COLUMBIANA COUNTY Land-use study remains in question

The adviser for the project may leave or retire.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- A land-use study for Columbiana County is short of money, volunteers and possibly its adviser.
The committee plans to meet tonight to discuss recruitment and training of volunteers, its vision statement, and submission of a small grant that would help pay for materials and training of the volunteers.
But the question is whether the study will get done at all, according to Ernest Oelker, an Ohio State University Extension Agent who works in the county.
The study would be an update of one done in 1996 by Youngstown State University. It will look at the environment, land use, facilities and infrastructure, and economic development. Volunteers would gather input on what county residents want to see, and where.
Oelker, who would serve as the adviser to the project, said the plan "is not a regulatory document."
The process calls for the plan to be completed in 2007.
"There is a lot of work to be done," said Oelker.
Because voters defeated a 0.5 percent sales tax last November, the county commissioners have not provided about $175,000 needed to keep the office open.
May ballot?
It's likely the commissioners will put the tax back on the May ballot.
The extension office will stay open until after the vote. It's operating on remaining money as it tries to launch a fund-raising drive.
If the tax passes, Oelker said, the state may advance money to keep the office open in 2006 if the commissioners repay it when they get tax receipts in 2007.
If the tax fails, Oelker said he will likely retire or go work in another county.
There are about 30 volunteers involved so far, including leaders of each of the four committees. But the plan requires about 100 more volunteers to help gather information.
Oelker said he has told the volunteers that they know more community leaders who should be willing to serve.
"I think there are a lot of people who are waiting to see if it [the study] is going to happen," Oelker said.
Even if the study is done by the existing committee members, without wide interest, it will "sit on the shelf like the study done by YSU," Oelker added.
$1.8M balance
County officials recently announced that the county ended 2005 with a $1.8 million balance.
Sean Logan, the chairman of the commissioners who is also involved with the study, said that extra money would not result in funding for the extension service. The county will still be more than $1 million short of what it needs to operate this year.
The commissioners did not collect the 0.5 percent sales tax from June 1999 through December 2000. Once the tax was collected again, Logan said, "It took three years to make that up."
wilkinson@vindy.com