The city, in a letter to Dayton Regional Priority Development and Advocacy Committee (PDAC), said it plans to contribute “substantial funds” over several years and project funding cycles to remediate the industrial contamination present at the site.
It says this will be accomplished by converting the location to recreational space that will include camping and an adventure park to support access to recreational opportunities for low- to moderate-income residents as well as community members throughout the Dayton region.
West Carrollton said it has entered the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s Voluntary Action Program in order to remediate the site and cannot fund a large environmental cleanup independently. It is requesting $6 million in PDAC funding for the $10.8 million project.
The PDAC committee, led by the Dayton Development Coalition and local Chambers of Commerce, ranks dozens of local project funding requests like West Carrollton’s each year. The DDC says that “allows the Dayton region to speak with one voice” when seeking funding from various government and other agencies.
“This blighted and contaminated site is immediately adjacent to the Great Miami River, the Great Miami Riverway, recreational facilities, and many households, which qualify as low to moderate income residents by federal standards,” the city said in its PDAC application. The site is located just west of a planned River District and Whitewater Park.
MaryAnn Lodor, general manager for the Miami Conservancy District, told PDAC that remediation at the site “will preserve natural resources and open up greater opportunities for recreation along the Great Miami River.”
If awarded, funding would be used for construction or capital. If granted its $6 million PDAC funding request, West Carrollton said it would be ready to spend it within the next six months.
“While we believe that this project is shovel-ready for immediate remediation, the cost of safely demolishing the existing structures, removing contaminants, and capping portions of the site is estimated to cost over $10,000,000 — an expense that the City of West Carrollton cannot afford alone,” said Mayor Rick Barnhart in a letter to PDAC.
Nearly half of the of project’s estimated $10.8 million cost has been contributed, $1.9 million from an Ohio Department of Development Brownfield Remediation Grant and $2.9 million from dedicated city funds.
Barnhart said West Carrollton officials are “excited and enthused” by the forward momentum the city gained when it was awarded the Brownfield Remediation Grant.
“The city plans to contribute substantial funds over several years and project funding cycles to remediate the industrial contamination that is present at this location, and to improve quality of life for our residents, corporate citizens and visitors both within and outside of the Dayton region,” he said.
Editor’s note: The photo included with this story has been updated to include the former wastewater treatment facility at 4000 Hydraulic Road in West Carrollton.
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