This meeting was held to move the Goose Creek project further along and indentify issues that need to be dealt with. Offhand this looks to eventually add to the expenses of the Pilot and TA truck stops as well as the motel at Exit 10 as all would be forced to use the county sewer district. Chris Day did mention that “it cannot be an unreasonable burden” but what that means to government and what that feels like to a business is not always the same thing.

The effluent from this project will eventually flow into Prices Creek and that flows into Twin Creek which is known as the second cleanest in the state.  That may not be a current issue but it was brought up by the representatives of Woolpert Inc. back on December 14, 2009.  Woolpert was not chosen for the project, Kleingers and Associates were and Frank Leone of Environmental Services was brought in by them and also appeared on that date. The Woolpert meeting did also mention Hazelwood Drive as the access point.

Towards the end of the May 12, 2011 meeting Preble County Economic Development Director Shawnda Combs mentioned an inquiry from a consultant for a retail distribution concern.  Preble County Engineer then asked if “…if we do get distribution they would go in this section?”  That is a valid concern as previous issues raised have already caused concern over increased truck traffic to an area where it is already a problem.  There is also the concern of this project being worth the cost. The $6,000,000 figure is only the projected cost for water and waste water.  Back in July of 2006 the Dayton Business Journal reported this:  “The County will have to invest a total of $25 million to $30 million in infrastructure to develop the land.”  

That total would have had to go up considerably since then as all commodities have. The Engineer wants to increase the license plate fee because of the increase costs.

A question for the citizens of Preble County; is this project worth the cost to the taxpayers, the environment and way of life? This is prime farm land that is being paved over for more truck traffic and congestion in an area where there is already an issue.  On July 14, 2010 County Engineer made this statement in chambers: File3A Simmons "Just trying to figure out how this is going to dovetail with all of the other projects we have in our pipeline. If we send up more requests than what we should how that is going to affect the rest of the county."

The result will be that Goose Creek will impact the ability of the rest of the county to get grants for a far longer time period than Steve Simmons feared. One of the standard economic development tools is a JEDD which would impose a 1% income tax in the area to pay for the growth but that proposed option went south back on January 25, 2010 in a meeting with then top State of Ohio Economic Development officials Kevin Carver and Brewster Rhodes. They informed Preble County officials of a growing trend of high earning company decision makers to move companies when local income taxes rose over 2%. Goose Creek and all of the Exit 10 area sit in the National Trail School District which already has the highest income tax allowed at 1.75%. That figure elicited a gasp from state officials. The Preble County Commissioners have yet to come clean on the real impact of these local school income taxes and that is a travesty because people have supported them on the assumption that it would attract business by showing a commitment to education. The end result though may be to box out the very type of development taxpayers had hoped to attract. This matters because property tax can be abated but income taxes cannot.

On the issue of tax abatements, please read or listen to File 6  from the December 29, 2010 meeting. That meeting had John Bull of NIC offering his views on the issue. He specifically mentioned Honda moving when the tax abatements ran out. He referred to it as a game that is played and Preble County taxpayers should pay attention.

Preble County, Ohio

Meeting with Frank Leone on Goose Creek

May 12, 2011

Meeting audio and review

File 1

Meeting on Goose Creek water & waste water with Frank Leone as recorded by William Yorke III

6.0 Minute mark   Meeting begins with Frank Leone of Environmental Services.

Commissioner Chris Day on hand

Steve Simmons

Katie Worthington

Connie Crowell

Shawnda Combs

7 Minute mark   Frank Leone.  Still targeting the schedule that we have there. Have all document and approval ready for any construction we want to do by July of next year (2012).

Construction to be earlier or later based on the pieces based on grants based on prospects.

7.6 Minute mark   mention of crossing the Interstate.

7.75 Minute mark   Put together drawings for second well.

8.5 Minute mark   mention of irrigation and lagoon

9.4 Minute mark   I -70 crossing permit to be ready in next month or so.

Timing to reflect getting it to the EPA for review by October of this year.

9.9 Minute mark  Frank Leone asks if that is a schedule that makes sense.

Commissioner Day – So in my mind correct me here

Frank Leone – Ok

Commissioner Day – Let me go through this. On the water side of it we got building the second well.

We've got design of tower and plant…. then we jump to waste water… we've got the lift station, we're gonna have treatment plant. We're going to have ahhm effluent discharge line.

Frank Leone – Yes

Commissioner Day – When we talk about the effluent you guys that is the clean water we are putting out on the fields. Then we will have application equipment?

Frank Leone – Yes

Commissioner Day – For the application of the effluent. Which the reason for that is is ahhh at this point we are looking at surface supply and surface application on existing land with still hinges on the direct discharge to a stream or some type — stream or ditch. Actually Pilot has a discharge permit. One of the things we are looking at is trying to work with them — and assuming their discharge permit. We've got something to work out on that but just on the surface if we can work something out with them we wouldn't have to .. we would have that as an option. But if we would assume their direct discharge it is not a new permit it is just assume

Frank Leone – mentions lagoon .. if we can get the Pilot discharge permit our lagoon can be smaller…. We can get clients earlier because we don't have to wait until this plan is done. (Previously reported that Pilot is only using 10,000 gallons of a 20,000 per day permit). If we have someone that wants to get in there real quickly we have the treatment capacity.

