Residents frustrated with annexation

Residents and trustees alike rallied against a city mandated annexation in the Perry Township trustees meeting Monday.

Meeting chambers at the administration building were overflowing with frustrated residents, with over 20 residents in attendance seeking guidance and support in regard to the mandated annexation of a property on Beechwood Road. This issue stems from the previously approved annexation of a 29.54-acre property adjacent to the industrial park which was purchased by Hickey Metal Fabrication to expand their business in 2022.

This Hickey property annexation was completed with a type two annexation, which allows both an expedited processing speed and negotiations between the two involved municipalities regarding the details of the property such as property tax. Trustees Chairman Steve Bailey said that the owner of the property, Leo Hickey, had filed for the annexation as a type two to ensure that the township and its residents would be protected and continue to receive taxes from the property.

"[Hickey] was very concerned with making sure the township was able to receive money going forward because he lives in the township, it's his neighborhood. The other thing they did was create a buffer zone at the front of Beechwood, so that it wouldn't affect any of the properties in the township in regard to having a quiet area with no industrial things. They were very for the township and making sure everything stayed the same. The industrial was what they were concerned with for promoting their business, so we agreed," said Bailey.

However, Bailey said that at that time neither the trustees nor Hickey were aware that there was another property in the area with a deed restriction mandating that should the property ever become contiguous with the city, it would be forced to annex within 90 days or could see the water and sewer service cut off.

"We knew nothing about the deed having that restriction, or any possibility of that happening; the Hickeys had no knowledge of any of it. If they had, when they created that buffer zone, they would have been more than happy to take that frontage, parcel that off as Perry Township, leave it as that, and then just annex the interior of it. So, this is a surprise to everybody," said Bailey.

Bailey also said that he is unsure of why Hickey hadn't been informed once the annexation was completed in the discussed state that other residents would be forced to begin the annexation process as well.

"I don't know if they didn't have a conversation, or if they didn't know ahead of time. I'm assuming somebody knew because it happened really fast after the annexation, but we have not heard anything that would give us any idea on that," said Bailey.

The deed restriction also came as a surprise to the owner of the Beechwood property, Laurie Butcher, who said she only learned of the requirement upon receiving a letter April 11 from the city informing her that she was required to annex or could have her utility service shut off. Should Butcher do so, a chain reaction of properties in the area with similar deed restrictions becoming contiguous with the city, and therefore mandated to annex, would begin, starting with three properties adjacent to Butcher's.

Butcher said that she received a second letter June 7, inviting her to schedule an appointment to discuss the benefits of annexation with Mayor Cyndi Baronzzi Dickey. Butcher said that thus far she had not retained an attorney as she was seeing what action could be taken through the township before engaging in private litigation.

Butcher also said that she felt the allotted 90 days was neither a sufficient nor fair time period for someone to complete an annexation and would be pursuing an extension.

"I don't feel it's enough time for me to do what they want. They wanted me to do an expedited survey for annexation, which is like $2,500, to get annexed into Salem, which I don't want to do," said Butcher.

Butcher also questioned if the city had any legal authority to force her to file for the expedited annexation they had recommended should she eventually be forced to file, or if she could file a standard annexation.

Bailey said that it would likely be best for Butcher and residents like her to retain legal counsel experienced in annexations, as they would be able to better advise them on what is best for them and on what the specific requirements of the deed restrictions are.

Trustee Tony Ieropoli said that other properties also having to annex had never been mentioned during the township's negotiations with the city regarding the Hickey annexation either, a statement which Trustee Jim Armeni echoed.

"We met with the mayor before she was mayor, and she knew what we were concerned about, the water and sewer extension. We wanted a long-term agreement on economic development and annexation, and not one time did any of them say 'hey, we've got a problem with that.' They all kept saying 'we want to do that, but not on this annexation, we'll work on that after you do this property,' and they were in a hurry," said Armeni.

Armeni and Ieropoli also said they had reached out to some members of the city council about the matter privately, with Ieropoli noting that some members "didn't even seem to know what was going on and what she was doing."

"The phone stopped ringing and I didn't see any progress, so I reached out to some people on city council privately, and they seemed to understand our concern. They seem to want to make something work," said Armeni.

While neither wanted to give specific names, Armeni said trustees were still "cautiously optimistic." Armeni also noted he agreed with the residents' frustration regarding the lack of transparency.

"I agree with what you're saying about transparency. Somebody had to know. Somebody had to know, and all they would have had to say was 'hey guys, if we move this boundary it's going to cause this, we maybe need to discuss that.' And nobody told us that, and I think somebody should have told us that," said Armeni.

Bailey said he had also discussed why the city was pursuing the annexations so aggressively with Dickey directly and was told the motivation was primarily monetary.

"She said they're mostly doing it for the income. They want the income from it for the city," said Bailey. "It's very detrimental to the township, and this area needs growth. You look around at Columbiana, how much their growing, and you had the same thing there, township and city there, and they worked together. I really feel that is what Salem and Perry Township need to do.

"The township has the land, the city doesn't, and if we can come up with some agreements, that people know ahead of time, not a hidden thing in their deed, that could be great for this area. We need growth, we need a lot of housing, and industrial space. That's something we as trustees want to continue to be able to work on with the city, and hopefully this is not a roadblock that will stop that. If they continue to push this, I think it's just going to drive the two farther apart, and that's not beneficial for anyone in this area."

Bailey noted that as these restrictions apply to specific deeds, some properties in the area may be required to annex while others are not. Bailey said that as a result, were the annexations completed there could be places where there is a mixture of homes that are part of both the township and the city on the same street, creating a logistical nightmare for first responders and municipal services.

"You're talking about a nightmare for police, fire and road, where you are going down the street and you have Perry house, Salem house, Salem house, Perry house, Perry house, jumping back and forth," said Bailey.

Bailey said that while trustees wanted to be open with residents about the process and answer any questions they could, should those affected want to further share their feelings about the situation they would be best to contact city council members.

Trustees also said the they would escalate their response to the situation if necessary.

"You need to know, we have represented you professionally, we have used diplomacy, but we are not afraid to get aggressive, and will if we must. We don't want to, we still want to have a dialogue, we still want to have a line of communication, we're still looking for cooperation," said Armeni.

Armeni also said trustees would be happy to meet with the city council in a committee of the whole meeting to discuss the situation further.

"If they have a committee of the whole meeting and want to invite us, we'll be there. We'll be there saying how do you want to proceed? What can we do? Let's get a working document," said Armeni.

Residents who would like to check for any possible deed restrictions on their properties from prior owners they may be unaware of can get the full deed and relevant information for their property from the Columbiana County Recorder's Office or website.

The trustees thanked all the residents in attendance for coming to share their concerns, assuring them they would continue to research the situation and do everything they can to address it.

The board of trustees will meet next at 4 p.m. June 26.

mahart@mojonews.com