By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Penta Career Center may soon have a satellite school in Bowling Green.
The Bowling Green Board of Public Utilities voted Monday evening to transfer acreage in the Bellard Business Park on the northwest side of the city to the Bowling Green Community Development Foundation. Two acres of the business park, near the intersection of Newton and Brim roads, will then be sold to Penta Career Center.
Penta plans to construct a building to hold morning and afternoon classes for students who will be able to travel to local employers to continue their training and education. The school is also considering using the facility to offer adult training classes in the future, said Brian O’Connell, director of the city’s public utilities.
City council will have a public hearing Monday on an ordinance that will pave the way for the vocational training school use in the city’s zoning code.
The Bowling Green Community Development Foundation has been working with Penta Career Center to find a permanent location for a satellite school. The school is seen as a first step for collaboration with business parks for training and workforce development for existing manufacturers. One of the biggest needs expressed by local manufacturers is the lack of a skilled workforce, according to Sue Clark, executive director of the Bowling Green Community Development Foundation.
The city owns the acreage in the business park, and the community development foundation markets the properties for sale. Penta’s purchase of two acres leaves 3.1 acres remaining open for development in Bellard Business Park.
Also at Monday’s meeting of the Board of Public Utilities:
- Doug Clark, superintendent of the city’s wastewater treatment plant, received an award from the Ohio Water Environment Federation. Clark joined the OWEA Northwest Section in 2000, and became section president in 2004. Under Clark’s leadership, the organization was reminded that OWEA is a professional association and that operators are water quality professionals. He is currently the chairperson of the newly formed Past President’s Committee.
- Mike Fields, of the city’s water treatment division, reported that since the aeration system was added to the water treatment process this spring, no microcystins – which create algal blooms – have been detected.
- Jackie Spangenberg, of the utility business office, noted the office is in the midst of student move-ins for Bowling Green State University. She hoped Monday was the heaviest day of students calling for utility hook-ups, “because the phones are still ringing in my ears.”
