Four Lorain County mayors provide updates on their communities

AVON — Unity was a focus as four northeast Lorain County mayors updated on happenings in their communities Wednesday at the North Coast Chamber of Commerce 4-Mayors Luncheon. When one city in Lorain County succeeds, the entire county succeeds, said Avon Mayor Bryan Jensen. "It's great to work with people that care about their communities but also care about one another, and I think we do that," he said. The luncheon was held at Tom's Country Place in Avon. Usually an annual event, last year's edition was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sheffield Mayor John Hunter echoed the theme of unity during his remarks, saying he is grateful for new businesses coming to any city in Lorain County or the state of Ohio, not just to the village. Each of the mayors used their speeches to describe the latest news and upcoming projects in their respective communities. Avon Jensen, who has sometimes presented a video highlighting Avon's achievements at past luncheons, delivered a speech this year. He recognized some of the city officials who have been hired or promoted since the previous luncheon, including Safety Director Duane Streator, Fire Chief David Swope and Police Chief Daniel Fischbach. Jensen also recognized school leaders, members of the clergy who were in attendance and finance director Bill Logan, who he said will likely retire soon. Acknowledging that he began as mayor nine years ago "kind of selfishly," only caring about what benefits Avon, Jensen said he has realized that communities are not successful unless they lift each other up. "My goal this year coming up is to bring our community together, being a good steward of the money I have been entrusted with and to preserve what I can," he said. Sheffield Lake Mayor Dennis Bring shared information about a number of investments planned in Sheffield Lake, including new tools for its first responders. He said the fire department is lobbying to add a watercraft to its fleet of vehicles, and the police department is starting a K-9 program with its first dog, Lenny, currently in training. The city's recent sale of the former North Coast Shoreway Lanes bowling alley to Erie Marine Sales LLC was also discussed by Bring, who said the expanding business will bring about $1 million in annual wages to the site. "That's right across the street from our boat launch. The boat launch has been refurbished," he said. "We just had it cleaned, about $30,000, but then the gentleman that did that asked if he could do some extras on it. He did $36,000 of extra." Overall, Bring said Sheffield Lake has about $4 million of new projects going on, including an upcoming repaving of Lake Road. Avon Lake Mayor Greg Zilka spent much of his speech addressing one of the biggest changes Avon Lake has experienced in years — the decommissioning, upcoming demolition and redevelopment of the former GenOn power plant. The plant was fully transferred to the company Charah Solutions early this month. Zilka detailed the history of the plant, including lesser-known stories like a 1935 incident when the plant lost power for 48 hours after a vandal's dynamite bomb blew up two of the legs in one of the towers. Whatever redevelopment does occur at the power plant site will be a great opportunity for somebody, he said. "Keep in mind, we don't own a single acre of that property," Zilka said. "But we own Miller Road Park to the west of it, and for us to acquire at least some property along the west side would really enhance and develop an opportunity for our residents and all of you in Lorain County to enjoy the lake. That's what our goal is." Zilka also took time to recognize public works director Joe Reitz, who will soon retire after 35 years working for the city. Sheffield The largest employer in the village, Ford Motor Co., was a topic of discussion in Hunter's speech. A former union president at Ford's Ohio Assembly Plant — which is located in Sheffield, Sheffield Lake and Avon Lake — Hunter said he watches the facility "like a hawk." "They're not going anywhere," Hunter said. "They've invested almost $550 million into that plant over the past year and a half. They brought in 220 new employees to that plant. Just in March of this year, they pumped $20 million in profit-sharing checks to their employees of Lorain County." He also recognized new leaders in the police and fire departments and praised fiscal officer Tim Pelcic for his role in having "taken the village from near disaster in 2017 to tied for the best bond rating in the whole county." Hunter got a round of applause from attendees when he discussed the Ohio Department of Transportation's plan to widen Interstate 90 from two to three lanes in parts of Avon, Sheffield and Elyria during a repaving project. Sound barriers will also be added along the road as part of the work. Hunter said the widening is "coming this summer." ODOT has not officially announced a timeline for the project. Contact Dylan Reynolds at (440) 329-7123 or dreynolds@chroniclet.com.