January 20, 1999
Mayor says township was paid in full
By David Crawford
Staff Writer
Tiffin Mayor Bernie Hohman is ''disappointed'' that the Hopewell Township Trustees did not wait to speak with him before saying that the city reneged on an annexation agreement.
He said the payment was less than the $50,000 expected by township trustees because the city has not annexed the complete parcel of land covered by their revenue sharing agreement.
''It was not our intent to short the township, we are following the agreement. We have not annexed the final portion of land in the area covered by the agreement,'' Hohman said.
After speaking with the mayor Tuesday, two of the trustees backed off their Monday statements about the city not following the agreement.
Trustee Leonard Wilson said he was not aware a final 172-foot section had not been annexed.
''If it hasn't, then I can understand why this year's check was a little short,'' Wilson said.
Trustee Richard Gosche also spoke with Hohman Tuesday night.
''The mayor was within the bounds of the agreement. We just had a misunderstanding about the Ley property.'' said Gosche.
Gosche said the check the township received was within the bounds of the agreement.
The third trustee, James Clouse, said he talked to the mayor and cleared the air.
The May 1997 revenue-sharing agreement allowed the city to annex a section of land bordered by Hopewell Avenue on the east, near TR 54 on the south, SR 18 on the west and the northern edge of private property owned by Steven Ley.
Over the past two years, the city has annexed the complete section of land south of West Market to near TR 54. It also has annexed land north of Market except for the Ley property.
It was the Ley property the trustees thought had been annexed.
Steven Ley said his property is not a part of Tiffin. His eastern property line serves as the western city limit.
The city is to make 10 annual payments to the township. The payments are based on a rate of $6.46 for each total frontage foot annexed by the city.
In 1997, the city annexed 1,918.53 frontage feet. Therefore the township received a payment of $12,393.70.
In 1998, the city annexed another 5,772.69 feet. This brought the total number of annexed frontage feet to 7,691.22. Based on this total, Hopewell Township received a check for $49,685.28.
If the city would annex the complete section of land, the agreement stipulates that Hopewell Township would receive the maximum annual payment of $50,000.
Hohman said if the city would annex the final 172 feet within the 10-year time period, then payments to Hopewell township would be adjusted accordingly.
He said that he was at the Martin Luther King Day celebration Monday night when a Hopewell Trustee called his home. By the time Hohman returned home and called the township house, the Monday meeting was over.