Commissioner Day – It could be a big cost savings on a couple of these items…always easier to modify a permit than obtain a new one, I am not saying it can't be done. Plus anything we as long as we work with Pilot the EPA is going to be more than happy to be proactive….

19.5 Minute mark   Frank mentions how Pilot reacts as dictating how things get done.

20.5 Minute mark  Mention of building a lab to serve the other sewer districts as well. Steve Simmons mentions that they have been talking about it for either Goose Creek or the Landfill where he claims they need to be building a new building.

Frank Leone – mentions that new tower will have up to a 1000 sq. ft. in base available.  Tower to be 135 or so feet.

Shawnda mentions signage on tower for Goose Creek.

Around 30 Million top pharmacy shop discount cialis American men suffer from the most trusted sources only.
Lewisburg has 500,000 tank on top.

25.9 Minute mark  End of June or July get together for a concept meeting.

27 Minute mark  Second well will be in before the end of this month.

30 Minute mark   Frank Leone –  Water ready by late June

30.5 Minute mark   Steve Simmons on Shawnda needs to know that we could have water ready by no later than September 1 of this year if someone was asking. We are not ready for waste water but we could supply water.

Frank Leone – Actually what we are thinking through, again we have to make sure everyone is comfortable with. In my mind if we can get a deal with Pilot and everything I have talked to them about, they want to get out of this waste water. I think you could tell them we have waste water available because all we would have to do for the first user is put a grinder pump at their property and run on inch force main to the pipe at the plant and we got treatment.

Frank Leone –  I think the more we hear that is about 13,000 a day. We couldn't take Budweiser or a brewery but you could…

End 33 minute mark on CD – 7.56 MB

File 2

34 Minute mark   Geo Technical proposals – Eight expected borings at less than $25,000. (Over $25,000 would require three proposals).

36.75 Minute mark    Frank Leone – The second piece of this at least in our mind has always been trying to achieve getting Pilot's —- permits, to be ours. … explains concept….

36.5 Minute mark   Pilot's costs would be frozen while they are using that plant at the same cost now they spend to run that plant.

Steve Simmons – Now that is where we need to get John involved. I don't know, in the big picture I don't know but in the little picture they may have to make some improvements to that plant before we would take it over.  

Frank Leone – Well we're looking at that we're looking at that. I don't know that would could ask them to make them or we would make them as part of this project. We don't see anything significant right now with one recent that we found that would make a little bit of cost but you are right.

Zero sum game while we are building our plant. Further comments..

39.5 Minute mark   Steve Simmons asks where the motel is going.

Frank Leone – They would be mandated by EPA to tie into ours the minute it is available.

Commissioner Day – on requirement and "it cannot be an unreasonable burden"

Frank Leone – Pilot's permit indicates that once public sewage is available they have to abandon their plant and come to us anyway.   

41.25 Minute mark  Steve Simmons if it is time to get working on a sewer district.

43.5 Minute mark   Commissioner Day – Partnership had meeting the other day and we are going to look at the comprehensive Master Plan for the county.

45 Minute mark   Frank Leone – Pilot has new permit effective June 1.  Consent decree from EPA on oil and gas separator.

48 Minute mark     TA truck stop discussion.

Discharge all ends up in Prices Creek.

50.5 Minute mark   Call Pilot and make proposal. Have people up from Knoxville.

54 Minute mark  Frank Leone – mentions Issue 2 dead line and is thinking about something for the water.

55.5 Minute mark   Shawnda Combs – We did get an inquiry from a consultant for a retail distribution location. They were looking for existing space but they have not yet found one in the three counties that they are looking at. Should they not find existing space then they obviously have to consider construction and we were told that we were the prime location for their client. So obviously we are thinking that area but also we are continuing to market the site we are doing, we're doing a two page spread in Global Corporate Expansion for their Logistics Distribution addition. So the marketing the marketing is I am sorry,

Steve Simmons – That is alright I was interrupting. I was asking a question; do we really know what we want to be when we grow up, up there? Do we want to be distribution, do we want to be? —

Shawnda Combs – That would have to be something I am going off of the concept plans that we have currently designed.

Steve Simmons – So if we do get Distribution, they would go in this section?

Shawnda Combs – They inquired about this particular location specifically in the phone conversation. There are other locations that are an option. But they inquired specifically about this location because they want to be right on 70.

Frank Leone – When they ask you that do they share any date at all? In other words would that be the kind of facility that would be a low water and sewer user?

Shawnda Combs – It's a retail distribution so probably something like a Kohl’s, something along that a retail

58 Minute mark   Shawnda Combs – He did specifically mention that they want to be right on 70 and they like that location.

1 hr Minute mark   Shawnda Combs – .. he just went on about how we were just logistically perfect for retail distribution. Cleveland area.

1 hr 1.5 Minute mark  Overlay district discussion.

1 hr  4 Minute mark   Chris Day mention Exit 165. Findlay

Steve Simmons offers that Pilot needs to expand.

1 hr. 7.25 minute mark on cd  

34.16 minutes – 7.48 MB