The Beacon

Port Clinton Mayor Debbie Hymore-Tester has been grilled over and over at recent City Council meetings about what was happening with the Waterworks Project. Since the Puller Group pulled out 6 months ago, there has been little to discuss, at least publicly.
“I want to assure everyone that the City administration remains committed to the development of Waterworks,” she stated in a statement on Thursday. She added, “We are open to, but not limited to the concept of a marina, resort hotel, convention center and indoor water park. The voters recognized that the property’s waterfront would help make Port Clinton prosper.”
So, where to things stand today? “Few of us expected that this would be easy, and it has, in fact, been quite challenging,” said Hymore-Tester. She points out that the National credit markets have tightened substantially, which has reduced the pool of potential developers capable of completing such a large project. However, conversations are continuing.
“The burden is on us to make a development on the property attractive,” says the Mayor. “We have cleared a number of hurdles, selecting a concept to target our search for a compatible developer.” The rezoning of the property for commercial development was passed by City Council last summer and survived a referendum attempt last November. The property has also gone through a feasibility study from David Sangree, a recognized industry expert, establishing the viability of the project. They have conducted a Tax Increment Financing analysis as well as developing potential tax incentives the city might offer.
As most people involved in Economic Development will tell you, virtually any and all discussions at this point must be kept private, away from public consumption. The City’s negotiating team, made up of Mayor Hymore-Tester, Safety Service Director Rob Berner, City Auditor Steve Benko, City Solicitor George Wilbur and the City’s engineering firm, Floyd Browne, is now working to promote the project to the targeted development community. “As much as this project has dominated local conversation, the majority of the members of the nation’s hospitality industry have never heard of Port Clinton, Ohio or the opportunity that exists here,” says the Mayor. She adds, “there have been several promising conversations that will likely lead to multiple face-to-face meetings in the near future. It is our hope that these discussions will ultimately enable us to form a successful public/private partnership with a capable and willing developer.”
The hope is that when the credit and development “light turns green”, all the leg work will pay dividends.
Mayor Hymore-Tester and her development team is continuing to move forward in trying to find qualified developers. She also wants to thank the citizens for their patience, “as we work to build the relationships and resources necessary to complete the task that the voters laid out for us last November.”