Lorain-Medina Rural Electric Cooperative walks back plans for Spencer headquarters

SPENCER — The relocation of Lorain-Medina Rural Electric Cooperative's (LMRE) headquarters to Spencer has been put on hold due to ongoing economic uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. LMRE announced plans in February to construct a new facility in the Spencer Industrial Park, a 68-acre site the company purchased in 2006 that has since gone undeveloped aside from it being leased as farmland. Future development of the area is uncertain at this time, said LMRE General Manager Ed VanHoose. "We do not take this decision lightly," he said. "Still, it's prudent in times like these to take a moment and reevaluate. We will spend the winter months in planning with the hopes of beginning again in Spring 2021. "In the end, the cooperative will always make the decision that is best for its members, and in pausing the project, it is doing just that." The move to state Route 301 on the north side of Spencer would have taken LMRE just 6.3 miles southeast of its current headquarters on West Road in Wellington Township. Under original plans, construction would have begun in the spring. Since Spencer doesn't have an income tax, any prospective revenue loss for local government that comes through property taxes LMRE would have paid. Village Fiscal Officer Sheri Ramey said a figure for how much that revenue would have been hasn't been determined. but that LMRE was going to set up shop without a property tax abatement. "It's hard to say at this point what property taxes would have been or how many, if any, new jobs would have been created," she said. "The plans are still at a very early point. They also are just moving their current employees here, so we don't know if they were looking to bring on more people or not." As VanHoose said, Ramey and other officials expect to revisit the project next spring. "No one wants to do something like that in the winter, so I imagine the spring will be the earliest that anyone would want to get going again," she said. "It's just a tough time for everyone right now to put something like this together. I know creating a new building is something (VanHoose) wanted to do after he took over a couple years ago." When February plans were made public, LMRE officials said the move was necessitated by a need for its 33 employees to have more work space but didn't indicate whether a new facility would mean additional jobs. Company leadership also considered buying property next to the Wellington Township location or making major renovations to the existing building. A limited number of new workers were hired at the beginning of this year and more could be brought on if LMRE moves ahead with plans to provide broadband internet to rural customers. Those plans are contingent on an ongoing feasibility study, the company said in February. VanHoose said last fall that the co-op is already building a "middle-mile" fiber optic network to connect its substations and the network could possibly be extended to residents in areas neglected by cable companies. Founded in 1935, LMRE serves 16,730 consumers across Medina, Wayne, Ashland, Lorain, and Huron counties. Contact reporter Jonathan Delozier at (330) 721-4050 or jdelozier@medina-gazette.com.