Photo by Joselyn King Ohio County Commissioner Randy Wharton, right, president of the Ohio County Development Authority, confers with Solicitor Don Tennant during the most recent OCDA meeting.

WHEELING — The Ohio County Development Authority had a strong return on the sale of its Tax Increment Financing (TIF) bonds for the year, and that’s going to mean some improvements at The Highlands.

Among these will be road and parking lot improvements, the potential construction of a fitness center, and perhaps an performing stage in the Town Center area.

County Administrator Randy Russell informed members at their meeting this month the county received a BBB investment rating for its TIF bonds, and this brought the county a higher dividend than was expected.

“We’re the only BBB investment grade TIF issuance in the state — if not in the country — at this point,” he said. “Without that rating, we were looking at netting $17.3 million from our bond.

“We actually netted $20,313,233. That bond rating did us a great service.”

He credited Cody Koehler with “doing one heck of a job” putting together the information needed to get the higher bond rating.

The money has to be spent on TIF-eligible projects within the next three years.

Russell said Brian Taylor, operations manager for The Highlands, already has set forth a parking lot and roadway repair schedule for the development “that will chew up a lot of that money.”

In addition, he and county officials are looking again at the prospect of putting a fitness center at The Highlands Sports Complex, “at the Town Center or somewhere else in the development.” The fitness center had been part of the original plan for the sports complex.

“We also looked at putting a pavilion and bandstand at the center of the Town Center where we can do a ‘Sunday Fun Day’ or something else on another night that doesn’t compete ‘Toe Tapping Tuesdays’ (in Warwood) or ‘Waterfront Wednesdays’ (at Wheeling’s waterfront) or any of that stuff,” he continued.

Priorities for spending will be set “within a month or so,” according to Russell. “We’ll have to get some things bid out quickly to get on contractors’ schedules for the spring.”

Russell also spoke of the need for signage at The Highlands — especially at the Town Center.

“Rather than trying to put 30 names on a billboard out here on the corner, we thought we would try to identify Town Center sections,” he explained.

Taylor said he and Koehler met a representative from the 84 Sign Shop, and they looked for spots where they could locate 4-foot-by-10-foot signs identifying which tenants were in that area.

“It’s not going to be the perfect solution, but at least when you’re driving a car and you’re looking for Nini’s, you will see a sign point to which building it is in.”

Ohio County Commissioner Zach Abraham is also on the board for the Ohio Valley Regional Transportation Authority, and he is aware a couple of buses there are about to be decommissioned, Russell said.

“We have the opportunity to grab on to a bus to do shuttle service or transportation,” he explained. “You would be able to park your car some place and get transported throughout The Highlands. We just have to finalize that whole thought process.”