ASHLAND — Ashland City Council plans to purchase two properties along Main Street as part of a plan to combat a growing sinkhole problem.
Mayor Matt Miller said the city has reached a verbal agreement to purchase the buildings that house JR’s Custom Exhaust and Chad’s Collision and Auto Repair.
Council went into executive session at Tuesday’s regular meeting to discuss the purchase of property.
“That’s what it was about,” Miller said, referring to the executive session. “As of this morning, we have reached an agreement.”
Miller declined to publicize the city’s offer for the properties until council meets again to vote on the agreement in June.
Talk of acquiring the properties has been ongoing — even before a new sinkhole developed in a lot across from Dairy Queen on a rainy Sunday, Miller said.
The sinkhole developed on May 9 during a heavy rain storm. The hole, which is around three-feet wide and even deeper, appears in a parking lot that serves property owned by Eric McQuate. But the hole is located on a sliver of land that has been owned by the state of Ohio since 1990, according to county real estate records.
McQuate was not immediately available for comment.
Lloyd Gibbons, the owner of JR Custom Exhaust, and Chad Harrison, who owns Chad’s Collision, confirmed they have come to a verbal agreement with the city on a purchase price for their buildings.
Harrison declined to disclose a price, but he said it wasn’t exactly what he wanted for it.
“I’ve made a good life for myself here,” he said. “I guess I’m just looking out for my best interest and the city’s best interest at the same time. It’s a good cause.”
Harrison said discussions with the city surrounding the purchase of his building, where he’s set up shop for 17 years, have been ongoing for a few years. When the newest sinkhole happened, those discussions roared back to life.
“This is the only time it’s gotten serious,” he said.
The city’s purchase of his building does not mean he will go out of business, Harrison said. He plans to relocate to County Road 1475, on a piece of property he already owns and is in the process of sprucing up for the new site.
Gibbons, of JR’s, also declined to talk specifics about the city’s offer, but confirmed he’s been in talks with the mayor, too.
He said the property has been in the family’s name for around 50 years. A sinkhole developed just next to his building around 40 years ago, which exposed an old culvert that allows the flow of Town Creek. The area surrounding the hole, which abuts Main Street’s sidewalk, has since been fenced in to keep anyone from falling.
Miller said the plan is to acquire the buildings in order to install a new culvert for Town Creek. At this point, the mayor does not know how much that project will cost.
“We don’t have an engineer’s estimate yet,” he said.
