Vandalia residents curious about potential business

Residents near Cassel and Old Springfield roads in Vandalia were curious about a potential new business that could move in to Northwoods Business Park and the 200 jobs that would come with it.

Those residents also brought their objections to the City Council meeting Monday night about the business, which would build a plant that needs rail service. That would mean the reactivation of an unused CSX railroad spur and construction of new track inside the park.

None of this is certain.

The still unidentified company hasn’t made a firm decision on where to locate and is examining other area sites, City Manager Jon Crusey said. An incentive package, which could include state funding, is being worked out between the company, Jobs Ohio and the Dayton Development Coalition.

There’s no firm date when the company will make a decision on the project the coalition has dubbed “Capstone.”

The company is in the plastics industry and would build a facility in two phases on 52 acres owned by CSX:

* Phase One: A 200,000 square-foot plant that would employ 100. Thirty rail cars would come into the park every month.

* Phase Two: Another 200,000 square-foot plant with another 100 employees. An additional 15 rail cars would be brought in monthly.

It’s the rail activity and the size of the plant that concerns the 20 residents who attended the meeting.

Crusey said the city has no power to stop the development or reactivation of the rail line. But Vandalia is negotiating with CSX about potential distances development in the park could be from the property line. The city wants a 200-foot setback for new construction as well as an eight-foot mound or fencing to provide screening from a new plant.

Jack Froschauer, 64, who lives near the rail line, said he and his neighbors worry that rail activity would disrupt the rural nature of the area. He’d like a more distant setback.

“I’m hoping we can get a little more, he said.

Ron Zeigler of Butler Twp. is concerned the rail line will eventually be extended west to serve the airport, closer to where he lives. “That’s the fear of all the residents,” he said.

Crusey said that even if a new plastics plant doesn’t locate in the park, other businesses that are attracted to the location since CSX is asking for $40,000 an acre, down from a previous ask of $70,000 per. Since the price drop, four to five businesses have expressed interest, he said.

Park tenants include All Service Plastic Molding, with 400 employees; a FedEx Ground facility; and Inteva, an engineering company once part of Delphi.

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