Village Offers $240,000 Incentive For New Office Building Project
by David Pugh Buckeye Staff Writer

The Village of Archbold is offering up to $240,000 to the Northwest Ohio Educational Service Center to build a new office building in the Archbold Industrial Park.

Darren Jenkins, superintendent of the service center, said the center's board voted to accept the incentive offered by the village at a Jan. 22 meeting. The board has not firmly committed to construct the building.

If it is built, the educational service center will move 100 to 120 of its 450 employees to the village. Jenkins said most of the workers are supervisory-level employees.

Dennis Howell, Archbold village administrator, said the workers would be professional level employees.

"Those are good jobs, with a good income," Howell said.

The service center won't pay property taxes, but based on income tax revenue alone, Howell said the village will recoup its up-to-$240,000 investment in less than three years.

Jenkins said the building will be office space for adults. It will not be a school.

What It Is…

The educational service center was created in 1997, when the State of Ohio changed the laws that applied to county boards of education.

In response to the change, the county boards of Fulton, Henry, Defiance, and Williams counties joined to create the NWOESC.

The center provides services to smaller school districts that are unable to afford them. Such services include special education, curriculum issues, and school improvement issues.

Originally, Jenkins said each county center maintained its own identity. But over the past 10 years, the service center centralized its operations.

About five years ago, the state legislature changed laws regarding how the centers could obtain office space. Before, county commissioners had to supply space to the service centers.

Now, Jenkins said, the Northwest Ohio Educational Service Center has decided "it is in our long-term best interest to provide our own office space."

NWOCA

The Northwest Ohio Computer Association provides computer services and Internet connections to school districts in the four-county area.

Currently housed in the Four County Career Center, John Mohler, NWOCA executive director, said the organization has taken on more tasks, including a major state software project and providing Internet connections to non-public and charter schools.

NWOCA also is looking at other projects: providing data storage space; Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP (essentially, phone calls over the Internet); and Internet video conferencing. That means NWOCA needs more space.

Mohler said if the educational service center decides to go forward with the building project, NWOCA will lease office space in the building.

The Site

The educational service center has an option to purchase seven to nine acres of property in the Archbold Industrial Park, on the south side of Nolan Parkway.

The property would include the building and parking lot.

Jenkins said in November 2007, the board selected Lugbill Brothers, Inc., Archbold, to assist in the building design and cost estimates.

The plan is for a 50,000 square-foot building, with 25,000 square feet allocated to NWOCA and the service center.

"But it's premature to tell what the final (square footage) will be," he said.

"We're trying to work with design professionals, so we can come up with the most economical dimensions, so we can use materials with standard dimensions. We're trying to save some bucks," he said.

The building will feature private offices, semi-private workspaces, conference rooms, and large meeting spaces. It will be wired for computer networking.

The Incentive

Howell said the Village of Archbold has been working to bring the Northwest Ohio (Continued on page 3) Educational Service Center to the village since June 2006.

"We were in competition with a Henry County site," Howell said.

"The mayor, myself, and council decided we wanted our site to stand out."

Council will be asked to fund several improvements at the proposed site, including storm drainage, water and sanitary sewers, and a parking lot.

Howell said the village will build the foundation.

"We'll hire somebody to do the work," Howell said. "We're not set up to do that."

Howell said council will be asked to fund the improvements, "and they have said they will."

The Decision

Jenkins said the service center board has not made a firm commitment to construct the building.

"We're considering it," he said.

"We're working with the folks at Lugbill Brothers on the design costs, so we'll know if we can afford it," he said.

"If we build it, it will be in Archbold," he said.