City of Dayton Killing Jobs, Hurting Economic Development (Part 3)

By Steve Staub (President, Staub Manufacturing Solutions)

The Well Field Fund Board:

The original concept of the Well Field Protection Area was fair for the region and for local business; however, over the years the ordinance has become much more restrictive. When the program began, an automatic replenishing fund of $10,000,000 was established to be used to make property owners “whole if they were negatively affected by the Well Field Protection Area Ordinance”. The intent was and is, if the fund (which is effectively controlled by the Dayton Water Dept.) dropped below the $10 million mark it would be automatically replenished with a tax on every Dayton Water Dept. customer. 

The concept made sense and was a cornerstone concept that got the business community behind acceptance of the ordinance. Minutes from meetings as well as affidavits from former City staff document that the concept of making property owners “whole” was an integral part of the ordinance. Unfortunately, the Dayton Water Department refuses to recognize this concept.


If a little regulation is good then a lot of regulation must be better

In 1995 The Dayton Water Department decided to increase the restriction the ordinance placed on properties in the Well Field Area. Not because it was necessary but because it was their original intent to begin with. The concepts they were proposing in 1995 had been proposed prior to passage of the 1988 ordinance, but to the chagrin of the Water Department the City leaders chose less restrictive language. 

By 1995 there was much concern about the ordinance and increasing the restrictions so the changes had to be done cautiously to avoid pushback from the business community and property owners. As we know, a great way to avoid pushback is to provide less than full disclosure to the Commission and the property owners. Prior to passage of these more restrictive regulations in 1995, then Mayor (now Congressman) Mike Turner asked if the proposed changes were “More or less lenient than the existing regulations”.  

Unfortunately he was told that the proposed changes were “More lenient” than the current regulations and the changes were passed by the Commission. A reading of the history between the differences in the ordinance reveals that Mayor Turner did not receive correct information! In fact the revised ordinance contained many more restrictive terms that were never included in the original ordinance.

Our family has owned industrially zoned property in the Well Field long before there was ever a Well Field. When the property was purchased in the early 1980’s the family paid $40,000 per acre for the land. Today this property is still for sale and has been for over 20 years, all due to the over-burdensome Well Field restrictions. A realtor did an appraisal on the land and has declared it virtually worthless. So on behalf of our family and the land that we own we recently put in a request for funds “to be made whole”. Unfortunately, the Well Field Fund committee recommended to the board that this request be denied!

They did not make a recommendation on IF the request was right or wrong, good or bad, prudent or irrelevant, but that it might, in the words of Kenton R. Domer-Shank RS, “set a bad precedent”. Set a bad precedent. Yes that was reason the committee and City of Dayton attorney gave the Well Field Fund Board! Given that making affected businesses whole was the intent of the fund in the first place how could it possibly set a bad precedent?

The fact is the Dayton Water Department has continuously maintained that the Well Field Ordinance did not impact property values and making a payment for damages would be going against the ruse they have promoted over the past 25 years. The Board was actually very well-rehearsed in their questions and it was obvious their minds were made up long before the meeting. The City of Dayton attorney present also had done her homework and would not let anyone answer any tough questions… such as “what would the precedent be”?

They had the power and the authority to do the right thing and they decided to hide and take cover instead. I often talk to people about doing the right thing. Too bad we can’t get The Dayton Water Dept., the Fund board and Dayton & Montgomery County Public Health to listen! The fund board has essentially become an extension of the Dayton Water Department and they do as they wish knowing that the average business cannot afford to take them to task and unfortunately the Dayton City Commission is allowing them to get away with it.