This article is open to all free of cost, as the reporting for this entire series was made possible by a grant from the Poynter Institute with support from the Joyce Foundation.
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SAVANNAH — The American Rescue Plan Act could indirectly lead to population growth in one of Ashland County’s smallest villages.
Before crews broke ground on the development along Hickey Street — on Savannah’s north side — the last housing development in the village of 328 people was completed in the 1980s.
It wasn’t for lack of trying.
Larry Holbrook bought the 12 wooded acres along Hickey Street in 2005. He platted the property for development in 2009, county records show.
The plan stalled until it evaporated altogether, but it became a prospect again when the village received $379,695 from the Ashland County Board of Commissioners in September 2021.
That money went to installing a lift station, vital infrastructure needed for the village and for any additional developments.
In 2021, a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, Ashland County Board of Commissioners were faced with a good problem: how to spend $10.4 million in ARPA dollars.
$10.4 million: How to spend?
In September 2021, commissioners decided to grant villages $2.9 million of its ARPA allocation for water and sewer infrastructure projects around the county. By then, however, Holbrook told Kruse he had lost steam in the project.
The $379,000 grant was separate from its $43,471.69 ARPA allocation, which officials spent on storm sewer tie-ins, a utility terrain vehicle, chip and seal of roads, a new catch basin and repair of others and storm sewer repairs.
But the ARPA grant from the county commissioners paved the way for the installation of the very lift station needed all those years ago for a Holbrook development, Kruse said.
The lift station, installed by Shelby-based Kelstin Construction, became operational in January. By July, Perry Tanner of Homes by Tanner LLC owned the land. The developer broke ground on the new neighborhood in October.
Tanner Development Details
- 32 parcels, ranging from a tenth of an acre up to a half-acre.
- The developer has six house plans available. They are all ranch-style floor plans with three bedrooms and two bathrooms and a full basement. Some have 2.5 bathrooms.
- The houses will be market rate, but will likely start around $300,000.
Tanner, 56, works full-time as a supply chain manager for Return Polymers in Ashland. On the side, he flips, rents and builds homes in Ashland County.
Tanner lived in Savannah as a child. He attended school there until fourth grade, when his parents moved to the Hillsdale School District. He graduated from that high school in 1986.
He now has three grown sons and 11 grandchildren. One of his sons is learning the construction business.
“That’s partly why I chose this property — I’m trying to help our grandkids and kids,” he said.
He said the village’s completion of the lift station was “big.”
“It’s very important (to the overall development),” he said. “When they finish the sewer line, my project will tie into it. So yeah, that was a big thing.”
The lift station is located on the edge of the development’s southwest corner. It will serve as a means to pump wastewater to the village’s sewage lagoons, two square-shaped ponds that sit on 50 acres of wooded land just east of Tanner’s development.
Odor?
Could the lagoons lead to unpleasant odors for newcomers?
Tanner and village officials said maybe.
Tanner has been out at the development working every week since July, he said. He’s rarely, if ever, smelled odors from the sewage lagoon. But there was a week where he smelled a stench from the next-door chicken farm.
“I mean, you will get some smell. I wouldn’t lie to anybody,” he said. “But it’s not as bad as people think it is.”
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency allows residents to file complaints related to odors and other concerns on its website. There are no records of odor complaints.
“Country life involves the occasional smells that you might not find attractive,” said Andrew Kinney, a village councilman. “But honestly, that’s part of the attraction to country life.”
Population growth
Kruse said the housing development could lead to a 20% growth in population in coming years.
He based his estimate on three to five people moving into each of the 32 houses. “That would be a noticeable increase,” he said.
Kinney said the housing development could bring small, “moderate” growth over many years.
“It’s the type of growth the village is willing to support,” Kinney said.
Population growth or not, the ARPA money from the commissioners was a good thing, Kruse said.
The lift station is an important piece of infrastructure regardless of a new housing development, he said.
“The village didn’t have those funds for the pump station. It was way beyond our capacity to fund something like that,” he said.
The development also led to a $76,000 state grant that State Rep. Melanie Miller (R-Ashland) helped secure, Kruse said. That money will help pay for the installation of a 1,000-foot sewer line that provides access to the new lift station on Hickey Street.
The new sewer line has yet to be finished, but Kruse and Kinney said construction could continue through winter as weather permits.
Kruse said he’s convinced the new development also led to the installation of a sidewalk along U.S. Route 250 (Main Street) that connects to Hickey Street. That project, he said, was funded with money from the Community Development Block Grant.
“So people from the new development will have safe access to the village,” he said, where the village’s town hall, fire department, shops and a park are all located.
Sub grant expenditures
Savannah is one of 11 entities around Ashland County that received money from the commissioners via sub grants.
To qualify for the funding, officials had to present a water or sewer infrastructure need at a public meeting, followed by announcements.
“Villages basically never get the funding they need for those projects,” said commissioner Jim Justice.
He would know. He served as a councilman in Hayesville for 10 years, and then as the village’s mayor for another decade before being elected to the county seat in 2016.
