seven upstairs residential units.
A second appropriation, $108,471 for design, engineering and right-of-way acquisition on the Valley Street bridge project, also advanced on second reading, 5-1, with Cole dissenting. Cole questioned whether the work was necessary and urged fellow members to drive the street themselves before committing city money. Packard said he wanted more input from the police and fire departments and cited an outspoken resident, Jackie Craig, who has raised concerns about the area. Auditor M. Trent Williams suggested the city consider a traffic count.
Both appropriations need a third and final reading before taking effect.
Council additionally gave a first reading to an ordinance amending the city’s sewer code to add penalties for prohibited discharges, after Solicitor John Haas said the sewer department, Health Department and code enforcement had fielded repeated complaints about businesses improperly dumping oil and grease into the system. Council also advanced, 6-0, a second reading on a renewal of the city’s Street Resurfacing Levy that will go before voters at the Nov. 3 general election, and gave a first reading, 4-2, to a salary ordinance update covering wage increases for the dispatchers’ union and several Portsmouth Municipal Court positions.
In other business, Gordon reappointed Geoffery Addleman to the Zoning Board, Councilwoman Charlotte Gordon reappointed Malonda Johnson to the Land Reutilization Committee, and Packard appointed Susan Reed Johnson to the Art Commission.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the City of Portsmouth.
