320 Nelson Street, P.O. Box 778, Tiffin, OH 44883
Phone (419) 448-3200 Fax (419) 447-3274
General E-Mail: adtrib@bright.net
Newsroom E-Mail: atnews@bright.net

Bad old days won't be missed

Remember when the owner of Gay Lanes sought to annex it into Tiffin -- in order to get reasonable fire insurance rates -- and had to endure a legal battle before succeeding?

Those were the bad old days.

Any attempt at annexation was the signal for a fight.

The good new days became a step closer Tuesday night. In coming weeks they will arrive.

By then, in addition to the City of Tiffin's approval of long-awaited agreements on annexation and sewer service, they will have been accepted by the trustees of Clinton, Eden and Hopewell townships.

The agreements will enhance development efforts involving industry, commerce and housing.

They will allow the city to grow without turmoil.

At the same time they 1) will allow some township residents to receive sewer service without immediate annexation and 2) protect township governments from instant drops in revenue when annexations occur.

This is compromise.

The officials of all the entities involved have abandoned their hard-line stances of the not-too-distant past.

There still is much work to be done. If the expectations of development are accurate, planning is needed so that the development does not create new problems with traffic, access, emergency services, drainage and availability of other services.

But the agreements now coming into being should make all those jobs easier.

The approach in the good new days is preferable to that of years past.

Top of Page