Message from Mayor Ben Garlich, May 2026
Hello Residents,
I have a lot to share with you as Village activity has been high in all areas. It’s amazing and a privilege to be involved and part of helping our Village move forward. Other than the constant rain and cold weather, I can’t think of anything to complain about.
Our Village infrastructure was essentially established by people with vision who started the projects creating public water and sewer to promote the development of our Village. Our success today is due to the fact they developed systems that supported both immediate and future growth. Our strong industrial base, which provides jobs and revenue, is due to infrastructure that supports it. The systems are aging and need to be replaced and expanded. We successfully brought an additional well online late last year and are currently working on two more wells. When completed, we will have the redundancy required for when our original wells become non-producing. In addition to new well development, the processing facilities which were installed twenty-five years ago, also need updating. These projects are expensive but necessary to provide the quality our residents and businesses deserve.
As our system has aged, so has our workforce. We’ve been blessed over the years to have effective succession plans that yielded expertise for our complex and heavily regulated operations. Over the last two years, we have been preparing for the vacancies that will be created by our current experts’ retirements. We have been fortunate to hire some very talented young individuals who will be able to fill these shoes, and our goal is to support them and encourage them to have lasting careers with the Village of Middlefield.
Our capital improvement plan has been robust over the last four years, and we will continue that pace in 2026. We have major projects slated, in addition to water wells and sewer improvements, that will cause some summertime traffic issues as we do water line replacements on North State. This project will eliminate an aged water line and connect to the adjacent newer available line. Most of our failures (broken water lines) occur on North State, hence all the current patches in the road. We also expect construction to begin this fall on a new convenience store and fuel facility located at the southeast corner of Route 87 and State Route 528. This project represents another investment in our community and will provide additional services and convenience for both residents and travelers passing through Middlefield.
We recently created our first TIF district in our Village, which applies to the new development area on Lake Street. A TIF, or Tax Increment Financing district, is a tool communities can use to help support infrastructure improvements tied to development while still protecting existing school and public service funding. In our case, it allows the Village to help encourage residential growth and investment in an area where we believe there is strong long-term potential for our community.
We did this for the purpose of bolstering local school enrollment and benefiting local businesses, as I firmly believe people shop and hopefully educate their children in the community where they live. The goal is to create additional housing opportunities that attract families, support our workforce, and strengthen the overall vitality of Middlefield for years to come. It is a program that protects school and EMS revenues as well as social services. It yields more revenue for the county than if the land were to remain vacant, and I feel it is a win for all involved.
Our walk-in medical clinic is progressing. The stakeholders are committed. When completed, it will be a facility that sets our community apart with the menu of services and medical attention residents will be able to receive at the community level. I appreciate everyone who is diligently working to make this a reality.
There are some major community events scheduled for this summer. We have our annual Memorial Day Parade at 11 a.m. on Monday, May 25. It is an opportunity for all of us to show appreciation for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice to ensure our American freedoms are preserved. We welcome everyone to come join the parade and be part of a wonderful tradition. We encourage children to decorate bikes, wagons, and strollers and join the procession. In honor of America 250, the Village will be handing out patriotic coloring books to all who participate.
A group of local business leaders have been very invested in reviving the original Middlefield Swiss Cheese Festival. It will be held the weekend prior to Father’s Day weekend, Friday, June 12 through Sunday, June 14. I know they have a lot of activities planned, including a parade on Saturday. Information is available online with a full schedule of events.
On the Saturday night of the Festival, June 13, the Village, along with private sponsors, will be presenting a drone show at 9:30 p.m. The show will take place at the Cardinal High School football field. The focus of the show is to honor Country, Community and Family. It will be a first for the area, and I hope to see you there as we help celebrate the 250th birthday of this great country. God continue to bless America.
Be informed, be involved, shop Middlefield, and exercise your right to vote.
I was just notified that a longtime friend and former valued Village employee, Ellie Fricker, passed away. Ellie was a longtime Village employee, and at one time she and Ronnie Warne were essentially the entire administrative staff of our Village. Ellie held many positions and knew the operation of this Village inside and out. I appreciated her both as a person and as an employee and offer her family my deepest and most sincere sympathy.
Ben Garlich
Mayor
Village of Middlefield
bgarlich@middlefieldohio.com