When it comes to purchasing the Honeywell property, the city is, "dotting every I and crossing every T," according to Mayor Bob Cleary.

The Ironton City Council voted to suspend the rules Thursday and passed three readings of an ordinance authorizing Mayor Cleary to spend $151,000 the city has allocated to purchase the 40-acre property for the development of an industrial park.

The city has already received $225,000 in state grants to purchase the $375,000 property.

Even though a resolution had already been passed to authorize the purchase, there was some debate as to whether a resolution was strong enough. An

ordinance was passed just for good measure, Cleary said.

Cleary signed a purchase agreement last month for the property, formerly Allied Signal, located on the corner of Third and Lorain streets.

"We need jobs here in Ironton," he said. "This is the first time in our

history we can truly market something like this. This is something we have needed for many years."

The mayor sent a letter to Gov. Bob Taft inviting him to attend the official closing ceremony, tentatively scheduled for Aug. 9. Councilman John Elam recommended that former council members be invited as well because they had the vision to begin the project more than two years ago.

Mayor Cleary said that they have had a lot of interest in the property during the last few years, but couldn't do anything until they officially owned it.

The Ohio Department of Transportation has already agreed to purchase 8.5 acres and move their county garages. The city would then own ODOT's current location at 3001 S. Sixth Street, Cleary said.

"ODOT told us they want to have a signed purchase agreement by Sept. 1 and start the ground-breaking early next spring," he said.

If developed properly, the site could accommodate more than 1,200 jobs, Cleary said. Although the property has been cleaned to residential standards, it will only be used for commercial and industrial purposes, he said.

The deal was delayed because of an attempted merger between Honeywell and General Electric in 2001. The city also asked the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to survey the property. Michael Caldwell/The Ironton Tribune