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By DAVID S. OWEN
An initiative petition proposing an amendment to the Pickerington City Charter that would preserve the city's right to conform its boundaries and annex territory was delivered to city administrator Lynda Yartin Thursday morning.
The petition, with 911 signatures attached, causes another stir in the proposed Master Economic Development Agreement between the city and Violet Township.
The agreement was approved by City Council with a 4-3 vote in early January and has yet to be approved by the township trustees.Opponents contend the proposed agreement limits the city's ability to annex or conform its boundaries.
As a result, a group of more than 20 residents opposing the agreement -- including councilmen Ted Hackworth, Mike Sabatino and Brian Wisniewski -- collected signatures for both a referendum petition against the agreement and the initiative petition proposing the amendment to the city's charter.
''This proposed amendment to the charter is to protect the citizens on what the council is trying to do here by approving the agreement with the township,'' Hackworth said.
''If they (the city) are going to give away this right to annex or conform boundaries then they will have to come before the voters before they could do it,'' he said.
''This gives the voters control over what the council may or may not do in the future,'' Hackworth said.
''The city's right to conform boundaries and annex should be for the voters to preview and vote on, as opposed to a few individuals to make those types of decisions,'' said Pickerington resident Bruce Engelhardt, who delivered the initiative petition to the city Thursday.
The initiative committee collected 931 signatures for the referendum petition and 911 for the initiative petition.
During the week of Feb. 5, the Fairfield County Board of Elections validated 854 of the signatures on the referendum petition, when only 595 were required, which means it moves closer to being put on the ballot in the November general election.
The initiative petition, with 911 signatures on it, needed to be signed by 10 percent of the registered voters from the last municipal election in November 2005. That 10-percent figure, is estimated to be close to 410.
The initiative petition must stay with the city 10 days for public viewing before being sent to the BOE for signature validation on March 5.
If the required amount of signatures are validated it will go back to the city for validation, and could land on the ballot for a special election as early as June or July Hackworth said.
''If the petition is approved by the voters of Pickerington, it will allow the city to negotiate on a much leveler playing field with our neighbors in the future ... it will remove from the table the issues that only Pickerington seems be strapped with in these Joint Economic Development District talks,'' Hackworth said.
In response to the petition being filed, Pickerington Mayor David Shaver, who has said he is in favor of establishing an economic agreement with the township said, ''the more you limit the ability of the city government to work with other government entities, the less likely you'll be able to work with other government entities.''
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Councilman Jeff Fix, who is also in favor of the agreement with the township and helped craft the pact said, ''there's a good deal of irony all around this issue.''
''I think it's ironic that the same guys who are so concerned about hindering future councils like signing a 10-year agreement, and were so critical of several of us for not using city staff on a development agreement, even though that is patently false, councilmen Wisniewski, Hackworth and Sabatino, are now the same guys who are taking away the ability of future council's to deal with annexations and conforming the boundaries, that they have done this without even informing our city manager, law director, or development director,'' Fix said.
''As they are desperately trying to hold on to these two rights, they are actually making it more difficult and expensive to annex land in the future ... they haven't thought this all the way through,'' he said.
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Selling out the city
From the Pickerington Times-Sun:
''Councilman Jeff Fix, who is also in favor of the agreement with the township and helped craft the pact said, ''there's a good deal of irony all around this issue.''
''I think it's ironic that the same guys who are so concerned about hindering future councils like signing a 10-year agreement, and were so critical of several of us for not using city staff on a development agreement, even though that is patently false, councilmen Wisniewski, Hackworth and Sabatino, are now the same guys who are taking away the ability of future council's to deal with annexations and conforming the boundaries, that they have done this without even informing our city manager, law director, or development director,'' Fix said''
Jeff I believe the group and the committee are private citizens. Why should they consult with the City Manager and the City Development director prior to circulation of their petition. Did you consult with the former city administration prior to circulating all of the petitions you claimed to have been responsible for?
Maybe Brian, Ted, and Mike have a knack for listening to the citizens instead of telling them what's good for them. Oh that's right none of us are smart of enough to make these decisions on our own. Sorry to question your wisdom your highness
My lawyer says this will not hinder future annexations. It will not hinder conforming the city's boundaries. It simply preserves the current rights of the city so some ego maniac can't give them away.
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Development deal attacked
Development deal attacked again
Thursday, March 1, 2007
By SEAN CASEY
ThisWeek Staff Writer
A group of Pickerington residents has filed a second petition with the city that could kill a joint development agreement with Violet Township.
At City Hall last week, the group, which includes Pickerington City Council members Ted Hackworth, Michael Sabatino and Brian Wisniewski, submitted a citizen initiative that would prohibit councils from waiving the city's rights to annex land and conform municipal boundaries. If the Fairfield County Board of Elections validates enough signatures and the petition meets legal criteria, the measure could go up for a citywide vote within 90 to 120 days after it is certified.
Sabatino said the petitioners filed the initiative in order to torpedo a cooperative economic development deal between Pickerington and surrounding Violet Township that city council adopted in a 4-3 vote on Jan. 2. The document would establish a framework for the creation of Joint Economic Development Districts (JEDDs), in which the city and township would share the costs and revenues associated with attracting new commercial investment.
For the duration of the agreement, which would last up to 30 years, Pickerington committed not to annex residential land or conform its boundaries, which would essentially secede the city from Violet Township.
Council member Jeff Fix negotiated the agreement with the township last year, stating cooperation was key to fostering economic growth in the area. He added that promising not to incorporate additional residential land or form a ''paper township'' would promote trust with Violet Township leaders. Furthermore, such commitments represented negligible risks for an overwhelmingly residential city, Fix stated.
After the opposition bloc of council failed to win concessions in the master agreement, members circulated a petition, with the assistance of former pro-residential-growth mayors Lee Gray, Randy Hughes and Lou Postage, throughout Pickerington this winter to place the document before city residents for a vote.
The Fairfield County Board of Elections has determined the petition has enough valid signatures to be certified and Pickerington legal counsel has stated it met necessary requirements. The measure will likely appear on the November ballot and, as a result, the effective date of the master agreement has been postponed.
The second petition, the initiative submitted last week, may mandate a revision of the agreement if it passes and voters approve the existence of the master agreement.
''Mr. Fix took it upon himself to be the sole determinant of what was a deal-breaker and what wasn't. That is where I think there was a miscarriage of justice on this,'' Sabatino said after the initiative petition was filed at City Hall. ''These are municipal rights that are given to cities and, in my mind, under no circumstances should they be surrendered.''
He said the measure will likely receive certification from the elections board because it was circulated at the same time as the first referendum, and many of the same people signed both petitions.
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