Mega plans for western Lorain County

Development on Lorain County's west side appears poised finally to take off. That's thanks to $67.4 million in state funding aimed at helping turn the Lorain County Regional Airport into a "mega site" for development. The money from the state will be used to "fund the upgrades of water and wastewater lines to the Project Site, and the design and engineering of a wastewater treatment plant," according to the proposal approved Monday by the Ohio Controlling Board. The bulk of the money from the state, which requires an additional $22.5 million in local matching funds, will pay for the wastewater treatment plant, county Commissioner Dave Moore told us Tuesday. He added that the full cost of the project had not yet been finalized. Building a wastewater treatment plant somewhere on the county's west side also could be a boon to Vermilion. (Moore said the county was exploring three options for the plant's location, but declined to identify them.) The city's aging wastewater treatment plant needs roughly $76 million worth of work to comply with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency directives. The small city doesn't have the financial resources to absorb such an expensive project. However, officials from Vermilion, the county and other communities have been exploring the creation of a countywide sewer consortium. Through the consortium, Vermilion could tie into the new wastewater treatment plant and turn its existing plant into a pump station. The proposed consortium is still in the planning stages, but it, along with a new wastewater treatment plant, could help address a key impediment to development in western Lorain County: the lack of sewers. Although the so-called "sewer to nowhere" brought some sewers to the area years ago, it hasn't proved sufficient to spur the sort of development Moore and other officials now anticipate. In a story we published Tuesday, state Rep. Gayle Manning, R-Avon, said that had the mega site been ready when Intel was looking for a location to spend around $20 billion on new semiconductor plants, Lorain County could have been in the mix. Exactly what form the development at and around the airport would take remains largely up in the air. The county does have plans, which Moore said had the backing of the Federal Aviation Administration, to extend the airport's runway from about 5,000 feet to around 7,000 feet. That would allow larger planes, including those hauling cargo, to land there. Beyond that, local officials seem intent on landing a big tenant or tenants at the planned mega site. Moore told us that the county had spoken to a few companies about the possibility, but no deals had been signed. (Moore also declined to say what companies county officials had spoken with.) One of the reasons the county hasn't finalized a deal for the mega site is that a lot remains to be done before it's ready to go. For one, the county still needs to sort out where it will get the nearly $22.5 million in local matching funds the state grant requires. One possibility, Moore said, would be to get some of the money from Vermilion, which would benefit from a new wastewater treatment plant. Another, he said, would be to redirect about $20 million the commissioners have set aside to build a new county jail. That could work, but it might hamper the county's plans to address the aging Lorain County Jail, which desperately needs to be replaced. The commissioners are mulling putting a 0.25 percent sales-tax increase on the ballot in November. The roughly $14 million it would generate annually would be devoted to the county Sheriff's Office and replace much of the money that goes to the sheriff from the county's general fund each year. Were voters to approve the sales-tax hike, the commissioners could use some of the freed-up money from the general fund to pay off bonds the county could take out to pay for the jail project. Moore also suggested that the county could use the $13.9 million plus interest that it expects to receive once the Lorain County Port Authority's sale of the Midway Mall to Industrial Commercial Properties is complete. The commissioners lent $13.9 million to the Port Authority to buy the mall, which ICP is expected to buy for $17 million. (The Port Authority will keep most of the money beyond the $13.9 million plus interest, Moore said.) ICP recently extended its due diligence period into October, when Moore said he hoped the sale would be finalized. As with the mall, which the Port Authority has taken longer than anticipated to sell, Moore is wildly enthusiastic about the possibilities of a mega site at the airport, which he called a "game changer." Not only does he envision the area around the airport bringing in business development and jobs, he believes it will lead to other development on the county's west side, including new housing. This could be met with resistance in the townships, although Moore has been encouraging them to review their zoning ordinances in anticipation of future development. "It's coming whether you like it or not," he said. "You either control it, or it will control you." We appreciate Moore's enthusiasm, but, as the slow progress on Midway Mall has shown, economic development isn't easy. It's fine to hope for a smooth landing, but it's also important to be prepared for turbulence.