Will the wells run dry due to Marysville East? Hometown Auto demolition set to begin. A Richwood native is bringing history to life in his hometown. Our jobless rate one of the lowest in O-H-I-O.
Give us a few moments and we'll serve up what matters in Marysville on Wednesday, June 25, 2025
In this edition, sponsored by Memorial Health
Will Marysville East industrial development drain groundwater wells?
Marysville Council asked to keep an “open mind” regarding the Hometown Auto site’s future
A Richwood artist is capturing the history of the village for the community
Plans emerging for Habitat for Humanity’s next Marysville-based build
And how did Union County’s May unemployment stack up with other counties?
But first, a word from today’s sponsor
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Tuesday’s heat impact was similar to Monday’s impact in Marysville.
High temp: 93.7°F
Heat Index: 99°F
Both marks were recorded at around 5:15 p.m. at the Union County Airport
The parking lot at the Marysville Municipal Pool was packed to the gills as residents took advantage of free admission.
Local groundwater expert expresses concerns about data centers
Above: Ryan Bushong speaks at City Council on Monday night
Ryan Bushong knows just a little bit about groundwater and wells.
The Raymond resident owns a water well drilling business, and he is the president of the Ohio Water Well Association.
"My passion is groundwater, and part of that passion is groundwater protection," Mr. Bushong said before Marysville City Council on Monday night.
He's concerned about the impact of data centers on groundwater.
"My hope is that the City of Marysville will not be so hasty in allowing these data centers to be developed."
"These data centers can pull 5 million gallons of water a day from the ground, and that is per data center," Bushong said.
"It could adversely affect the neighboring domestic wells in Union County. There are 300 to 500 households on domestic wells near this [Marysville East] annexation that could be adversely affected. If there is a well that is pulling 1,000 gallons per minute, it could create a cone of depression in the area, which will lower the water table in these domestic wells."
He said that as the president of the Ohio Water Well Association, this is an issue they are seeing statewide.
"These large production wells are not regulated and can take as much water as they want, and there are no consequences," he shared with Council.
He was wondering if the City could create an ordinance to limit the amount of water withdrawn from the ground within City limits.
"I don't know what can be done to prevent this natural resource from being abused, but I ask City Council to take this into consideration."
Will the planned data center drain the groundwater wells?
The city has limited future industry in the Marysville East annexation to 400,000 gallons of water per day from the City water system, but that does not include water wells.
One Amazon Data Center down in Jerome Township has an emergency groundwater well to be used only if the water main breaks.
However, it's unlikely that option would be in the cards for the proposed project in Marysville.
Access to City Water is one of the big draws for potential future companies looking to come here.
And dropping a well isn’t just something a company can do if they decide to locate in the City.
"Per Ohio EPA regulations, any portion of their private water system that is connected to well water must be completely separate from the public water system to avoid contamination and cross connection...so users can't just "flip a switch" and start using groundwater," Mr. Hoyt wrote in a constituent email response.
Corporate groundwater wells do exist in Marysville, but they were dug years before the City upgraded its water system.
In 2023, Scotts’ annual well water usage amounted to 3.1 million gallons. The company used 25 million gallons of City water that year, nearly 90% of its total usage.
The well on the Continental property (currently doing business as Veyance) has not been used in more than 20 years.
The biggest user of groundwater wells?
The City itself pulled 259 million gallons of groundwater into the city's public system in 2023.
As for an ordinance regarding future commercial groundwater wells?
Mr. Hoyt confirmed the city is looking into a process to regulate future requests for commercial water wells.
"While we are still researching it, the City could consider adding a ‘well approval process’ for properties within our corporation limits. This would at least make the City aware of well locations while also placing regulations/requirements on protecting the adjacent neighbor's individual water sources," Mr. Hoyt stated in the constituent response noted earlier.
Mr. Hoyt shared with me on Tuesday that he is reviewing sample language regarding a groundwater approval process used by other communities. Such a move would require an act of Council.
And he said that for the city to stipulate a prohibition on use of groundwater by future commercial property owners would require an act of City Council to amend the city zoning text.
City Council members asked to "keep an open mind" about the future of the former Hometown Auto site
Demolition of the Hometown Auto site is expected to begin next week.
City crews will be taking down the former repair shop, which prior to Hometown Auto Center was an auto dealership known as H.I. Huffman.
The work will take two to three weeks, according to a report from City Service Director Jeremy Hoyt at Monday night's City Council meeting.
City Manager Terry Emery asked Council to keep an open mind about the future potential of the site.
"We're looking at various options," Emery said. "It's not often you get sites like this in the center of your uptown to be able to potentially redevelop or reimagine."
The site is part of a broader "visioning" project the City is undertaking for the entire community.
"During the short term, before anything happens, the site will be cleaned up good enough that we can utilize it for certain events," Emery said. "But eventually, it will be redeveloped."
There will be temporary parking inconveniences during the demolition process. The alley next to Old Bag of Nails will be shut down, but access to most of the parking will be available.
Marysville Fire Department Honor Guard highlighted at Cincinnati Reds game
Above: MFD Honor Guard appears at the Cincinnati Reds game to present the colors recently
The Marysville Fire Department's Honor Guard recently presented the colors at a Cincinnati Reds game. Marysville City Council viewed a brief video of the recent presentation at Great American Ballpark.
City Council member Steven Wolfe is a Reds season ticket holder. He was at the game with family.
"It was really cool, and they did a great job," Wolfe said.
Chief Nathan Burns said the Honor Guard is receiving requests from all over.
"We've watched our group represent the City well," he said.
The Honor Guard will be at Crew Stadium on Wednesday night, according to the Chief.
