LEBANON — Some residents are grumbling over reports that two Mason businessmen would almost double their investment with a proposed land sale to Lebanon.

        “That's very discouraging that they would do that to the city,” resident Barbara Lincoln Erbeck said.

        Still, she said, if water tests come back positive, the city should buy the land, at U.S. 42 and Bunnell Road southwest of Lebanon. Initial tests have found water, but the city is waiting for tests on just how much water is there.

        Golf course owner John Zopff and insurance agency owner Jack Flaherty are partners in the deal. They already have bought about 20 acres of the land from owner Delphin Helton, Mr. Zopff said Monday, although the sale has not yet been recorded.

        The men have an option on an additional 110 acres that would bring their cost to $800,000 — the land's appraised value — whereas the city would have to pay Mr. Flaherty and Mr. Zopff $1.5 million for the 130 acres.

        “The land may be valued at $6,000 an acre for farm land, but what value do you put on water?” City Manager James Patrick said.

        Mr. Zopff said the deal wasn't his or Mr. Flaherty's idea. Mr. Helton offered to sell them the land, he said, and then city officials expressed an interest in buying it. Mr. Helton could not be reached Monday, but Mr. Patrick confirmed the city approached the men.

        “We're not thieves,” Mr. Zopff said. “We got into it thinking we were buying a farm and we'd develop it.”

        Mason and Turtlecreek Township leaders have voiced concerns about Lebanon tapping into the already-strained Shaker Creek Aquifer, but their Lebanon counterparts say the Warren County seat needs a backup water source.

        The city has found a possible site for a recharge basin — a lake that would actually help the aquifer by holding rainwater and allowing it to soak back into the ground — Mr. Patrick said.

        Lebanon also is considering using the land for a bypass and reselling some of it for industrial use at a profit.

        The city has until Feb. 28 to decide whether to buy the land; City Council could vote on it at its next meeting, Feb. 13.

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