By Jill Hanning
Enquirer contributor

LEBANON - City Council is negotiating with Warren County commissioners to change construction plans for a bus maintenance garage on county-owned land in one of the city's gateway areas.

The proposed building, which would be a vehicle maintenance and parking garage for the county's fleet of trucks and cars as well as the Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities bus fleet, was originally planned for Markey Road and Ohio 63 (Main Street), a scenic parcel that overlooks the city and is used for community playing fields.

Though the garage is permitted under zoning regulations and the land is owned by the county, the council is negotiating to change the location to protect and preserve the city's gateways.

"It's a community issue, not a legal one," said City Manager Pat Clements.

The county agreed to construct wide berms and plant trees to camouflage the new garage, but council members expressed concerns that the beauty of the gateway would be compromised regardless of how well it was hidden.

"I'm glad the county was willing to comply, but my concern was that even with that, there would be unsightly buses, a maintenance garage; I'm not sure the best landscaping would overcome the effects," Councilman Norm Dreyer said.

Dreyer brought the proposed construction to council's notice after hearing about it by chance. In a council work session, Dreyer informed the other members of council of the county's plan.

"I was a little disheartened," Dreyer said. County Administrator Bob Price said the site was chosen because "things wouldn't fit on any other site that we owned that was suitable."

He added that the county is willing to work with the city to consider other properties, and that plans to move ahead with construction somewhere would probably be made in less than a month.