JOHNSTOWN, Ohio — Johnstown is a community of about 5,000 residents. It used to be considered a village but is now labeled a city. Jack Liggett, Johnstown’s city manager, said he knows more growth is coming.

“We're looking bigger and bigger. Someone said that quote, you know, think big and then go bigger,” Liggett said. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission is expecting the region to grow by another million people by 2050

  • A contributing factor to this growth is Intel's arrival in town

  • Cities near the Intel site are planning to make sure they have adequate infrastructure, including enough water for residents and new businesses

  • A new water tower has been built in Johnstown, but plans for the tower have been in place well before Intel announced they were coming to Ohio

For years, Johnstown has been home to just a single one-million gallon water tower. But now, the city has two water towers. A new 500,000 gallon water tower on the west side of Johnstown will distribute to residents and businesses in the area and is expected to be up and running by the end of the month.   

About a mile away in New Albany, Intel, a multinational technology company, is setting roots and with it thousands of people are expected to move to central Ohio. But Liggett said the new water tower has been in the works for about two years now, well before Intel announced it was coming to town.

Jack Liggett, City manager, Johnstown, Taylor Bruck/Spectrum News 1

“Now that we've heard about Intel, we wish we built this tower a little bigger,” Liggett said. “But the good news is that on this site, we can add a second tower if necessary, or more like when necessary, for future development.”

Liggett said that when the city’s existing tower goes under maintenance, residents are left without adequate fire protection. He said the tower was mainly built to increase fire protection and safety of residents.

Johnstown’s water demand has almost doubled in the last three years, according to Liggett. To help keep up with the demand, a two million gallon expansion to the area’s existing water treatment plant is also in the works, which would make three million gallons of water a day available by 2024.

Utility bills are expected to rise a bit, Liggett said, but they plan to pay for a lot of this through increased capacity fees. 

“That way, a lot of the burden will go on the new businesses, the new houses coming in instead of existing residents,” Liggett said. 

Growth is coming, even without Intel, and Liggett said the city is looking to the future and is prepared for it. 

For more information about Johnstown, click here.