The Wapakoneta Chamber of Commerce held its State of the City, County, and Schools luncheon on Thursday to catch up on what's been happening in the area.
City and county officials spoke on updates, and what projects they have going forward. Auglaize County as a whole is getting their hands into pushing water and sewage to the east side of I-75 in Cridersville for a business development called The Crossroads. Auglaize County Commissioner Doug Spencer says their most recent accomplishment has been a sales tax revenue of $10.7 million collected in 2020.
"We in 2020 had our best collection of sales tax," says Spencer. "You know with that type of uncertainty, are people going to be spending money? Not spending money? We are showing a very strong and vibrant economy at least through the sales tax numbers."
As for the city of Wapak, they will begin construction of a new $17 million water treatment plant in June near the dog park on Auglaize Street. They are also in the early stages of building a 63-acre solar field south of town near the intersection of County Road 25A and Short Road.
"It's big. We already have a 2.5 megawatt solar field. This one is going to be a 13.5," explains Wapakoneta Mayor Tom Stinebaugh. "So, it's substantial in size, but the best news is it will save our citizens approximately $1 million a year in electric bills."
Stinebaugh says the solar field should be online between December 2021 and February 2022.
