Message from the Mayor, Oct. 19, 2026
Hello Residents,
We’ve had a very active and successful three quarters in 2026. Some of this activity has been disruptive and we appreciate your understanding. We started the water line reconnection project on North State Street and other than a few concrete repairs this project is complete. By abandoning the old line, we know our annual wintertime water line breaks will be eliminated.
We did a renovation of our park in the center of town. The current design had been there since the mid 90’s and needed some serious maintenance. The new construction was designed to make the park useable and enhance the aesthetics of the downtown area. This project is also complete except for some additional seating still being constructed. I hope by spring we have lush green grass and a park residents find a relaxing useable space.
We converted the former skate park on Sperry Lane into a pickleball court, and the sport seems to be growing in popularity. A few weeks ago, we added lighting to extend the hours the court can be used. I’m glad to see residents taking advantage of this recreational opportunity.
We’ve had several new businesses locate in our Village; I encourage you to support them to assist in maintaining a vibrant community.
Some of our focus this year and next will be ensuring our Village properties are properly maintained. Our crew did a great job refurbing the girl scout lodge. We will be looking at all buildings, evaluating appearance as well as function and maintenance of all of our properties. Our crew made the cemetery look pristine regarding grounds maintenance and we had an outside contractor shore up some of the older leaning headstones.
Our Well 5 project is still in progress, and we look forward to its completion mid to late next year. We are also in the process of changing our sewer filtration system as well as our UV treatment process. All three of these projects are complex, expensive and take a tremendous amount of time to complete. Look forward to having all of them in the rearview mirror by end of 2027.
We continue to be engaged with all principals to make a walk in medical facility a reality. We all know this is something our residents and employees working in this village need and deserve. We are meeting frequently to look at ways to make this a reality sooner than later.
On a sad note, a few individuals that contributed to the welfare of our Village recently passed away. The first being Joe Usher who I credit for creating and training our current talented service crew. He was streets superintendent for many years and through on the job training trained his successor, Charlie Ehrhart. Many of the individuals he trained are still actively working. We’ve had the luxury of a succession plan that came naturally. Unfortunately, we now have an aging crew and have been required to bring in new employees to ensure the knowledge and skill level remains constant providing top notch service to our village. The second being Philip Smallwood. Phillip was never employed by the Village but willingly served on committees and owned a very unique piece of equipment that had the ability to go very high in very confined areas. We never hesitated to call Phillip, and he never hesitated to provide service (pro bono) when needed from maintenance issues to putting a star on a tall tree. The most recent is retired Fire Chief Bill Reed. I was always in awe of the professionalism and smooth running of the Middlefield Fire Department. That didn’t happen by accident. Bill knew how to assemble a team, and established an environment where people were proud to be members of MFD. Only God knows the plan, but, selfishly, I wish Bill had more years to enjoy the fruits of his labor.
Last but certainly not least Election Day is Nov. 3, 2026. It is a privilege and a responsibility of every voting age citizen to register and make the effort to vote. They have made voting so accessible with the introduction of early voting and mail in ballots there is no excuse not to cast a ballot. It discourages me after every election when I see the low percentage of registered voters that actually vote. Apathy in anything never yields positive outcomes and especially in voting. I encourage you to vote, do your research, don’t let the pundits tell you how to think or how to vote. Use your God given abilities to make wise decisions and make the small effort required to vote on or by Nov. 3rd.
We live in the greatest country in the world, please don’t take it for granted and assume it will run successfully on auto pilot.
Be informed, be involved, EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE. Shop Middlefield Village and follow us at middlefieldohio.com.
Ben Garlich
Mayor Village of Middlefield