Press Release

The Trustees of Jersey Township would like to announce that the Intel, (Silicone Heartland Development Project) slated for Jersey Township is a much-needed manufacturing and production of semiconductors, as well as Microchips for the ongoing security of this Country. There is no doubt this will have a huge economic impact on the local economy as well as state and federal if not worldwide.

New Albany Company as you know by now, has been buying land in Jersey township and doing a lot of negotiating land purchases for the new Intel site. The trustees found out last September that some of the residents had been approached to sell their land and wanted to know what was going on. First of all, we were never informed by an accurate source or given reliable information that could be verified with any validity as to what the large land acquisition was to be used for. There were plenty of rumors surfacing, but no one would tell us exactly what might be happening, so everything we heard was truly speculative until Friday at the press release held in Newark.

We would like to clarify that the article in the Advocate printed January 21, 2022, depicts the Trustee's as negotiating with Intel. This is not true, and the only negotiations that were held were with the New Albany Municipality to achieve a 50% tax abatement and not a 100% tax abatement and ask to please limit any islands from being created as this will create hardship for residents. We were never informed by New Albany Company or the Municipality, or any other reliable source what the land acquisition was to be used for.

I know we have residents that believe the Trustees have the power to stop annexation. That is far from the truth; the truth of the matter is, that any landowners who are contiguous to a Municipality can petition to be annexed into the Municipality. This is your right as a property owner. The Trustees cannot stop annexation. That being said, when New Albany buys land and it is contiguous, they have the right to petition to the Municipality to annex it. The Trustees have no authority to control New Albany Company and their land purchases, nor do we have any authority to control the Municipality and their zoning or annexation agreements. No property owner in Jersey Township will be forced to annex.

Obviously, we cannot speak for the residents, but anytime we have had annexations in the past we have happy residents and unhappy residents. Annexation, be it good or bad, is always a concern of our residents and the impact it will have on them and their loved ones.

The Trustees have been working very hard the last two years towards economic issues and the upcoming impact it may have on the Township. We could not stress how important it was for our Zoning Board to get zoning changes made and get our zoning rules up to speed. We know they went to work and made significant changes or additions. This Township has never been proactive, but the new administration has been working hard to change that. Until 2 years ago, our efforts were spent trying to get off the State Auditors list of townships that were unauditable. We spent hours and hours trying to make changes to the entire organization and get it up and running like a business.

Two years ago, we started the process by allocating funds to hire private legal counsel. We have since allocated funding for the hire of other professionals that we need to move forward. We have professional Economic Planners, Attorneys on retainer to oversee the Joint Economic Development District, we have professional Financial Analysts to assist in determining the amount of income to be generated from the Economic Development Plan. We are working with Grow Licking County, we are working with neighboring Municipality's, and we are talking with South West Sewer and Water District since they have been granted the contract by the Licking County Commissioners. We have had help

from some state agency's as well. As you can see, this Township will never be the same with the impact that Intel will have; however, the Trustees are willing to accept the impact and continue to try and get out in front of it, if we can get the support that we need from the residents.

We started the process of some zoning overlays in the Township several months ago that is a critical part of an economic tool that needs to be implemented. We approved the hire of Crossroads Community Planning last August and are moving forward to get the Comprehensive Plan reviewed and up to date. All these things should have been addressed prior to this administration taking office.

Moving forward, we intend to work with the Governor's Office and County offices to address any issues that can and will arise due to continued improvements from the economic impact. This Silicone Heartland Project will obviously bring concerns to residents that will have to be dealt with as time goes by.

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