After an executive session, Bowling Green Council on Monday approved a property transfer to assist a new development project.

However, the exact nature of that project remains under wraps.

Shortly after the start of Monday’s meeting, council entered into an executive session lasting 12 minutes to discuss an economic development matter.

After coming back into session, council introduced a new ordinance from the Planning, Zoning and Economic Development Committee, in which the city would transfer “certain properties” in Innovative Technology Park to Bowling Green Economic Development in lieu of dues to facilitate a development project. The city has made similar transfers in the past.

The ordinance later received all three readings and was passed unanimously by council.

Kati Thompson, executive director of Bowling Green Economic Development, said after the meeting that the matter involves a confidential project, and that details would be released when the company involved feels ready.

She suggested that details could be forthcoming within the next month. Thompson said she could not comment on what industry or kind of business the project was related to.

“The company wants to control all of that public announcement on their own,” she said. Thompson did say that the properties involved are two out-lots at the Innovative Technology Park, amounting to a little over four acres.

“It’s really innovative, and it’s really important for the project to remain confidential,” she said.

Also at the meeting, council:

• Approved a series of supplemental appropriations including: $140,500 for a four-year storage plan for body-worn cameras. According to the legislative package document prepared for council, “grant funds in the amount of $122,548 will come from the Office of Criminal Justice Grant: Body Worn Camera Program;” $10,000 received from an anonymous donation to go to the city’s housing improvement program; and $261,000 – the document noted that the appropriation is needed to record expenses for the Ohio Department of Transportations’s share of the Urban Paving Project. Funds will come from the ODOT Urban Paving grant.

• Introduced an ordinance authorizing Utilities Director Brian O’Connell to advertise for qualifications and enter into an engineering contract to complete odor control improvements at the Poe-Mercer Pump Station. According to the legislative package document, the 2022 Water & Sewer Capital Improvement Fund budget included $500,000 for the project.

• Introduced an ordinance authorizing O’Connell to enter into a contract for repairs to the flocculation tank and sedimentation basin at the Water Treatment Plant. According to the legislative package document, those items “are below grade concrete tanks that are used to settle out larger pollutants by gravity in the initial stage … of the conventional treatment plant. … These components are critical to the treatment process and have experienced concrete cracking and spalling issues that need to be repaired to ensure continued long-term operation.” $370,000 was included in the 2022 Water & Sewer Capital Improvement Fund budget for the project.

• Received a request from the Historic Preservation Commission to place the police division building and Needle Hall at City Park on the city’s historic register. As required by city ordinance, council referred that request to the planning commission for their recommendation.