BY RACHEL MELCER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ROSS -- The Fernald Community Reuse Organization (CRO) is planning for the area's economic development and it wants millions from taxpayers and advice from neighbors -- before it is too late.
CRO is creating programs to attract jobs and create enterprises that will employ about 2,000 workers who will be idled when the former Fernald uranium processing plant is cleaned up and shut down around 2008.
But it is facing a much earlier deadline.
With few market indicators to guide its way and a pending impact study, CRO must submit a tentative plan and budget request to the Department of Energy in December.
CRO -- local government officials, community activists and business leaders -- proposes:
- a revolving loan fund,
- Small business start-up assistance programs
- A long-term development corporation.
A handful of community members commented on the embryonic plan during a recent workshop but CRO hopes more will turn out for a second session at 7 p.m. Oct. 29 at Ross High School.
"I'm not going to hazard a guess about what our regional economy will be in three or four or five years from now. Nobody knows," CRO consultant Curt Paddock said. "At some point, we have to take a leap of faith."
CRO expects to request $5 million a year for the next three years. Mr. Paddock said that with federal spending cutbacks, CRO is likelier to get an annual budget of between $1 million and $2 million.
So members agree they must try to get the biggest bang for the buck.
Encourage cleanup
A revolving loan program would provide low-interest loans to towns and companies to clean up and reuse old industrial sites for new development, rather than building on virgin land.
Some Fernald workers, skilled in environmental operations, could work on cleanups; they and others could find jobs with new firms.
Loans would not be large enough to fund entire projects but they could provide crucial capital, Mr. Paddock said.
"It's still a very important role. Because as long as you have a gap between costs and cash available, you don't have a project. We might make some projects happen that wouldn't otherwise." Repaid loans would be lent again to other projects.
CRO also would like to see a regional development corporation for townships around Fernald to promote the area to business developers and suggest zoning and development policies to local governments. Some community members say it could attract big business and industry that residents would rather do without.
"We've lived with this dirty (Fernald) plant for years. When you talk about industry, that theory of big, dirty industry is not going to fly around here," said Lisa Crawford, president of Fernald Residents for Environmental Safety and Health.
CRO said the regional corporation could reflect residents' wishes. Some growth is inevitable and it could focus on small businesses and aesthetically pleasing developments.
CRO also wants to help former Fernald workers start businesses. An incubator program could provide a shared office building, equipment, secretarial and consulting staff, and support.
Project ADEPT would take the workers through a rigorous training and information program.
"When the end (of work at Fernald) becomes very near, we're going to have a very rapid drop-off in jobs. If there's no plan at all, workers will leave all at once and the community will be hurt," CRO member and union representative Bob Tabor said.
CRO proposals could avoid or minimize that, he said.
