Projects seeking funds

County commissioners did not contribute money to the feasibility study.

By ED RUNYAN

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

WARREN — Trumbull County commissioners will be asked to contribute $15,000 to the next phase of the proposed Mosquito Lake lodge and water park.

Alan Knapp, director of the county planning commission, said he has met with William Letson of Trumbull 100, a community group that works to revitalize Trumbull County’s economy, and other proponents of the idea. They have identified several sources they hope will contribute money toward the next $50,000 phase.

Knapp said he will prepare a report to the commissioners in the coming weeks seeking their support.

Lodge proponents are also hoping to get $5,000 from the city of Cortland, $5,000 from the Western Reserve Building & Construction Trades Council, and $5,000 from the Trumbull County Tourism Bureau. Another $20,000 would come from Trumbull 100.

Knapp said half of the $50,000 would go to Gateway Consultants Group Inc. of Cleveland to work another eight months to secure proposals from developers interested in building the lodge and a water park.

The other half would be used to create an architectural rendering of the facility to use for marketing purposes and to pay for research on legal issues, Knapp said.

What’s been done

Gateway Consultants carried out an $85,000 study last year that concluded in April that it is feasible to build a lodge — as long as an indoor/outdoor water park is included.

“It looks pretty positive,” Knapp said of the lodge and water park idea, adding that it appears more realistic than some other economic development ideas he’s worked on in recent years, such as one for an indoor race track in Vienna and a casino in Lordstown.

“Now the question is, is there somebody willing to build it?” Knapp said.

Letson said one of the jobs that needs to be done next is to contact the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about using land owned by the Army Corps and leased to the ODNR for the project.

Letson said the project would involve leasing the land from the ODNR for about 30 years until the debt for the facility is paid off, and then turning it back over to the state to run as a state park.

Staying positive

Knapp said he feels confident that the state and federal governments would grant approval for land use, but approval from the Army Corps generally takes a long time.

The county commissioners have not contributed directly to the project to date. Trumbull 100 asked them to donate $20,000 to the feasibility study, but they declined, Letson said, with the thought that the $10,000 that came from the Tourism Bureau and $10,000 from the Western Reserve Port Authority were essentially county contributions.

Other funding for the feasibility study came from Trumbull 100 ($25,000), Regional Chamber ($5,000), city of Cortland ($5,000) and from a $25,000 ODNR grant.

runyan@vindy.com