"I want to thank you for putting a positive spotlight on Marysville so far away from home," said Council President Donald Boerger.
Other duties as assigned: Flag etiquette on display at Council
As a veteran, the arrangement of the flags in Council Chambers Monday night was making Council member Scott Hunter squirm.
As the meeting opened, the US Flag was positioned on the wrong side of the Council dais.
"I would propose, just for the sake of having a proper meeting, we would move the flags," Mr. Hunter requested.
Hunter asked--early in the meeting--for the flags to be appropriately arranged, with the American flag to Council's right-hand side.
Council members and City Manager Terry Emery helped rearrange the flags appropriately, somewhat to the delight and amusement of those on hand.
"It was moved during the Juneteenth breakfast and put back in the wrong location," Emery said.
Fourth of July activities planned
The Marysville Fourth of July Parade will be held on Friday, July 4, at 10 a.m.
It will begin at the American Legion Park, travel East on Fifth Street, south on Plum, and then West on 6th to Court Street.
Fireworks will be on Saturday, July 5, at the Union County Fairgrounds. The Fairgrounds will open at 4 p.m.
The event was moved to the 5th because the American Legion was not able to book a fireworks vendor for the 4th.
Richwood artist literally makes history with local mural
Brad White didn't realize that his passion for art would make him a historian.
White, who owns Good Boy Creative Solutions, is busy finishing up a mural on the Richwood Bank building in Richwood prior to a ribbon cutting on Thursday morning.
Good Boy has been painting fantastic street art in communities across the country. And White said he was thrilled to bring his talents back to his hometown of Richwood.
I caught up with him in the sweltering heat on Monday as he was working on the massive painting, which is a potpourri of Richwood history.
The mural, originally commissioned by Richwood Bank, is now tied into the America-250 celebration.
"Here we are 12 months later, from concept to completion, it was about 50 weeks," White told me.
The design was created digitally, and he has been chipping away at each feature on the mural for the past four months.
The project hasn't been without its ups and downs. At one point, White had to redo the American flag because it was pointing in the wrong direction. Despite that, the mural is coming together nicely and will be enjoyed by residents of Union County for many years.
If you'd like to get an in-depth insight into each portion of the mural, I'd encourage you to check out the Good Boy Creative Solutions Facebook page.
"I make online content with drones on all this stuff," he told me. "Every single picture you see on there, I have a video explaining the history."
From left to right, the mural portrays visions of Richwood's past as viewed through the lens of Richwood's local historian.
The mural's ribbon cutting is at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday at Richwood Banking Company.
Habitat for Humanity eyes 9th Street property for Marysville build
Habitat for Humanity of Delaware and Union County is eyeing a 9th Street property for its next local project.
The non-profit organization is seeking a conditional use permit from the Marysville Planning Commission to build at 502 East 9th Street. Permission is necessary since the property is in the Hospital mixed-use district.
The plan is for two single-family homes to occupy the property, which sits at the corner of 9th and Walnut right next to Eljer Park.
"If approved, our intention is to divide the current parcel into two parcels and build a single-family (detached) home on each of the two parcels," Habitat's application states. "The two parcels, as well as the homes subsequently built upon them, will meet all the zoning requirements of the Village Residential District."
The application will appear on the July 1 agenda for the Planning Commission.
Union County logs 2nd-lowest unemployment rate in May
Union County tied for the 2nd-lowest unemployment rate in the month of May.
That's according to data released by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services on Tuesday.
Mercer and Holmes Counties reported jobless rates of 3.5%
Union County reported a total labor force of 38,300 people, with 1,400 of those individuals looking for a job.
While a low jobless rate is a sign of a robust local economy, there's also a downside. The smaller pool of eligible candidates makes it difficult to fill open roles.
Last week, the Union County Economic Development Office shared an update with the County Commissioners showing that the majority of Union County's workforce lives elsewhere and commutes here to work every day.
20,000 residents live here and drive outside of Union County to make a living.
Other neighboring county unemployment rates:
Delaware was at 4.0% in May
Madison was 4.5%
Franklin was 4.7%
Champaign was 4.8%
Marion and Harding Counties were at 5.0%
US 42 resurfacing project slated to start in early July
The Ohio Department of Transportation says it will begin a project to widen the shoulders of US 42 between US 33 and SR 745 and then resurface the road starting the week of July 8.
It's one of many construction projects in play this summer in Union County.
Southbound traffic on US 42 will be detoured from SR 745 to US 36 to US 33.
Northbound traffic will be maintained through the project.
The project will run through the rest of the summer and into the fall, with an interim completion date in the fall.
Traffic on US 42 will reopen over the winter, and the project will be completed by the Fall of 2026.
Thanks for reading Marysville Matters!
The older I get, the more I appreciate art and artistic talent. I’m also a history fan.
So, meeting Brad White from Good Boy Creative Solutions was a treat this week (see the story above).
You can check out some of his other work at the Marysville BMX Park and at other locations in the Richwood area.
💭Thought bubble: If Marysville leaders are on their game, they’d hire this guy to help bring Marysville history to life with more building-sized murals in our community. 💭
The covered bridge artwork on the building at Hatfield Corner (4th and Main) is a great example of how artistic expression can help a community connect with its roots.
Other great examples are the multiple traffic box art projects popping up around the uptown area, as well as the wall-sized mural to be dedicated at Lewis Park on Grove Street on Thursday morning. The field at Lewis Park is formerly the home of the Marysville High School Monarchs football team.
All of these efforts incrementally help add flavor to our community in a classy and educational fashion.
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A big thanks to all of our readers. And a special thank you to Memorial Health for sponsoring the newsletter today!
Have a great Wednesday!
-Joe. C