“Those projects were needed probably 10 years ago,” he said. “We saw a need and wanted to fill that. They would have never been able to do that any other way.”
All eight villages in Ashland County took advantage of the county’s program, along with the city of Ashland.
Here’s exactly how much was granted and how much is left of that pot of money.
The money must be spent by Dec. 31, 2026, according to provisions in the ARPA. Records show that the city of Ashland, Hayesville and Polk have spent all these funds.
| Recipient | Contracted Amount | Amount Spent | Percentage Left |
| Ashland County Regional Airport Authority | $550,000 | $81,167.00 | 86% |
| Bailey Lakes | $220,000 | $15,500 | 99% |
| City of Ashland | $250,000 | $250,000 | 0% |
| Hayesville | $500,000 | $500,000 | 0% |
| Jeromesville | $500,000 | $22,510 | 99% |
| Loudonville | $376,275 | $342,436.84 | 9% |
| Mifflin | $200,000 | $29,208.55 | 86% |
| Perrysville | $500,000 | $471,417.38 | 6% |
| Polk | $20,000 | $20,000 | 0% |
| Savannah | $379,695 | $369,311.48 | 3% |
| Lorain Rural Wastewater District (Cinnamon Lake) | $500,000 | $379,267.27 | 25% |
Commissioners earmarked money for the airport and Cinnamon Lake in February 2022.
Here’s what we know about each project.
City of Ashland
The city used the $250,000 to help pay for the rehabilitation of a water tower at the intersection of Claremont Avenue and Baney Road.
Ashland Mayor Matt Miller estimated the project to cost between $600,000 and $800,000.
It included rehabilitating the interior of the tank, repairing a foundation issue and painting the exterior a blue color and the city’s logo.
Village of Bailey Lakes
The money will help pay for the village’s $377,000 wastewater treatment plant improvements project. Mayor John Benshoff has said the plant serves 371 residents and around 140 customers are on the system.
Work involves converting the facility’s chlorine treatment system to one that uses ultraviolet technology and replacing a 50-year-old trash trap.
“The screening device (trash trap) will allow us to screen out the solids for the sewage that comes through. And it will be treated with ultraviolet,” he said.
Village of Hayesville
The village’s former mayor, Bob Vinsack, said at the time that the money came at a critical time. Hayesville’s water treatment plant was more than 60 years-old before it was replaced. It serves 500 people. The system includes three wells.
“So if one goes down, we’re done. It’s a critical situation,” Vinsack said back in September 2021, adding the village began the process of replacing the system around six years ago. He estimated the entire project to cost $2.6 million.
“For the village to take that on, it would be a burden on the residents. That’s why we’re seeking as much as we can,” Vinsack had said.
Village of Jeromesville
The $500,000 will go toward replacing aging water lines. The entire project was estimated to cost $1.6 million.
“This was the number one on our list. This is the most critical issue that faces Jeromesville at least for the next decade,” Spade said, adding the system serves 248 households, 564 people, 13 businesses and part of Hillsdale School District.
Spade said some of the village’s water lines were installed in the 1930s; two of the lines were replaced in the 1990s and then another in the early 2000s.
Village of Loudonville
The village received $376,275 to help pay for the replacement of aging water meters.
Mayor Jason VanSickle said the meters are around 30 years old. The money would replace 1,050 meters to touchless, digital meters.
Village of Mifflin
Former mayor Vickie Shultz and Business Administrator Tim Echelberry said, at the time, the $200,000 from the county would go toward replacing components of the six-year-old wastewater treatment plant that are made in China — which had caused problems in shipping.
The wastewater treatment plant overflowed and dumped partially untreated sewage into an unnamed creek in May 2021, prompting an investigation by the state’s Environmental Protection Agency.
Fred Craig, the current mayor, said the village is now considering using what’s left of the money to tie into the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District’s sewer plant.
“We’d abandon ours,” he said. “That is what the EPA is recommending.”
Village of Perrysville
The village’s project to replace its old wastewater treatment plant began in 2017, said Heather Mullinex, the former mayor. She estimated the project to cost $3.4 million.
Th village took out a $1.2 million loan for the first phase of the project, which has been reflected in customers’ bills, Mullinex said.
Village of Polk
Officials said the $20,000 grant would pay for the community’s storm water integration engineering study.
Ashland County Regional Airport Authority
Commissioners earmarked a total of $794,150.38 in ARPA dollars toward the airport authority’s plans to build a new terminal.
That figure represents two separate encumbrances. County records show commissioners granted this project $550,000 in February 2022. Since then, commissioners gave another $244,150.38 toward the project.
Other funding sources for the project include state grants and a $482,826.29 allocation from county general, records show.
Officials have estimated the 4,000 square-foot terminal building to cost $1.5 million, which includes space for a flight school, a pilot lounge and a community room large enough to host groups of up to 30 people, a bathroom with a shower and a public restroom.
Work has yet to begin, said Michael Welch. Officials applied for a $300,000 grant from JobsOhio and recently received it. One of the grant’s stipulations prevents contractors (Simonson Construction in this case) to begin work.
Welch said construction will likely begin in March of 2025.
