PATA History Pages

Letter from Mayor about cooperation between Violet Twp & City

copy of mayor Hughes' letter

Jan 21, 2001
A Letter from the Mayor to Violet Township Officials dated 1-16-2001

The City of Pickerington appreciated the opportunity to meet with you during the past growth meetings and we thank you for initiating those meetings. We are interested in continuing discussions with Violet Township and Pickerington Local School District officials regarding opportunities for cooperation. However, at this point in time, since we have received public input, we feel that meetings of smaller committees would be more beneficial to achieving our goals. Additionally, given low attendance, we feel that it is not productive to continue meeting in the established growth meeting format. Therefore, we have elected to not have a meeting on January 21.

The recent survey initiated by township officials seems to show that residents in the unincorporated township area are not interested in pursuing a possible merger, while it is an important agenda item for City of Pickerington residents. While we would have appreciated the opportunity to participate in a joint survey and to provide information to the public about the details of merger, your survey seems to indicate that the residents in unincorporated Violet Township have different priorities on issues than city residents.

In regard to the issues identified at prior meetings such as more consistent zoning codes, annexation agreements, and CEDAs and JEDDs, the City is already working to address each of these issues. As previously discussed, we are committed to removing barriers to annexation and we are currently passing legislation to reimburse the Township on the road and bridge levy, making annexation a win-win situation for the City and the Township. This would especially enable the community to acquire a business park, bringing an increased tax pool and creation of new jobs that will benefit our residents, our schools, and improve our quality of living.

In light of the most recent confusion over our zoning code, I am appointing a special committee to evaluate our zoning code relative to the township zoning code. We are also meeting with representatives of the Pickerington Local School District to discuss “make whole” provisions on future Tax Increment Financing districts. Since CEDAs and JEDDs are mechanisms created by state statue, we would like to recommend that your township attorney and the city attorney meet to review CEDA and JEDD options. Please contact us to let us know when your attorney is available. The City of Pickerington has worked to achieve balanced growth in the past and is committed to continuing to do so in the future. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Randall Hughes
Mayor
Cc: Pickerington Local School Board City of Pickerington Council Members (7)

This concludes the Mayors letter.