The revelation over the past week that McDonald Farm got a sniff as a potential site for a $3 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing facility may make Hamilton County taxpayers wonder what they will get for the $16 million the county paid for the 2,100-acre site above Sale Creek.
It is only natural, we believe, that taxpayers would expect more from the site than an open space to host the county fair, a vague promise of “agritourism,” and the capacity one day for trails and parkland.
The site, after all, was purchased to be used as an industrial park.
But studies have said it will cost nearly 20 times the $16 million purchase price to prepare the land for industrial use.