New Albany City Council approved an agreement Oct. 20 providing for roughly 19 acres of donated land for Phase 3 of Rose Run Park, with the city responsible for developing the park.

The council adopted the memorandum of understanding with The New Albany Company and M/I Homes of Central Ohio at its regular meeting at New Albany Village Hall, according to adopted legislation posted by the city. Mayor Sloan Spalding and council members Marlene Brisk, Michael Durik, Kasey Kist, John McClelland, Matt Shull and Andrea Wiltrout were listed as present.

The adopted legislation includes roll-call sheets for each measure, but the individual votes were not filled in on the published document.

Under the agreement, The New Albany Company will donate approximately 19 acres to the city for Phase 3 of Rose Run Park. The land was originally slated for about 15 acres of athletic fields for the New Albany Plain Local School District under the Ganton C-PUD zoning approved in 2024. The school district and city have since identified another location for those fields, and the donated parcel grew to roughly 19 acres.

The deed will require the land be used solely for park, recreation, conservation or open space purposes and remain open to the public. If the city stops using it for those purposes or fails to maintain it, the property reverts to The New Albany Company.

The city bears the full cost of designing, engineering and building the park. The agreement requires the park be substantially completed and open to the public by June 1, 2028.

Miller Avenue Extension and stormwater

The agreement also addresses the Miller Avenue Extension, a new road connecting through the development area. The city will pay for its western segment. M/I Homes will pay for the eastern segment and must have the entire extension completed and open to traffic by June 1, 2028.

A stormwater management basin will be built within the park to handle runoff from portions of a new primary street and the M/I Homes development. Two sections of the adopted agreement assign basin construction to different parties: one provision states the city will construct the basin at its sole cost, while another assigns design, engineering and construction to M/I Homes with city reimbursement for the share of costs tied to street runoff. The city will maintain the basin after construction.

Tax levies for 2027 collection

At the same meeting, the council adopted Resolution R-43-2026, certifying $2,560,222.93 in property tax levies to the Franklin County Auditor for tax year 2026, to be collected in 2027. The entire amount goes to the General Fund at a rate of 1.94 mills inside the ten-mill limitation.

A companion measure, Resolution R-44-2026, certified $483,318 to the Licking County Auditor for the same tax year. That levy funds the General Fund at a rate of 1.7 mills inside the ten-mill limitation.

Both resolutions took effect upon adoption Oct. 20. The combined levies total about $3.04 million across the two counties.