2024 Progress Report

It has been two years since the train derailment that forever changed the Village of East Palestine. While we will not forget the day and events that followed, what we choose to remember is the resiliency of the town and the strength we have shown as we pushed forward and continued to make progress to rebuild and improve our community.

To show how far we have come, here is a reminder of everything we have accomplished since that fateful night of February 3, 2023.

  • Rebranded The Village of East Palestine with a new logo and slogan, “Pride. Tradition. Progress.”  to represent the community’s strength and resilience, rich heritage and strong roots, and aspirations for creating a better future.
  • Created a website, epohio.org designed to proactively communicate all the positive developments in the community as they happen, so the site serves as the one source for reliable Village recovery information.
  • Launched new social media channels on Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.
  • Developed East Palestine Progress, a monthly newsletter mailed to every home and business in the area with updates and news you need to know as a resident and business owner. Raised $3,560 in advertising sales for the EPCIC.
  • Filmed video of most bi-monthly Village Council Meetings with guest presenters and posted on epohio.org so that those who could not attend could watch the proceedings as they happened.
  • Established The Village of East Palestine Community Improvement Corporation (EPCIC), a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit corporation which will work alongside the village to accomplish development goals and to spearhead transformative initiatives.
  • Reported on the first two phases of the ongoing $25-million East Palestine Community Park Improvement project funded by Norfolk Southern, which is a multi-phase project expected to be completed in 2026.
  • Accepted the historic train depot with its renovated exterior from Norfolk Southern and applied for and received technical assistance services valued at $55,000 from Opportunity Appalachia to develop the reuse plan for the depot. The building will be repurposed for the benefit of the community. Requests for Proposals for businesses or organizations seeking to use the space are still being accepted.
  • The Village of East Palestine’s new Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) Filtration system was placed in service on June 13, 2024. The GAC filters will add another layer of protection to the Village’s water treatment plant now and in the future.
  • Created the EP VIP Shopper Club, a free service designed to spur economic growth and consumer retail shopping by letting participating vendors offer special deals and discounts of their choice to members. Twenty vendors and more than 1,000 members joined.
  • Built an Available East Palestine Properties web page with the help of the Columbiana County Port Authority and ZoomProspector on epohio.org which lists available sites and buildings for sale or lease.
  • Rebuilt the eastpalestine-oh.gov/ municipal website that contains contact information for all the village departments as well as news, events and updates.
  • Contracted Mission Critical Partners to conduct the required After-Action Review (AAR) following the Norfolk Southern train derailment. They collected and reviewed all available public data and information sources and conducted both individual interviews and focus-group sessions with stakeholders over a five-month span. They presented their top summary of findings and their recommendations on August 29, 2024. As next steps, The Village of East Palestine and the respective departments will continue to focus on addressing the issues, many of which have already been resolved, and produce a strategy to implement the improvement plan to increase future emergency response outcomes.
  • Applied for and received a Safe Streets and Roads for All planning grant in the amount of $211,488 2024 from The U.S. Department of Transportation to develop a comprehensive safety action plan to improve local streets for downtown pedestrians, ensure safe passage to the park and schools and plan multi-purpose trails.
  • Contacted the experts at the U.S. EPA’S Technical Assistance Services for Communities (TASC) Program to review and report on all environmental monitoring conducted by government agencies and summarize other completed and ongoing studies conducted by independent entities. TASC reviewed information on air, soil, surface water and groundwater and provided a full report and presented a webinar on September 24, 2024.
  • Collaborated with Small Nation, facilitated by JobsOhio, to work together on a strategic plan for downtown revitalization. Small Nation is dedicated to revitalizing small towns through its Small Town Success™ Formula, which empowers local leaders and property owners to build thriving downtowns with sustainable growth.
  • Participated with the Ohio Rural Community Assistance Program’s (RCAP) Building Thriving and Resilient Communities Program, a federally funded program that seeks to help communities grow and prosper through grass-roots economic and community development, by focusing on existing assets, placemaking strategies and building entrepreneurship opportunities.
  • Collaborated with The East Palestine Think Tank, a group of volunteers that collected input from the broader community through a series of surveys, focus groups, and visioning workshops to help discover the wants and needs of residents to help the village move forward.
  • Awarded up to $15.8 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) specifically for the purpose of constructing a new public safety complex. This funding is provided through the USDA Rural Development Community Facilities Disaster Assistance program and will enhance the village’s ability to protect and serve the community and offer its citizens a convenient, centralized location for municipal services.
  • Raised $161,500 in the ‘Brighten Our Future’ Tree Lighting and Fundraiser conducted by The Village of East Palestine Community Improvement Corporation (EPCIC).
  • Purchased the former PNC Bank property with the intention to develop a community plaza downtown for all to enjoy and to promote downtown revitalization.