The council of governments — representatives of local governments close to the base — has been due to receive $3 million in federal funding to continue the council’s work of supporting the base.
The money in this case has been earmarked for “land acquisition,” according to a congressional spending line item shared by Turner’s office with the Dayton Daily News last month.
The funding is pending along with other fiscal year 2025 appropriations bills, said Fairborn City Manager Michael Gebhart.
“If approved, the funds would be used to acquire land for future development around Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,” Gebhart said.
Where and when that future development happens remains to be determined.
“We are in the early stages, as you heard at the last meeting,” said Pete Landrum, Beavercreek city manager. “Our purpose right now is reviewing the CUP (Compatibility Use Plan) priorities and ... formulate a way forward."
A Maryland consultant in the past two years has drafted and completed a compatibility use plan for the council as a guide to local governments on developments and uses deemed compatible with Wright-Patterson’s mission. Public governments have been invited to examine and explore the plan.
Appropriations for the land acquisition money aren’t expected until about mid-March, Turner’s office has said.
On Thursday, members of the council met at Wright State University to wrestle with questions of future priorities, memberships, by-laws and possibly approaching Columbus for state funding.
Anything that benefits Wright-Patterson benefits the state as a whole, argued Riverside City Manager Joshua Rauch. Wright-Patterson employs some 38,000 civilian and military employees.
“All that work has resulted in the largest single-site employer in the state of Ohio,” Rauch said. “And that’s of benefit to the state.”
There are also issues touching on the “resiliency” of Wright-Patterson as an installation, potential natural and manmade issues involving the base that can only be confronted in closed executive session because they involve matters of “national security,” said Dave Burrows, a Dayton Development Coalition executive vice president who sits on the council.
Members agreed to further discuss issues in future meetings and work sessions. The body’s next meeting is March 27.
“To get moving, the No. 1 thing we need to know — where are we going," Landrum said.
The council was formed through a agreement between the cities of Beavercreek, Dayton, Fairborn, Huber Heights, and Riverside, and Bath Township, united to protect Wright-Patt and the Springfield Air National Guard Base. U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, has called it a “government of governments.”
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