Commissioners' deal with water, sewer district angers several communities
NEWARK − An Oct. 6 Licking County Commissioners' decision to extend the service area for Southwest Licking Water and Sewer District brought a flood of complaints Thursday from township and community officials in western Licking County.
They came from St. Albans, Monroe, Granville and Harrison townships, as well as Johnstown and Alexandria, to vent their frustrations to the county commissioners and ask why they weren't consulted before the deal was completed.
The amendment of a 2010 agreement between the commissioners and the district, expands the Southwest Licking service area for the Ohio 161 corridor from 8,769 acres to 18,223 acres. The expanded area includes 11,702 acres in Jersey Township, 3,439 in St. Albans Township and 3,041 acres in Monroe Township.
The previous service area map, amended in 2013, did not include any land in Monroe Township. The new map includes all of the township territory south of Duncan Plains Road, from the county line to Green Chapel Road.
In Jersey Township, the new map covers all township land not already annexed into New Albany, which gets its water from the city of Columbus. Intel Corporation has started construction on a $20 billion computer chip manufacturing facility just south of Johnstown on Jersey Township land annexed into New Albany.
The district service area now extends east to Ohio 310, which lies in St. Albans Township. The new area includes Ohio 310 from just north of Ohio 161 to Ohio 37, and now runs the entire western edge of St. Albans Township.
Monroe Township Trustee Troy Hendren said the commissioners told the townships they need to plan and coordinate, all while they were secretly working against the townships.
“I was shocked when I heard this because when you guys talk, you’re always about ‘we need to work together and know what’s going on,’” Hendren said. “We’re working really hard at that, and this really set us back. I just want an explanation on why you did it.
“We’re one step above volunteers. We depend on our commissioners for advice, guidance, and so forth. Not stabbing us in the back like this. Maybe you didn’t intentionally do that, but that’s how it feels.”
"Bit of an overreach"
The commissioners said the amended map may go too far and maybe they should consider rescinding the agreement.
Licking County Commissioner Tim Bubb said, “I will acknowledge this could be a little bit of an overreach. And it may have been a little bit of Southwest Licking's enthusiasm to start doing some planning in that area north of 161 and get the jump on that. They’ve got folks coming to them saying bring us water and sewer because nobody else will or nobody else is.
“It may have been a little short-sided on our part to go with them aggressively in terms of changing the line to give them some planning room to work ahead. That’s on us. That doesn’t mean we can’t step back and take a look at where we’re at.”
Rob Platte, a Southwest Licking board member and Jersey Township administrator, said the agreement can't be rescinded without the approval of both sides. He said the district will work with local communities.
“We can’t be sitting back and simply waiting," Platte said. "Development is coming and we want to be prepared for it. We’re very aggressive with our planning to keep up with development pressure.”
Bubb said the commissioners heard some communities were not interested in providing service to the area, while Southwest Licking was very interested. He said the commissioners will take another look, but can't promise anything.
"At the end of the day, it may end up being the way it is, if you can’t provide it and they’re willing to plan to provide it," Bubb said.
Southwest Licking has been viewed as one of the main impediments to New Albany using Columbus water to continue annexing Licking County land.
County Commissioner Duane Flowers said, "Because of the way annexation works, if there wasn’t a service provider designated for that area, a farmer or individual could sell and we could see Columbus water and sewer, because of annexations, taking over that area.”
St. Albans Township
Jim Lenner, the owner of Neighborhood Strategies planning company and former Johnstown city manager, represented St. Albans Township at the meeting. He said the township learned of the agreement as it planned to approve its comprehensive plan next week. The township is located between Granville and New Albany.
“It just was shocking for my clients and the people I’m working with that this monumental decision was made without input from (them),” Lenner said. “There’s other entities that could be servicing that area. That’s the concern and how you guys came to the decision to basically hand it over to the district to service that when you are in the middle of a water and sewer study. When St. Albans and most communities are all trying to plan, this bomb is dropped on us.”
Lenner said the decision to extend the Southwest Licking service area will affect St. Albans Township as much as the Intel announcement. He said American Structurepoint, the Columbus engineering firm doing the water and sewer study, didn't even know about the new agreement with Southwest Licking.
“As big as Intel is, I think this is just as big, because at least we could control it,” Lenner said. “The only thing, potentially, that was going to slow development so we could get prepared, was lack of water and sewer. Now, the district has carte blanche on that area. That is scary if you wake up one morning and all of a sudden someone is going to be providing water and sewer to St. Albans Township. How do they prepare?"
