Middletown brownfield projects funded by state funds
Year Property Grant Status
2004 Aeronca $3 million Completed
2007 Former Middletown Regional Hospital $1.8 million Completed
2009 STM Redevelopment $1.6 million Ongoing
2009 Vail Rubberworks $750,000 Ongoing
2011 ADS Manufacturing $491,033 Ongoing
Source: Ohio Department of Development
Middletown’s goal of cleaning up former industrial sites littered throughout the city could be hampered by a change in state policy.
Officials said JobsOhio’s goal to change brownfield remediation funding from a grant-based program to offering low-interest loans would reduce the number projects around the state that are started next year.
Middletown has relied on grants from the state in the past to clean up former industrial sites like Aeronca and a non-industrial site like Middletown Regional Hospital. The city’s goal is to make these sites available for future development and job growth.
On July 1, the state will hand the Clean Ohio Brownfield Remediation program to JobsOhio, the nonprofit formed by Gov. John Kasich in 2011 to focus on job creation. The project has been operated by the state’s department of development since the Clean Ohio program was voted on in 2000.
Middletown’s acting Economic Development Director Denise Hamet said there will be fewer applications in a year to clean up brownfields — which are defined as industrial properties that are either vacant or underutilized with environmental contamination to prevent reuse or redevelopment — if a loan policy is in place.
“I think you wouldn’t have a lot of projects penciled out if you have to repay remedial work because that’s above and beyond doing the normal work,” Hamet said. “It’s hard to get projects to pencil out beyond normal construction costs.”
Hamilton Economic Development Director Jody Gunderson agreed and said grants reduce risks.
“That’s why the grant system has worked so well,” he said. “You’re mitigating risk for property owners and the city when you bring in grant dollars.”
The state has invested more than $370 million in brownfield redevelopment projects since 2002, and 5.1 percent of those funds have been funneled to Butler County for Middletown and Hamilton projects. Since 2004, more than $7.6 million in Clean Ohio Revitalization and Clean Ohio Assistance funds have been spent on brownfield projects in Middletown, according to the Ohio Department of Development.
There are three other brownfield sites Middletown received funding for that are still in the process of being cleaned.
“Our ultimate goal is to keep moving forward on our program to clean up the brownfields,” Hamet said. “We use a variety of funding mechanisms, so our ability to clean up brownfields depends on how much money is available.”
In the past five years, the city has received $800,000 in U.S. EPA funds and more than $8,400 in Ohio EPA funds. Hamet said there are federal funds that could be used for site clean up.
Middletown has about 2,000 acres of land that can be developed, and about 9 percent of that land contains brownfields.
When JobsOhio takes over the Clean Ohio Brownfield Revitalization program, how the funds are to be managed and distributed is uncertain.
“The details are not yet finalized,” said Laura Jones, JobsOhio spokeswoman. “We are moving forward and working on that.”
Jones said there will be a loan aspect to the funding mechanism.
“What we’re going to do is what makes sense for business and makes sense for Ohio,” Jones said.
Once JobsOhio’s funding is in place — state’s liquor enterprise will fund the nonprofit — the organization will use a combination of tax incentives and credits, grants and loans to foster business development, Jones said.
“With JobsOhio the goal is to build and grow Ohio’s economy,” she said.
Moving the Brownfield Revitalization program to JobsOhio is the right move, said State Rep. Tim Derickson, R-Hanover Twp.
“Their charge is economic development and job creation and that is exactly what this brownfield revitalization program caters to. They have the same mission,” he said.
Derickson said while funding for the program is not in doubt, the type or avenue of the funding is in question, especially for many cash-strapped government budgets like Middletown.
“That is the big question right now,” he said.
While the former Aeronca site near Hook Field and the STM Redevelopment Property at First Avenue and Water Street has been turned to open green space, the remediation saved Vail Rubberworks, said general manager Don Bown.
The Clark Street manufacturer, which rolls paper and metals, received state remediation funds in 2009. The site was contaminated with lead, mold and asbestos, had an unneeded basement and half of the 150,000-square-foot building attracted vandals, the homeless and gangs.
The project tore down half the building and removed the basement, and cleaned up the contamination. The company is in the process of planning cosmetic work on the front side of the building.
“It was underutilized in the area that we tore down,” said Bown. “We knew that we were going to lose our building and the livelihood for 18 people (if we didn’t do something).”
Cleaning up brownfields is just good for the city, Bown said.
“I think it’s extremely important. We’ve got business that moved out or underutilized. They’re a blight on the area,” Bown said. “I think it will eventually attract people back to Middletown and create room to build.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or michael.pitman@coxinc.com. Follow at
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