WAPAKONETA, Ohio (WLIO) - Officials sharing updates with the public about what's going on in Auglaize County, the City of Wapakoneta, and the school district.
The Wapakoneta Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual State of the City, County and School. Mayor Dan Lee talking about some future investments in town, including a multimillion-dollar expansion of flex arm manufacturing and a Casey's gas station coming to the I-75 area.
Also, this fall, Wapak will be adding a high-tech process to their wastewater treatment, that will create a gas to be used to generate electricity.
"They're going to be taking a reject stream from our wastewater plant, running it through a high pressure torch, and then burning it into what they call syngasses," said Lee. "The syngasses will then be manipulated into generators that should produce energy out of the waste from our wastewater, it's really exciting technology. It's never been done quite this way, so it will be the first in the nation."
The Wapakoneta Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual State of the City, County and School.
Auglaize County is using around $7 million from the state to work on many projects to help with economic development, including brownfield grants to clean up property for re-development. The county is also improving communication for first responders, by adding a tower on the east side.
"The new tower location in Waynesfield has been identified just so it will provide seamless communication for our first responders, and what that means is it's safer for all of us," said Erica Preston, Auglaize County Administrator. "We'll have both state and federal funding that we're looking at to pay for this, so probably looking at the federal funding, about 50% federal funding for the construction, and then the state part is going to come in on maintenance long term."
Wapakoneta City Schools announcing Kindergarten through second graders will join third grade students in the Science of Reading program next school year. During his recent state of the state address, Governor DeWine spotlighted the school district for its success with the program.
