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Members of CRA council appointed

Mayor Bryan Blakeman announced two of the people he will be appointing to the Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) Housing Council, while the Columbiana Planning Commission named another member during its meeting on Tuesday.

After some discussion, the planning commission chose Thomas Mackall of the Town Center at Firestone Farms. Mackall is the Firestone Homestead LLC president.

Blakeman has named Rob Struharik of Master Plan Builders and Rollin Gosney, a real estate agent with RE/MAX on Main Street. Blakeman indicated those two and Mackall have expressed interest and a willingness to serve on the CRA Housing Council.

The planning commission discussed other names of people who they also felt would do well in the position and Blakeman reminded them City Council will also be appointing two people to the CRA Housing Council. Then those five new members of the CRA Housing Council will appoint two more, placing seven people on the board.

“I think it’s exciting some of the young names who have come forward,” Planning Commission president Rick Noel.

A CRA is a state-sanctioned program that allows communities to grant tax exemptions for residential and commercial/industrial development within a defined area. The city has designated the entire portion of the city in both Columbiana and Mahoning counties as a CRA.

Columbiana only recently learned it has received certification from the state confirming the CRA. The boards required to oversee the program are the Community Reinvestment Area Housing Council and Tax Incentive Review Council.

The CRA will allow property owners to seek tax exemptions for up to 100 percent for household remodeling projects and new construction. Exemptions are anywhere from a period of 10 years to up to 15 years.

The housing council terms are for three years, and the council’s responsibility would be to make annual inspections of the properties within the district for which an exemption has been granted.

djohnson@mojonews.com

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