By Kristin Rover
Sun staff

The Union Township Trustees authorized the Union Township Community Improvement Corporation to purchase several properties in the township during their Sept. 12 regular meeting.

Administrator Ken Geis said the properties, located at 4297-4299 Glen Este-Withamsville Road, and 3966 Piccadilly Circle, are being purchased for the purpose of improving the Union Township area.

Geis said owners of the properties located at 4297-4299 Glen Este-Withamsville Road contacted the township about purchasing the properties.

He said the township may need the properties for road alignment changes in the area or for other uses.

Trustees authorized the purchase of the Glen Este-Withamsville properties for approximately $120,000 and the Piccadilly property for approximately $25,000.

“With both properties, the intent is to raze both of those structures,” Geis said about the properties.

Geis said the property located at 3966 Piccadilly Circle is blighted and has created a problem in the area.

He said the police department has responded to a number of calls related to the structure, and the department spends quite a lot of time responding to incidents in that area.

“I am glad to see any of those buildings taken away,” Stuart Kennedy, a Union Township resident, said about the Piccadilly area during the meeting.

Kennedy asked how the township will remove the structures after the land is purchased.

“Grants may be available to demolish the property,” Trustee Tim Donnellon said.

Geis said they have already started the process to add the Piccadilly property to the Moving Ohio Forward program, which is a federal program that provides funding to tear down blighted structures in the state.

Geis said the township and CIC are interested in improving the Piccadilly area by having more of a presence there, however, he said they would likely have to acquire more properties for something else to be able to be located there.

He said they are also planning to apply for the Glen Este Withamsville Road properties to be added to the Moving Ohio Forward program.

The Union Township CIC was created in 2010 to advance, encourage and promote industrial, economic, commercial and civic development in the township.

For more information about Union Township CIC visit www.union-township.oh.us/utcic.html.