‘A layman’s version’: Barrett Thomas breaks down 5-year Mansfield Lahm vision for City Council

MANSFIELD — Barrett Thomas said Tuesday evening he would often hear conversations about Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport.

“People say things like, ‘Yeah, we’ve got this airport. I wish somebody would do something with that,'” the senior economic development director for Richland Area Chamber & Economic Development told City Council.

“Like, that’s hard to do. How do you do that?” he asked while introducing a new, five-year economic development strategic plan for the 2,400-acre airport that features long runways, an FAA-controlled tower, fixed-base operator and immediate access to a number of adjoining industrial parks.

Thomas, working on behalf of the city administration through a contract with the chamber, began by telling lawmakers what the 26-page plan is not.

“This is an airport economic development plan. Most airports don’t have this. Most airports do have an airport map. That is an FAA document that they help fund and create.

“That’s not what this is and that’s not what I’m trying to replace,” he said of the new plan, titled “Cleared for Takeoff: Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport” which covers plans from 2026 to 2031.

Thomas said he has had a lot of conversations with a lot of people over the years and also attended many conferences.

“That’s really kind of the bulk of this plan and where this came from, talking with experts that know a whole lot more than me. The airport is like a whole separate language and you gotta learn like what’s an RPZ and why do you have to protect it? Why is this a big deal?” Thomas said.

(For those interested, an airport RPZ is a trapezoidal ground area located directly beyond the end of a runway. Its primary purpose is to safeguard people and property on the ground by restricting incompatible land uses and reducing the risks of aircraft overruns or undershoots.)

“This (plan) is a collection of a whole bunch of conversations and meetings and stuff that I’ve been to, kind of filtered into a way that makes sense. I hope it makes sense,” he said.

(Below is a PDF with an economic development strategic plan for Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport that City Council is scheduled to discuss Tuesday.)

“This plan is really my kind of layman’s version of how would we as a community leverage an asset like the airport for economic development,” he said.

He went over the six “pillars” of the plan.

“The goal here is six different things. I think we can leverage out the asset of our airport to help bring some economic development,” he said.

According to the plan Thomas drafted, the city doesn’t need to “start from zero.”

“Infrastructure investment in the airport corridor is already underway. A comprehensive planning effort for the northwest corridor, led by EMH&T, is extending water and sewer infrastructure to the west side of the airport, improving State Route 13 access, and updating zoning to welcome emerging industries,” the plan states.

“The water line loop planned around the airport will add meaningful redundancy and capacity to the system and directly improves the development readiness of the West Side Taxiway 14 site. This economic development strategy is the next step in a program of investment the city has already begun,” according to the summary.

“Mansfield’s competitive position rests on five specific assets held simultaneously. No peer community in the region can make the same claim. These factors are the foundation of every external positioning argument in this plan.”

Lawmakers are not scheduled to vote on the plan until August. Thomas encouraged them to read the report.

“If you want to know more about other Ohio airports and where we fit in the spectrum out of Ohio airports, that’s in here.

“If you want to know how vertiports work and what the FAA thinks the Vertiports are going to look like, that’s in the (the) back.

“There’s a lot of things in here and I get really excited (about it),” Thomas said. “I am really interested in feedback on this plan.

“We are not asking for dollars for this at this point. But when we come back later and ask for money, it’ll be for things that are in this plan because we’re moving this along,” he said.

Mansfield City Council on Tuesday also:

— approved a resolution honoring Lt. Donald Rinehart, who retired July 9 from the Mansfield Police Department after 26 years. Rhinehart served six years as a police officer in Bellville before joining the MPD in 2006. He was selected as Supervisor of the Year in 2020 and earned the division’s Top Cop Award five times in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2013. He was awarded the Legion of Merit in 2025 and received numerous special commendations and letters of recognition during his career. He was a member of the Opiate Response Team and also the department SWAT unit from 2011 to 2021. He served was watch commander on all three patrol shifts during his tenure.

— voted to appoint Renaissance Theatre President and CEO Chelsie Thompson to the Downtown Improvement Advisory Board to complete the term of a member who resigned.

— approved hardship petitions to allow two families to tap into the city water and sanitary systems at their own expense on Middle Bellville Road and Country Club Drive. Those residents have one year to complete the work and have their property annexed into the city.

— amended a community reinvestment area agreement with Niss Aviation FBO at Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport.

— voted to accept a $7,175 in various donations for the city’s Safety Town program.

— voted to accept a $1,000 donation from the Richland County Foundation for the Safety Town program.

— voted to accept donations for the city’s recent America250 celebration, including Mechanics Bank ($500), Richland Public Health ($500), RichHistory Alliance ($250), Destination Mansfield ($250) Mansfield Linens and Events ($250).

— voted to accept a $5,500 anonymous donation for the Mansfield Fire Dept. to buy two “Lifepak 35” systems from the Stryker Sales Corp.

— voted to accept a $21,225.36 grant from the Bureau of Justice to buy bulletproof vests for the police department.

— voted to accept a $2,500 grant from the Ohio Dept. of Public Safety-Emergency Medical Services Division to purchase a training dummy for the MFD.

— voted to allow the city public works director to advertise for bids for road salt for the upcoming winter season.

— voted to allow the public works director to see bids for custodial services in the Mansfield Municipal Building, the wastewater treatment plant office building, the water treatment plant office building and the utility collections building.

— voted to appropriate previously unappropriated funds in the Mansfield Municipal Court for computer hardware/software upgrades mailing certified court notices.

— voted to vacate a right-of-way at 100 Cairns Road, site of Newman Technologies, while retaining the utility rights and easements.