“We’re not butting up against any sort of treatment limits or anything like that right now but we just felt it was prudent, they’re not making land anymore so we felt it was a good opportunity to purchase the land out in front of that plant for future expansion whenever that happens,” Vance said. “We felt it was a price that was fair given the fact that it’s contiguous to our existing site and you can’t just plunk a water treatment down anywhere.”
She said they don’t have any concrete expansion plans, a preliminary study was done in 2021 when the controversial $353 million Burns Farm development was under discussion, but nothing substantive.
Coincidentally the 350-acre Burns property at the corner of U.S. 27 and Ohio 128 was sold for $7 million — Vance said she was unaware of the purchase — to Ron Watson on Aug. 24, according to county records. Watson could not be reached comment on what he intends to do with the prime real estate.
Ross Twp. Trustee Russ McGurrin told the Journal-News he knows what Watson’s plans are but he isn’t at liberty to share. McGurrin was one of the most vocal opponents of the previous plans for the property.
“I am more comfortable with someone like Ron Watson who in my opinion has done good things for Ross Twp. and I believe will continue to do things with Ross Twp.,” he said. “I think that’s why he bought it, he feels that Ross Twp. is important to him and he wanted to step up.”
Trustee Keith Ballauer said Watson told the township “he doesn’t have any plans” for the Burns Farm but “to me you don’t spend $7 million not to recoup it somehow or another.”
Developer Ron Coffman worked with the previous trustee board for several years to develop the property with 339 mid-level and estate homes, senior cottages and assisted living,185 rental units and 124 units of “active adult housing.” A small portion, about 25 acres, was slated for a hotel and neighborhood retail.
When the trustees asked the county commissioners to allow them to establish a new community authority to help the developer finance infrastructure — Coffman said he would be committing “financial suicide” without the financing tool — droves of residents came out to protest the project.
The project died and McGurrin and Trustee David Young also recently dissolved — Ballauer “wholeheartedly” disagreed — the Joint Economic Development District with Hamilton that was inked in anticipation of the Burns Farm deal and expected growth from the massive Spooky Nook sports and convention complex, that was expected to spur development in the township.
McGurrin told the Journal-News “I have always been in favor of slow growth in Ross and I mean slow” and the board is looking into “potential changes in the land use plan” because some of it allows higher density than he is comfortable with.
“As far as the JEDD goes, the JEDD provided too easy of a thoroughfare for major development in Ross Twp.,” he said. “And I don’t think Ross Twp. wants or is ready for that.”
Aside from his feeling on the development issue McGurrin said he is glad the county is taking the “preemptive” step of preparing for future treatment plant expansion, especially since there are apparently other projects in the pipeline.
“Just the general idea that there’s going to be growth in Ross Twp. I think it’s good that they purchased that, so that somebody else doesn’t purchase it and use it for something else that may not be as beneficial to the township as the expansion of a water plant,” McGurrin said. “These expansions may realistically be 10 or 20 years down the road, who knows, but I think it’s a good preemptive move.”
Ballauer agreed the county land purchase was a good move.
“You can’t stop growth, you can control it but yes something’s going to happen with that famr in the future with its sale,” Ballauer said. “I think the commissioners are going in the right direction with making sure that facility is able to handle the capacity that may come to Ross.”
About the Author