By Jennifer Edwards
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LEBANON - Like other counties across Ohio, Warren County is struggling to fund and establish a storm water management plan with a hefty price tag: $1.2 million to set up and to operate for the first five years.

That means homeowners in five of the county's townships likely soon will be asked to pay about $12 a year to support the system.

The storm water management plan is part of an unfunded federal mandate passed in an attempt to improve the water quality in rivers and streams, County Engineer Neil Tunison told the Warren County Commission in a work session Tuesday.

But Commissioners Mike Kilburn and Larry Crisenbery were skeptical. Though the plan must be done, they noted, it likely would be an expensive, futile exercise in reducing pollution in runoff water. "I just don't see it as a slice of apple pie," Kilburn said. "It's an unfunded mandate that isn't going to do anything."

"I can't see the fruits of all this but I am going to trust that it will work," Tunison responded, adding that the effort is pushing the county to set up a much-needed computerized mapping system of all the new subdivisions quicker.

The county will split the cost with the townships; it will cost about $158,000 a year, Tunison said. Warren County would contribute 50 percent, or $92,500, and the townships - Clearcreek, Franklin, Hamilton, Turtlecreek and Union - would pay the other half, a combined $58,750, county records show.

Deerfield Township officials have indicated they want to set up their own management plan, and so will the county's cities, Tunison said.

If the county's two villages -South Lebanon and Maineville - join the county plan, they would contribute $3,750, according to county records. To help offset costs, Kilburn suggested a new impact fee and/or raising fees for zoning applications for subdivision layouts. "We need to drastically raise those fees," Kilburn said. "We can't rob Peter to pay Paul on a new program."

The storm water management plan is required in all Ohio jurisdictions with more than 1,000 people per square mile, Tunison said.

E-mail jedwards@enquirer.com.