Government officials who visited a Fredericktown research facility got a preview of what is planned for a recycling site in Grove City.

Entire Energy and Renewables, which wants to open a recycling-based facility at 3570 Park Place, held the tour on Jan. 6. At Grove City, the company would use 48 tons of chopped up tires per day to create products including a pigmentation medium, scrap steel and synthetic natural gas.

Attendance was by invitation only. City leaders, including Grove City Council members, Mayor Richard “Ike” Stage and the Rev. Robert Tolar Jr. of the First Presbyterian Church of Grove City, were invited to attend. A representative of the Grove City Town Center Inc. said a public meeting will be held at a future date.

Stage said he didn’t attend because his wife was undergoing surgery that day. “And we had other staff people going,” he added.

Gary Curry, who owns the building at 3570 Park Place and is part of the joint venture with Entire Energy, said the trip’s goal was to educate people about the tire recycling process.

The Grove City facility would be about four times larger than the Fredericktown module.

Chief city building official Mike Boso said he spent about 90 minutes at the facility. He estimated about 30 people attended.

“They just basically went over the process,” he said.

Visitors were able to view machinery on the site, though it wasn’t operational, Boso said. The machine, a scale model of what would be in Grove City, was about the size of three full-sized vans.

Boso said he is still awaiting a development plan from Entire Energy. Curry said he has no timeline as to when a development plan would be submitted to the city.

Boso must determine if current zoning will allow the company’s process.

Some aspects of the process would need to be evaluated, he said.

“If they can do what they say it does, it would be an outstanding thing to have anywhere,” he said.

The company is seeking a variance to build at 54-foot silo, which would exceed the maximum 35 feet allowed.

At the request of the petitioner, city council on Dec. 19 postponed a vote on the variance until Feb. 6. This was the third time council postponed the vote.

At previous city council meetings, Tolar expressed concern because of the proposed Entire Energy site’s proximity to the church.

Tolar said he had wanted to see the technology in action to learn how it would affect the surrounding community.

“We really didn’t get a chance to see anything operational,” he said.

“If it does what they say it does, it could be a good thing,” he said. Still, the technology is “just a big unknown.”

Tolar said the church’s elders, a 15-member decision-making body, on Jan. 8 voted to oppose the silo height variance and the plant’s proposed location.

“Once they get more information, their stance could change,” Tolar said. “I personally am not looking for a fight.”

OhioHealth has a contract to buy more land in anticipation of moving its health campus on Stringtown Road.

OhioHealth’s current health campus is on leased property at 2030 Stringtown Road. The lease will expire in 2015.

The new site includes 1293, 1345-51, and 1363 Stringtown Road. OhioHealth owns 15 acres and plans to buy another seven.

Bob Gilbert, senior operations officer for OhioHealth Neighborhood Care, said the core services at the 2030 Stringtown Road campus eventually will be moved to the new site.

“We would consolidate everything that we’ve got under one roof,” Gilbert said. Some physicians could remain at 2030 Stringtown Road.

Gilbert said OhioHealth plans to work with the community and physicians to determine Grove City’s needs.

“We don’t know exactly what we’re going to build there,” he said.

Gilbert estimated it might take two years to define services for the new site.

OhioHealth typically leases buildings in anticipation of the market changing. “Outpatient care is very similar to retail,” he said.

“We need to be nimble enough to be able to change when the market changes,” he said.

The new Stringtown Road property is still close to the Stringtown Road-Interstate 71 interchange and accounts for the city’s population growth, Gilbert said.

Mount Carmel also plans to build a new health facility in Grove City. Mount Carmel is in contract with Mid-America Racing Association Inc. to purchase 112 acres to develop its healthcare services at the site of the former Grovebrook Golf Club off state Route 665. It plans to build a 24/7 emergency facility.

Gilbert said he isn’t concerned about possible saturation of healthcare services in Grove City, however.

“I think the need is there,” he said.

With the opening of his martial arts school on Jan. 4, Grove City resident Dave Freetage can begin teaching to others some of the skills he uses as a police officer.

Freetage, an officer with the city of Columbus for nine years, recently opened Grove City Jiu-Jitsu to teach Brazilian jujitsu wrestling and muay thai kickboxing. Freetage has 18 years of experience in both techniques.

“It’s my passion,” he said.

As a patrol officer, Freetage has taught officers in a boxing and ground defense program for the past seven years. He wanted to give police officers more opportunity to train while sharing his knowledge with the public. He has taught at gyms; this is his first business.

“Grove City really doesn’t have anything like what we have,” he said.

Freetage plans to lease the building at 4376 Broadway. He will teach youth and adult programs with three fellow police officers.

“I’ve had a great response,” he said. So far, about 40 students have signed up. Youth packages start as low as $30 per month and the most expensive adult package is $70 per month.

“The techniques are useful and easy to do,” Freetage said.

He said it usually takes about six months to learn the basics of Muay Thai and 12 to 18 months to learn the basics of jujitsu.

Jujitsu focuses on taking an attacker to the ground with locks or chokes that result in immobility. The skills have been beneficial in Freetage’s profession, allowing him to avoid using a weapon or even striking a person.

Freetage said he has been assaulted in his career four different times. Each time, he used what he knew and was never injured, he said.

“You don’t get hurt; they really don’t get hurt,” he said.

For more information, visit grovecityjiujitsu.com.

Jackson Township has selected Mull and Weithman Architects Inc. to design the new fire station to be built at Buckeye Parkway and Holton Road, south of Pinnacle Golf Club.

The township received 13 applications, and interviewed RP Architects Inc., Moody Nolan Architects Inc., and Mull and Weithman, township administrator Mike Lilly said.

A review committee including Lilly, the township trustees, the fire chief and deputy fire chief evaluated the firms based on experience, credentials and workmanship. They visited four different sites on which the architects worked.

“We were particularly impressed with the work at the newly opened city of Columbus police impound facility” designed by Mull and Weithman, Lilly said.

Lilly said township trustees probably will vote on the architect contract at their Jan. 17 meeting. He estimated architectural fees will be about 8 to 10 percent of the project cost. The total estimated project cost, which includes the building, basement, accessories and equipment, is $3,954,952.

In 2010, Jackson Township received a $1.4-million federal grant to build the station. The money can be used only for the specific five-acre property and must be spent by Sept. 25, 2013.

Grove City Council on Dec. 19 unanimously approved the appropriation of $2,542,032 from the Pinnacle tax-increment financing district fund for the fire station.

“That gives us the go-ahead to start moving forward,” Lilly said.

Lilly estimated the township will break ground on the project in June or July. Construction will take 10 to 12 months, with the station operating by summer 2013. From February through April, a series of open meetings with stakeholders, city officials and residents will occur.

“We are very committed to working with residents,” Lilly said.

Township Fire Chief Lloyd Sheets said the township worked with Mull and Weithman when Jackson rebuilt station 203, at 2650 London-Groveport Road.

“I was very happy with their design and their work there,” he said. He also was impressed when he visited the Columbus police impound lot.

“I think that we’re going to come up with a building that will be very functional,” he said.

Sheets said station 201, built in the 1950s, and station 202, built in 1966, were replaced in 1994 and 1995. Station 203 was built in 1978 and refurbished a few years ago.