Four deeds that record no price, and a $15M public purchase.
The former GenOn coal plant went to title in 2021 through transfers flagged exempt and "not a valid sale." The city now plans to buy 23 acres of it for a public park. This file tracks what is documented — and, just as carefully, what still isn't.
Two facts on the public record, stated side by side.
Placing them together is the whole claim. It is not an allegation, and this file does not make one: the record shows a $0 recorded consideration in 2021 and a $15M planned public purchase in 2024. What connects them, if anything, is not in any document we have.
Four 2021 transfers, all flagged.
Every row opens the instrument at the Lorain County Auditor.
| Date | Instrument | Parcel | Recorded | Flag | Doc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-03-11 | Warranty deed | 04-00-021-000-001 | $0 | Exempt | → |
| 2021-03-11 | Warranty deed | 04-00-021-000-004 | $0 | Exempt | → |
| 2021-06-29 | Quit-claim | 04-00-021-000-009 | $0 | Not a valid sale | → |
| 2021-06-29 | Quit-claim | 04-00-021-000-012 | $0 | Not a valid sale | → |
Six registers, kept separate on purpose.
Each stage stands on its own record. Authorization is not payment; a statement is not a vote.
What residents asked for
Lakefront access appears in resident comment at three separate council meetings.
Title changes hands
Four transfers recorded, all flagged exempt or "not a valid sale."
What officials said
Public statements name a park on the site; no instrument yet exists.
What council voted
Resolution of purchase intent, then an ordinance authorizing TIF financing. Roll-calls recorded.
Authorized ≠ paid
Authorization is on record. No payment, contract award, or closing appears in any register we hold.
What actually happened
Nothing has been built or delivered on the site. This row stays empty until a record fills it.
The gaps are part of the record too.
9.4% of roll-calls
Roll-call votes that could not be parsed from the published minutes. They exist on the record; they are not machine-readable, so they are not counted in any figure on this page.
Consideration behind the deeds
The instruments declare $0. Whether consideration passed outside the recorded price is not in any document we hold, and we do not infer it.
Closing and contract file
No purchase closing appears in any register. A records request is open; until it returns, this file states only the authorization.
Sources — City of Avon Lake council records and ACFR, Lorain County Auditor property transfers, SEC EDGAR, Ohio EPA / EPA ECHO. Collected and reviewed in the Lorain Data project. Corpus scan verified 2026-07-15.