ONTARIO — The development of Ontario’s Community Improvement Corporation advanced Wednesday night as City Council members voted to appoint four citizens to the CIC’s executive board.
Members of council’s economic development committee tapped Beth DeLaney, Brett Baxter, Amy Hiner and Joel Fox to serve on the CIC’s executive committee.
Ontario officials are in the midst of establishing a Community Improvement Corporation, as part of the city’s comprehensive plan.
Council voted to establish a CIC in February.
CICs are organizations designed to promote economic growth and are made up of both public officials and private citizens.
These organizations exist throughout Ohio and can serve several purposes depending on a community’s need.
CICs can act as the city’s designated agency to manage certain community and economic development activities like property acquisition and management and attracting business investment.
CIC can establish public-private partnerships, serve as an administrative agent for grant applications and issue bonds with approval from city council.
Josh Bradley, chair of council’s economic development committee, said the executive board will also consist of the mayor, service-safety director and economic development committee chair.
The executive board will also have the authority to appoint additional members.
“We wanted people that were motivated, go-getters, hard workers,” Bradley said. “We want to get this to get off the ground.”
Bradley said he hopes the executive committee can have its first meeting next week.
DeLaney is the franchise owner of Spherion Mid Ohio.
Fox is the owner of Seigneur Fox Construction, LLC.
Baxter is a Sergeant First Class and senior instructor for the Ohio Air National Guard Regional Training Institute.
Hiner is an education professor at the Ohio State University’s Mansfield campus.
Both Baxter and Hiner currently sit on the Ontario Local School board.
Mayor declares May Mental Health Awareness Month
Also during Wednesday’s meeting, Mayor Kris Knapp read a proclamation designating May 2025 as Mental Health Month in Ontario.
Knapp presented the proclamation to Sherry Branham-Fonner, 3rd Ward council member and executive director of the Richland County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board.
Branham-Fonner spoke briefly about the board’s work and upcoming events focused on recovery and mental health.
Branham-Fonner said the board is developing a Richland Recovery Network website to help residents easily access resources based on their need.
She said that in the midst of addiction or a mental health crisis, finding the right resources to help can feel overwhelming or even impossible.
“The board utilizes state, federal and local money to ensure that we have a continuum of care that cares for those people that are struggling with most in our community,” she said.
“A few years ago, I had the idea that we needed to market our system to help people understand the role of the mental health recovery services.”
City council also voted to approve an agreement with Reveille, the firm that helped the city develop its comprehensive strategic plan, to conduct a comprehensive review of the city’s zoning ordinances.
“They’re well aware of the inner workings of our city, so we feel that that’s going to be a good organization to come back and review some of our zoning codes that we have and just get them updated,” Mayor Kris Knapp said.