By Sheila McLaughlin
Enquirer staff writer

SYMMES TWP. - Trustees have put off a decision that would allow the state to obtain some park land for the Montgomery Road widening project, after residents in Calumet Farm threatened to sue.

The group, calling itself Symmes Citizens for Responsible Improvements, hired attorney Timothy Mara, who sent a letter to trustees on Tuesday.

The residents, who are opposed to the widening in the residential area near Kemper and Montgomery roads, say it is illegal for trustees to give away land at Blong Road because it was purchased with nearly $500,000 in park levy funds.

They want trustees to designate the property as a "significant" piece of the township park system, so the state would be forced to look at alternatives in its road plan. Some who gathered at a trustee meeting Tuesday evening said they would settle for the road being shifted across the street so it won't eat into their properties.

"The bottom line here is that the township spent a half million dollars of park levy money to buy park land, and if part of that park land is to be transferred to ODOT for road widening, the state should pay for it and replenish the park fund for future park land acquisition," Mara said in his letter to trustees.

The park property - roughly three acres acquired since 1999 to stave off commercial development - has been a focus of criticism since trustees promised last year to build up to 50 parking spaces there for use by neighboring Union Savings Bank. Trustees said the bank would not sell them their property without the agreement. The remaining land would be landscaped and trustees said they hoped to build a small memorial to victims of the 1999 tornado.

Mara did not appear at the meeting, but his letter made these points:

 The Blong Road property is significant because the township spent $500,000 to acquire it, appointed a committee to plan its use, and had a contract with Union Savings Bank detailing improvements to be made and a parking agreement.

 The township improperly purchased the Union Savings Bank property using park levy funds because the deal included parking and sidewalks for bank employees.

 The discovery of some archeological sites on the southernmost Blong Road parcels, which could have forced the state to realign the road, required further study that was never done.

Trustees Jodie Leis and Kathy Wagner said they will research the park issue and discuss it at a later meeting. Trustee Eric Minamyer was sick and absent from Tuesday's session.

"That's all we could hope for," Calumet resident Ken Bryant said of the decision.

The township paid $620,000 toward the $750,000 engineering plan for the road widening project in Hamilton County, which they say is needed to resolve traffic congestion as development heads north to Warren County. Trustees' decisions were based on what was best for the entire township, not just a particular neighborhood, Wagner said.

"The township is losing tax money from businesses. Nobody wants to come out and shop...because of the traffic," Wagner said. "We have to keep those businesses here. If we don't widen Montgomery Road ... we're going to be a ghost town."

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E-mail smclaughlin@enquirer.com