PERRY TWP. Residents seek to annex into Salem

The city is willing to pay for more than half the cost of sewer-line installation.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- Nearly 75 Perry Township homeowners are seeking annexation into Salem so they can receive municipal sewer service.
The homeowners filed a petition recently, asking Columbiana County commissioners to approve the annexation proposal.
Commissioners will set a hearing in coming weeks to gather information about the matter.
The property proposed for annexation consists of about 33 acres and lies along North Lincoln Avenue near 15th Street, northeast of the city.
The area is a residential section of Perry Township now served by septic systems.
Many of the decades-old systems are failing, creating a potential for environmental and health risks.
The offer: The city has proposed a deal in which it will install sewer lines and use its own funds to pay for more than half the cost, provided affected homeowners annex into the city. Tie-in to the municipal system would be mandatory.
Homeowners in the affected area will be assessed $5,000 to help pay for the project.
The city would allow them to pay off the assessment over 20 years at 6 percent interest.
The need for municipal sewer service and the city's offer to help pay for it prompted dozens of other homeowners in the same area earlier this year to apply for and receive the county's permission to annex into Salem.
The original annexation, approved by commissioners in July, involved about 184 acres containing nearly 180 homes.
What happened: Those now seeking annexation were left out of the original annexation bid because they or their neighbors initially opposed the proposal. Opponents didn't want to be part of Salem or believed they didn't need municipal sewer service.
But in light of the original 184 acres' being annexed, many of the opponents have changed their minds.
Cost of providing sewer service to the 184 acres originally annexed was estimated at about $1.2 million.
If the additional 33 acres is added to the project, the cost could increase to about $1.5 million, said Don Weingart, city utilities superintendent.