An expensive water main upgrade for the SOAR Business Park next to the Greater Portsmouth Regional Airport was on the agenda at the Scioto County Commissioners’ meeting on Thursday and the commissioners were happy to approve it.
The Southern Ohio Aeronautical Regional Business Park is a favorite project of the commission. The plan is to build spec buildings to draw businesses to the park. (A spec building is where you build the building before you have a buyer hoping that it will appeal to someone.)
Commission Chairman Scottie Powell said, “This project just keeps getting better and expanding. This is where we’ll see economic development taking off. This is yet another piece of that puzzle.”
Powell said the $39,900 upgrade would provide more water capacity into the park to better serve the future businesses that locate there.”
Commissioner Bryan Davis said he appreciated the cooperation between the Scioto County Regional Water District and the county’s Economic Development Department. “Great, professional work being done. If you go out to the airport right now and drive down the road, you’ll see a bunch of dirt flying. It’s not pretty but we’re getting the work done. You gotta mess up to clean up.”
The county received $50,000 in matching funds towards the project from the Joint Economic Development Initiative of Southern Ohio. Scioto County took out a $2.5 million loan from the Rural Industrial Park Loan Program to finance the project.
Commissioner Davis said the county was now preparing to build the second spec building. “A lot of people have been asking what’s going on in that field across from the terminal. Guess what? Building two is getting ready to be built.” Davis said the water would not only service the business park but the airport as well. “We’re very excited.”