By Amantha Garpiel

For Miami Valley Today

TIPP CITY – The Tipp City City Council OK’d legislation that would authorize funds toward purchasing the property known as the Tipp Plaza near the intersection of West Main Street and South Tippecanoe Drive, just east of Interstate 75.

This property, known as the Tipp Plaza, also contains CVS and the building of the former Burger King on the lot, as well as has other store fronts that has sat empty for some time.

During the Monday, Sept. 16, meeting, City Council authorized an ordinance for the issuance of bond anticipation notes in the amount of $4,500,000 in order to pay for the costs toward purchasing the property.

Tipp City City Manager Eric Mack told Miami Valley Today the cost of the Tipp Plaza shopping center is close to $7 million. He said residents have expressed concern with the condition of the property for years, so now the city is partnering up with a developer to hopefully enhance the uptown gateway area of Tipp City.

“This allowed us to borrow funds (for the purchase of the property). The intent is to buy the property, but we are still working to do our due diligence with funds,” to investigate the property and make sure there are “no major issues,” Mack said.

“With the creation of this debt obligation, we will be at about 50% of our debt obligation limit, so we are well within the parameters of the debt the city is allowed to take on,” said Council Member Ryan Liddy during the meeting. “Mr. Green spoke about the remaining $2.5 million purchase price that is coming from cash from our general fund. Our general fund right now is sitting at approximately $9 million … When you take these two considerations into effect, purchasing this plaza does make fiscal responsible sense, in the fact that we are not going to put this back on the tax-payers.”

The remaining purchase price Liddy mentions is discussed in a first reading of another ordinance relating to the purchase of the plaza.

This ordinance was presented for first reading at the meeting. The ordinance, if passed, will authorize the creation of the uptown revitalization fund as well as transfer and appropriate $300,000 to the new fund for the purchase of the Tipp Plaza property.

“As a city we have quite a bit in our reserve right now, more than is required by our fund balance policy. So, I see this as a community investment,” said Council President Kathryn Huffman.

Mack told Miami Valley Today the specific intent for the use of the property has yet to be determined, but it is expected to be a mixed use of retail and residential. The goal is for the deal to be completed by the end of 2024 in December.

In other business, City Council also approved an ordinance to amend the 2024 budget appropriations due to unexpected income and expenditures. Mentioned specifically during the meeting as reasons for the appropriation amendments are higher than usual tax returns, additional employees in the police department including the new school resource officers, overtime in the fire department due to an injury of an employee that resulted in extended time off and an advance of $500,000 to the sewer fund to have cash on hand during the sewer project.

Then, the council unanimously passed a resolution authorizing the city manager to enter into agreements with ODOT for the state Route 571 (Main Street) resurfacing project.

Initially, ODOT was contracted to resurface Main Street up to Weller Drive, but the city has determined it would be best to extend the resurfacing to the bridge over Interstate 75.

According to John Green, finance director, the city has agreed to pay for 20% of the project which is estimated to be about $7,000.

Also during the meeting, council:

• Approved a resolution accepting the amounts and tax rates as determined by the Miami County Budget Commission and setting the rate of 1.4 mills for the city’s property tax levy. This property tax generates about $500,000 a year for the city’s general fund.

• Approved an ordinance approving changes to section 92 of the code of ordinances regarding nuisances. The changes include how residents are notified of code violations for overgrown grass or weeds or when a property is in need of cleaning up.

• Heard the first reading of an ordinance that would allow for accessory residences, such as garage apartments in R2, two-family residential and R3, multi-family residential zoning districts.

The writer is a regular contributor to Miami Valley Today. Sheryl Roadcap, MVT editor, contributed to this story.