St. Albans Township Trustee Bruce Lane said Alexandria can provide service in the area. He said he wasn't worrying about water and sewer issues while the county was performing a study on the issue.
“Alexandria needs more customers because they’re trying to maintain the note on a sewer plant and really only have half of what they need to maintain that note, and they can expand,” Lane said. “They can double the size.
“It just makes no sense a decision like this could have been made before you have the facts. We haven’t even been approached to find out what the capacities were. So, it doesn’t make any sense we’re dealing with this.”
Platte said an advisory committee considering an expansion of the district’s service area invited St. Albans Township officials to a discussion in 2020 and again this year, but they never came. The committee did not meet in 2020, but did meet this summer with representatives from the district, Jersey Township and the commissioners.
"St. Albans was invited to the table and did not show up," Platte said. "St. Albans has not been cooperative. For anybody to say they didn’t know it, I find that hard to believe. We’ve been very clear. The district is best suited to serve the area. The district is aware of a lot of developers looking to develop land out that way.”
Alexandria Mayor Jim Jasper said the village has not grown like it was anticipated when it put in a sewer plant about 15 years ago, but the upcoming growth may provide an opportunity.
“Well, the village never has grown and those same 200 houses are making the payments on that $4.5 million loan, and our only relief is to get some more customers on that plant, and the obvious direction is (Ohio) 37 to (Ohio) 161," Jasper said.
“And now that it’s a viable possibility, we’re concerned we’re being shut out. That loan is a hardship on those residents. If we get completely blocked in, it will forever be a hardship.”
The amended map, however, appears unchanged along Ohio 37 from Alexandria to Ohio 161, but does add some township land south of the Ohio 161-Ohio 37 interchange.
Johnstown/Monroe Township
Johnstown, just one mile north of the Intel development, is expanding its water and sewer plants, paying for an aquifer study and just put up a new water tower. The area between the city limits and Intel was a big part of the plans, Service Director Jack Liggett said.
“We’ve already signed a $1 million-plus contract to design a new water treatment facility, and that design went from a 1 million gallon (per day) expansion to a 2 million gallon expansion, thinking that area was going to be something Johnstown was going to be a part of,” Liggett said.
Hendren added, “I’m here representing Johnstown more than anybody because they need this. You guys knew when you did this, there was going to be some repercussions. You knew that.”
Hendren questioned how the commissioners could be unaware of Johnstown’s interest in expanding.
“Maybe the county commission needs to drive around,” Hendren said. “It’s a 100-foot water tower out there. I mean, you don’t think Johnstown was planning for that? You can see it from all over. You guys said we didn’t know this, and we didn’t know that. You should have done some damn research.”
Platte said if Johnstown was planning to serve the area, it should have pursued annexation with the property owners.
“They expended funds and made plans without annexing the land,” Platte said. “If Johnstown was making improvements with that in mind, they probably should have put something in place before.”
Platte said the water and sewer district can provide service without requiring annexation.
Sean Staneart, who recently replaced Liggett as Johnstown city manager, said he was not familiar with the new Southwest Licking service area. When provided a map, he said. "We have a strong opposition to this, specifically with the area that’s in Monroe Township. I would argue our council is going to have a lot of heartburn over this and we’ll probably push back pretty heavily.”
Jersey Township
Jersey Township, which has seen more than one-third of its territory annexed into New Albany, is the only known supporter of the amended agreement with the district.
The Intel development is underway on 1,000 acres in the north central area of the township, where homeowners have sold and their homes demolished to make way for construction of the computer chip manufacturing facility.
Jersey Township Trustee Dan Wetzel said, “I don’t know why everybody is upset. Southwest Licking is the only option for Jersey. I can’t stop development. I can stop annexation if I get water and sewer in place.”
Wetzel said when Mink Street becomes five lanes, it will attract commercial development. North of Ohio 161, New Albany has annexed most of the land west of Mink Street. The land east of Mink Street remains unincorporated.
“We can’t wait for two more years,” Wetzel said. “New Albany will annex more of the township. We’ve got a whole different outlook because we’re on ground zero.
“The main agenda is to get income back in the township and stop this annexation. We need to maximize income instead of New Albany getting it all. We need some commercial development. It makes sense to have Southwest Licking.”
Wetzel said Johnstown may still be able to provide service south of the city if it gets there before Southwest Licking.
“If they want to continue to expand, they should be able to develop that in annexation,” Wetzel said. “I think the municipality that annexes more township, they should serve it.”
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Commissioners' deal with utility district angers several communities
