After a 90-minute discussion Wednesday, the City of Clearwater and Clearwater Township appear to be one more meeting away from approving an Orderly Annexation Agreement (OAA).
Members of the city council and township board sat down early Wednesday morning at Clearwater City Hall to review what was hopefully the final draft of an agreement that has taken more than two years and multiple meetings to develop.
The first main discussion revolved around taxation reimbursement. Under the agreement, once the city annexes land from the township, the city must reimburse the township for the land.
In the case of unimproved land, the city pays the township a one-time fee of $500 per acre.
In the case of improved land, which is defined as any parcel less than five acres with a residential structure or a parcel 10 acres or less with a commercial or industrial structure, the city reimburses the township 100% of the township taxes for five years, at the tax rate set at the year of annexation.
In the previous OAA, the city reimbursed the township taxes on a declining scale of 80%, 60%, 50%, 30% and 20% over the five-year period. Members of the council debated the five-year/100% language before agreeing the city would also benefit during that period by collecting higher property taxes.
Another discussion focused on conditions for orderly annexation. Under the agreement, a parcel in the OAA area can be annexed if the principal use of the property is currently commercial or industrial and the septic system has failed and must be moved to a new location, or, if the well has failed such that a new well must be drilled, or, if the property is sold.
There was also a lengthy discussion about annexing properties between the city and a newly-annexed area. Administrator Kevin Kress gave the hypothetical example of Danco Transport, which is located on Co. Rd. 75, asking to be annexed. He felt once city services were extended to Danco, there should be a time limit for the other parcels located between Danco and the city to be annexed, since the city had to invest money to run water and sewer lines to Danco. But members of the council agreed not to set a time limit.
Under the agreement, the city shall be responsible for maintenance on roads where there is a city development and potentially, on township roads where city development causes traffic to increase by 25%.
Under the agreement, the township is also granted one non-voting seat on the city’s planning commission so it can keep apprised of the city’s zoning regulations and future developments.
Members of the council and township board didn’t have time to finish their discussion Wednesday morning. An additional, and possible final joint meeting is set for 8:30 a.m. May 1. Once the language is agreed upon, the city will hold a public hearing before giving final approval.
Road Bid
In a 4-0 vote, the council awarded the contract for the Southeast Area Street & Utility Improvements to Molitor Excavating, the low bidder, at $834,575.34. The council had awarded the contract to Molitor in March, but because the vote was 3-2, it was invalid by state statute, which required a 4/5ths vote.
Wednesday’s vote was 4-0. Councilman Vern Scott was not present at the meeting.
