Metamora acts to lure businesses
4/14/2004METAMORA - Village officials have joined forces with two landowners to try to attract industry to a 120-acre industrial park here.
It's time to "get our name out" and show what industrial park sites across the county have to offer, Mayor Gary Loar said. "This is the time to do it."
Mr. Loar, who serves on the board of the Fulton County Community Improvement Corporation, said that he would like to see other industrial parks across the county promoted to help attract new business and industries.
Signs have been posted on the Metamora property for about a year and a half, but the land remains vacant. To spread the word about the land's availability, the village has agreed to share one-third the cost for three months of advertising, which is about $180, the mayor said.
Jeffrey Truckor, one of the property owners of the industrial park, will pay a third, as will Vershum Land Co., which owns 55 acres of the 120-acre park along Amboy Township Road 2.
Thomas Vershum, of Archbold, with Vershum Land Co., said that there are some businesses in that area. Parker Hannifin Corp. Hydraulic Filter Division and Anderzack Pitzen Construction are near the industrial park.
The industrial park has been annexed into the village and is zoned M-3 for commercial and light industry, Mayor Loar said. Natural gas and water lines run near the property. There are no roadways in the park, he said.
If the village is asked to help pay for infrastructure improvements, the council would make decisions on a case-by-case basis, Mayor Loar said, depending "on our budget, and what we might be able to afford."
Most of the cost, he said, is normally paid for by the landowner or the business that wants to locate in the park.
He said he plans to talk with community improvement corporation members about marketing the k land during the group's April 27 meeting.
Contact Janet Romaker at:
jromaker@theblade.com
or 419-724-6006.