More than $6.4 million approved for 15 Clermont County community projects

More than $6 million has been approved by the Ohio House of Representatives to benefit the communities of Clermont County.

The funding comes from House Bill 2, the appropriations package where funding is allocated for community projects.

“Most of them are looked at to ensure that the scope of those projects really makes a difference in the village or the township or the county that they're awarded to,” Clermont County Commissioner David Painter said.

The $6.4 million will be distributed to help fund 15 community projects and operating funds for local nonprofit, Child Focus.

County officials, state representatives, and state senators all worked together to advocate for their local communities and get them the funding they needed.

“We want to be able to help them achieve these projects, and so this is just a case where as commissioners, we are committed to providing the planning necessary meetings,” Painter said. “And in this particular case, some advocacy for these kinds of projects, to guide them in a direction so that they can actually meet the goals that they want in their community.”

Of the 15 projects, the rebuilding of Goshen Fire Department (GFD) Station 18 will receive the most funding at $2.5 million. For over two years, the department has been without a permanent building.

“The station was struck by an EF2 tornado, and being a 43-year-old building it didn’t make sense to invest millions of dollars into the building, it made more sense to tear down and build new,” said Ed Myers, Fire Chief for the Goshen Township Fire & EMS.

WCPO

Before: Google Earth; After: Barry Fulmer, WCPO 9

Myers said the funding from House Bill 2 bridges the gap to finally rebuild Station 18 — making it safer for the community as well as including new cancer prevention methods to help first responders.

“We’re doing everything we can with this new station with new types of washers and dryers, the way we conduct business within the station, how the air flows within the station,” Myers said. “We’re able to do that with this new station to reduce those exposures, where at the old station the price would be astronomical to put those things in place.”

Station 18 is set to be demolished in just a few weeks, and officials hope it will be completed by September 2025. The new building will be slightly larger than the original allowing the department to add two new firefighters.

The total construction will be around $8-9 million, the remainder of the funding will come from disaster and insurance funds.

A full list of community organizations receiving funds is listed below.

TOTAL $6,431,840   $12,742,000

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