AUSTINTOWN Trustees to tackle strip club law, levy

Trustees say they would recall laid-off employees if the levy is approved.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Strip clubs and tax levies are expected to be among the items on the agenda at the next township trustees meeting.
Trustees are expected to pass a resolution at their meeting Monday asking the Mahoning County auditor to determine how much money would be generated by a 2.5-mill continuing levy. That's the first step toward placing the levy on the November ballot.
They'll also likely vote Monday to rescind the township's strip club resolution, which is set to appear on the November ballot. The resolution will be removed from the ballot if it is rescinded.
A federal appeals court recently ruled that a similar resolution was unconstitutional. Trustees said they'll work to create a resolution that meets court and constitutional requirements.
"We have to do things right," said Trustee Bo Pritchard, adding that trustees believe they have good reason to regulate strip clubs. "As much as we're reluctant to have strip clubs, we don't want whorehouses."
Levy
Township Administrator Michael Dockry, meanwhile, said trustees could approve the second and final resolution Aug. 11 needed to place a continuing levy on the ballot. He added that trustees also will decide Aug. 11 how the additional tax revenue would be used if the levy is approved.
The levy will benefit either only the police department or both the police and fire departments, Trustee Bo Pritchard said.
Township officials have said that without budget cuts, the township will have a $1.2 million deficit at the end of the year. Several township employees have been laid off in an effort to save money.
Trustees are planning to transfer money from the township general fund to the police and fire departments this year so the departments can pay their bills. Police are set to receive $970,000, and the fire department is expected to receive $296,000.
Pritchard said that if a levy is approved for the police department, trustees will have more general fund money to transfer to the fire department. He said that trustees want to recall firefighters who have been laid off.
"We just don't feel safe without them," he said.
Pritchard added that approval of the levy would allow trustees to re-open station No. 4 on South Turner Road, which was closed in April to save money.
Trustee David Ditzler also said that approval of a levy would allow trustees to recall laid-off police and restart the police department's juvenile diversion program.
The township levy is expected to be one of three tax issues on the township ballot in November. The school board is set to place a five-year, 5.9-mill levy and a 27-year, 2.9-mill bond issue on the ballot.
Pritchard said trustees had no choice but to put a levy on the ballot.
"We're duty-bound to put on what we think is necessary," he said. "I think the school board is charged with the same thing.
"If we're all on at the same time, it's because we all see no alternative," Pritchard said.
Strip clubs
Trustees also believe they have little choice but to rescind the strip club resolution. The county prosecutor's office recommended the trustees rescind the resolution after the court ruled in June that a similar strip club resolution from the Cincinnati area was unconstitutional.
The Austintown resolution, approved last September, requires strip club owners, strippers and other club employees to get a license to work in the township. Local residents and representatives of The Babylon club had submitted petitions to the board of elections to place the resolution on the ballot.
A section in both the Austintown and Cincinnati-area resolutions states that a club could seek "prompt judicial review" of a township's decision not to issue a license. Neither resolution, however, defined "prompt."
The court stated that as a result, the review process could take too long and restrict a club's right to be open.
hill@vindy.com