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STEUBENVILLE -- The hold up on a transfer of two small parcels of property between the city of Steubenville and Franciscan University of Steubenville was a topic of Wednesday night's meeting of the Jefferson County Port Authority Board of Directors.
The hold up, it was noted, is the city is waiting on receiving documents from Good Venture Properties LLC, a development entity of Franciscan, in regards to agreements made in 2015.
Council tabled the land conveyance agreements on the two strips of land located off of University Boulevard while awaiting the documents.
The agreements in question are a Community Reinvestment Area Agreement, Tax Increment Financing Agreement and a Developer's Agreement, which involved different sets of property than the ones that are awaiting transfer.
Port Authority Executive Director Robert Naylor detailed the TIF agreement process to the board, calling it "a very good economic development tool."
Naylor said he feels it's important for the port authority to be involved in getting FUS and the city to have discussions and noted the TIF documents are complicated.
Third Ward Councilman Eric Timmons was in attendance at the meeting and joined in on the discussions.
Board member Judge John Mascio stated that representatives from FUS and the city need to have an in-person meeting to sort out the concerns both have.
Timmons noted that such a meeting is already in the works and said he hopes to see the matter resolved soon.
"I have been asking about this, I want to get this done," Timmons said. "I treasure the relationship with Franciscan. They do a lot for the community. There are some miscommunications that need to be ironed out. That meeting is going to happen very soon.
"We want to get this resolved and keep our strong relationship with Franciscan."
Naylor offered praise to the city and council and also expressed optimism the matter can be resolved in the near future, noting he spoke with FUS Vice President of Finance Richard Rollino.
Also, during his report, Naylor said he had discussions with Belmont County Port Authority Director Larry Merry about a previously discussed inter-modal site in Yorkville that 53 acres of are in Jefferson County and 63 are in Belmont County.
Naylor said there was "full support" for the ports working together to market the site as one location, rather than as two separate sites.
Naylor also updated the board on the progress with JSW Steel, for whom the port authority is a conduit bond issuer for a project to upgrade the company's Mingo Junction facility.
He said a representative from Fifth/Third Bank told him everything is going well with the process.
He did note that JSW Steel filed litigation in federal court in the State of Texas against three other steel companies using a prominent law firm.
Naylor told the board he views the move as a "positive development."
"It shows that they understand the market," he said. "I'm confident that bond issuance is going to pass through."
He also said he met with Belmont County officials in regard to that county pursuing a fiber ring, as well as other discussions he has had with officials and entities about broadband expansion.
"There are a lot of options out there," he said.
Naylor also told the board about visiting State Technical College of Missouri at the end of May, saying he was "blown away."
He also told the board about attending an event put on by Ohio Southeast last month in Bellefontaine, Ohio.
Naylor said the town is experiencing growth and revitalized its downtown.
"We need to change our attitude toward (revitalizing downtown areas in the county)," he said, noting it is going to require input and ideas from younger generations.
The board moved to cancel its July meeting and is not slated to meet again until Aug. 17.