TROY — The Troy Community Improvement Corp. (CIC) announced at its organizational meeting that the Huelskamp homestead property has sold.
On Wednesday, Troy’s Development Director Tim Davis reported the homestead that is adjacent to Paul G. Duke Park sold to John Scott for $205,000. The home is located at 2290 Troy-Sidney Road. The realtor was Kurt Beisner of EB Real Estate on behalf of the CIC. The city transferred the property to the CIC to seek buyers.
In related news, a new lease agreement to farm the 76 tillable acres of the former Huelskamp property was approved on Tuesday by city park board commissioners. The city advertised for bids and a one-year lease contract was awarded to Covington’s Kuntz Farms for $20,292 ($267 per acre) for 2021. The agreement includes up to five one-year mutually agreed renewals. There were five bids submitted.
The city of Troy was not successful in its attempt to pass levies to expand Duke Park’s baseball and soccer fields on the land.
In other news, vice president Joseph Graves, also of the Troy Development Council (TDC) and Troy Area Chamber of Commerce
(TACC), gave a report on Troy’s economic endeavors.
Graves said the TDC won the Ohio Governor’s Cup Award for bringing Pella Corp to Troy. Graves said Pella has 300 employees and seeks to add 200 more by the end of the year. Graves said workforce recruitment is ongoing with the regional shortage of employees. Member Ed Westmeyer said efforts to expand daycare opportunities and in-home daycare training is being led by county officials. Director of Public Service and Safety Patrick Titterington said the city is working on how to expand the “Rides to Work” program to connect employees to jobs if there are transportation issues.
Graves also shared an update on the Experiment Farm property next to Pella Corp. The city loaned the TDC $800,000 to purchase the 73-acre parcel. Graves said the site will be listed with the Ohio Site Inventory program and will have the site certified to begin the building process immediately instead of waiting on soil studies and other site requirements. Board member Arthur “Ozzie” Haddad commended Graves and the city in purchasing the Experiment Farm property to bring in quality development to the area.
Community Improvement Corporations are non-profit corporations organized for the purposes of “advancing, encouraging, and promoting the industrial, economic, commercial and civic development of a community or area.”
• The CIC renewed its five-year lease of the Marina Building at Treasure Island to Smith’s Boathouse. In 2020, Smith’s Boathouse paid $2,527 in rent, according to the income statement provided to the board. The new lease includes a 3.5 percent rent from gross sales to the CIC. the CIC will keep .25 percent and the rest will be paid to the city of Troy. The new amended lease expires in 2026.
• The board reorganized for the year with Bill Lukens as president, Joseph Graves as vice president, Davis as secretary and Kathy Vukovic as treasurer. Arthur “Ozzie” Haddad reported he was vacating his seat on the CIC board. The board has an interested party in serving on the CIC and will extend an invitation. Davis thanked Haddad for his service on the board.
