Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

City reviewing annexation agreement

By DAVID S. OWEN

Published: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 3:06 PM EDT

After a meeting Sept. 10 discussing revisions to a proposed annexation agreement with Violet Township, Pickerington Mayor David Shaver and city councilmen Jeff Fix and Michael Sabatino may be closer to announcing a deal both entities can agree upon.

Since early August the city began voting on a version of an agreement with the township which involves a 3-acre parcel of land located at 10080 Wright Road.

The city tabled its version of the agreement during a meeting Sept. 4 after the township approved and submitted to the city a different version of it on Aug 17.

As a result, Shaver suggested he, Sabatino and Fix, review the township's proposal in an effort to put together an agreement both entities can approve.

After the meeting Sept. 10, Shaver said he is encouraged by the discussions and hopefully they are very close to finalizing a deal and will be able to announce something soon.

Fix said the basis of the discussion is to work out terms in it and see what makes sense and where they can meet in the middle.

''We're still working on it,'' Fix said. ''We should have something fairly soon, but we want to make sure it's something that's good for both the city and the township,'' Fix said.

''Our job is to do the best we can for the citizens of the city and the township for their citizens,'' he said.

''It's in everybody's best interest that we work together because we all live in the same community and I think there are some pretty big opportunities on the table for us to work together and to do anything right now that would put those opportunities in harms way would be short-sighted,'' Fix said.

For several months discussions have been going back-and-forth between the city and the township on the 3-acre piece of land and discussions of either an annexation deal or entering into a Joint Economic Development Agreement have come up.

Township officials said they want to get on with it.

''We're waiting for them (the city) to make up their minds which direction they want to head,'' said Township Trustee Chairman Gary Weltlich.

Times-Sun continued

''Their exploring an annexation or a JEDD, and our position is 'would you please choose one?' '' Weltlich said.

''I don't see any reason why we can't come together, and this is the closest I think we've been in a long time,'' he said.

Councilman Ted Hackworth said he is more than willing to work with the township, but still has a basic problem with giving city taxpayers dollars away.

''What I'd like to see is to move along to the next step and do a more comprehensive type of agreement where we kind of set the tone for the next 4 or 5 years, or 20, so that we know where they stand and they know where we stand as far as development along Diley or on Refugee Road or wherever,'' Hackworth said.

''We seem to be not talking about that and with this little 3-acre thing I feel sorry for the owner of that property that we've been kind of kicking it around and can't seem to get off the dime on it,'' he said.

Hackworth maintained that he is more than willing to work a deal with the township but said any deal has to be fair to city tax payers.

Fix said it is possible by the week of Sept. 17 a finalized agreement could be in place that both the city and township can work with.

Wait a derned minute

So Fix now thinks he should work for us and the Trustees for thier people? I AM ONE OF THEIR PEOPLE!! I pay taxes to them. I pay for fire service. I can vote for them.

Perhaps this is the more of the root cause of all these stupid theatrical attempts at ''cooperation''. No one seems to be able to understand just who the township residents really are.

Keep up the good work Fix

It seems that Fix has been in office for 20 months or so and his name appears regularly on these dealing our city dollars to the township but like Weltlich says they can't make up their minds.

Well I think Fix has done a marvelous job in stalling the trustees from taking our money. Clearly he can't find any ground that everyone will stand firmly with him on. The longer Fix continues to promise everyone that is something really really, really big out there then these talks will go on for ever. I hope we are not paying lawyers to sit in on these meetings.