The Enquirer

The gas bill for a typical Cincinnati Gas & Electric residential customer will decline slightly this month to $114.54 from $115.41 in July, the unit of Cinergy Corp. says.

A year ago, the same customer paid $124.18. All the calculations are based on using 10,800 cubic feet of gas. In Northern Kentucky, the same residential customer of Union Light Heat & Power will pay $117.57 this month, up from $116.57 in July and $115.21 a year ago.

Lattice to sell 235 towers

Lattice Communications LLC, a Cincinnati owner of wireless communications towers, has agreed to sell 235 towers, or about three-fourths of its portfolio, for $115 million.

Lattice, a partnership owned by Cinergy Corp., a Robert M. Bass partnership, Blue Chip Venture Co. and management, said it agreed to sell the towers to Global Signal Inc., a Sarasota, Fla., real estate investment trust, which owns or manages more than 3,300 wireless towers. The deal is expected to close by year-end. The towers are mainly located in Indiana, Ohio, Alabama, Kansas and Georgia.

Flavor maker plans to expand

Erlanger's Wild Flavors Inc. will more than double its space in Northern Kentucky when it acquires a vacant 215,000 square-foot building on Olympic Boulevard to expand its flavor-making operations. Last week, the privately held German-based company obtained a $2.5 million tax credit from Kentucky officials for the $15 million expansion, expected to add 68 jobs in two years.

Wild now employs 279 in Erlanger. Michael Ponder, Wild CEO, said the company is "packed to the gills'' at its 200,000-square-foot manufacturing, research and office building at 1261 Pacific Ave., north of Interstate 275, which opened in 1998. The new building, about a mile south of the Erlanger plant, will give the flavor maker additional manufacturing, research and office space.