MOUNT VERNON — By a 5-to-2 vote, Mount Vernon City Council agreed to accept the annexation of a half-acre Pleasant Township parcel into the city. Councilmen Mike Hillier and John Francis cast the nay votes.
“I don’t think we are ready to annex that far out of the city,” Hillier said.
Council members previously passed legislation designating the services the city will provide to the parcel: fire/EMS, police, and storm water. Monday’s vote was to accept the parcel into the city.
A house sits on the .56-acre annexed parcel. City Engineer Brian Ball said legal counsel for owners Philip and Renee Green said the couple intends to request that 105 acres located behind and surrounding the house be annexed into the city next.
The Greens do not want to act as developers for the 105 acres but feel if the acres are annexed into the city, it will make the land more attractive to sell to a developer.
Annexation must take place in steps due to state law. To be annexed, a parcel has to be contiguous to another parcel that is already in the city. State law has restrictions on how much property can be annexed based on the amount of feet that are contiguous.
The half acre has about 40 contiguous feet through road frontage. That is not enough to accommodate the 105 acres. Because the 105 acres surround the half-acre parcel, once the half-acre parcel is annexed into the city, all three sides of it will count as contiguous feet.
Anyone developing the 105 acres is required to provide and pay for the infrastructure for water, wastewater, and stormwater systems.
Accepting the .56 annexation gives the city some control over future development through approving the plans, designs, and installation of the utilities. The city could then sell water to the development and charge for providing services.
Additionally, the city can help minimize the effect on Martinsburg Road (Ohio 586) by requiring the developer to make road improvements at the developer’s cost. The city also has input on where the development entrance/exit will be.
If the city does not annex the land and it remains in the township, the township has no jurisdiction over the road.
Council approved the annexation on its third reading. Council members took the following additional actions:
• Approved membership in the Regional Planning Commission
• Gave a second reading to legislation fixing the number of hourly employees in the water/wastewater departments and allowing the city auditor to make inter-fund transfers up to $5,000 without consent of council
• Gave a second reading to legislation authorizing the safety-service director to identify, select, and contract with a firm for rehabilitating the city’s #2 clarifier
• Waived the three readings and approved the hiring of Frost Brown Todd LLP for representation services related to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s orders relating to lime sludge removal from the water treatment plant
• Waived the three readings and authorized the safety-service director to sell on the internet equipment the city no longer needs
Council members discussed the inter-fund transfers in a Finance and Budget Committee meeting. Currently the auditor can transfer up to $500 without council’s approval. Several council members were reluctant to raise the amount to $5,000 and suggested the amount be $2,000 or $3,000.
Auditor Terry Scott will review numbers associated with 2022 transfers to get an idea of where the transfers fall in regard to dollar amounts.
