Lodi, Ohio

Published October 2012

Small-town downtown street with historic brick storefronts, a red SUV driving past, and in the foreground an American flag and a “Eat, Drink & Buy Local” banner hanging from a lamppost beneath leafy trees on a sunny day.

The Village of Lodi has retained the charm and flavor of a country village. Lodi is located in the southwest corner of Medina County in Northeast Ohio. Founded in 1811 by the Harris family, it was the first settlement established in the county.

Lodi now has a population of less than 3,000 residents, which lends itself to a relaxed atmosphere.

Events and landmarks
During the warmer months, visitors and residents enjoy concerts, craft shows and farmers markets.

Lodi Chamber of Commerce holds an annual Sweet Corn Festival in July, with 2012 being the 31st anniversary of the festival. Games and rides, entertainment, parade, fireworks and 5K race are some of the many attractions of the four-day festival.

The Black River, a tributary of Lake Erie, flows through Lodi and is a beautiful landmark of the city. Three unique railroad bridges, each exactly one mile apart, were built in 1907 and are a testament to the early engineers in Ohio. The bridges are connected by a man-made earthen hill that stretches for many miles across the beautiful valley that nestles the village.

Central Park in downtown Lodi features a restored gazebo, a war memorial and Native American statue. The Woodlawn Cemetery is accented by large rhododendron bushes – planted more than 100 years ago – which bloom annually around Memorial Day.

Great location
Lodi maintains its vintage small-town atmosphere while still being near metro areas. The village is about 48 miles south of Cleveland and 30 miles west of Akron. The village is also conveniently located near many interstate highways. Interstates 71 and 76 intersect about five miles east of Lodi.

Lodi is also an excellent location for access to higher education. There are eight colleges and universities within 30 minutes of the village: Ashland College, Wooster College, Medina County University Center, Midpoint Campus Center, Brunswick University, University of Akron, Wayne College, and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.

Dairy and grain farms dot the landscape in the surrounding townships, making the area scenic and appealing to prospective home owners.

Services
The village, which celebrated its bicentennial in 2011, is managed by a mayor, clerk and six-member village council. They are all elected officials. The Board of Public Affairs, also elected by residents, oversees the village utilities of water, sewers and electric.

The Medina County Sheriff provides all dispatching for both the Police, and the Fire and Rescue Departments. The all-volunteer Fire and Rescue Departments provide 24-hour assistance to the village and surrounding township.

Lodi has been a public power community since 1941. The local ownership is a benefit for all residential, commercial and industrial users. Electric rates for Lodi’s customers average lower than rates charged by privately owned systems. The municipal system also provides free street lighting and electricity for all village-owned buildings and parks.

As a member of AMP, Lodi participates in a number of AMP programs and projects that assist in providing reliable energy and other benefits to the community and its citizen-owners. These include:

  • Northeast AMP Service Group (NEASG)
  • AMP Fremont Energy Center, a natural gas combined cycle facility that supplies intermediate and peaking power
  • Efficiency Smart, a comprehensive energy-efficiency program administered for AMP by the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation
  • Landfill Gas Energy, a mixture of gases produced by decomposing garbage and collected by a series of pipes for use in diesel generator units (landfill gas-to-energy sites directly reduce greenhouse gas emissions)
  • Mutual Aid, a network of municipal electric systems that assist each other when utility emergencies occur that are too widespread to be handled by one system alone
  • OMEGA JV1, a joint venture of NEASG communities that owns nine megawatts (MW) of diesel generation installed at Cuyahoga Falls
  • OMEGA JV2, a joint venture that owns three gas turbine distributed generation units and 35 diesel units with a total capacity of 138.65 MW at sites across Ohio
  • OMEGA JV5, a joint venture that operates a 42-MW hydroelectric plant on the Ohio River and has back-up generation sources located throughout Ohio
  • New York Power Authority (NYPA), providing hydroelectricity generated by the Niagara and St. Lawrence rivers

For more information on the Village of Lodi, visit www.villageoflodi.com.

Lodi retains the charm and flavor of a country village, while still being near to metro areas.
Central Park in downtown Lodi features a restored gazebo, a war memorial and Native American statue.