Water supply dispute grows

'Cooler heads will prevail,' an Austintown trustee says.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Battle lines are being forged in the ongoing saga over the water supplier to two townships.
"I plan to propose a resolution at the regular meeting [today] to ask Aqua Ohio to submit a proposal to supply water to all of Boardman Township," said Trustee Kathy Miller.
Part of the township receives water through the private water supplier, while the remainder of its residents are Youngstown water customers.
Trustees in Boardman and Austintown met this week with Columbus attorneys who specialize in annexation issues.
The total legal bill for the consultation was 3,400, split evenly between the two townships.
The township learned about options to avoid annexation by Youngstown, Miller said.
The meeting was spawned when the city, which supplies water to parts of Boardman and all of Austintown, commissioned a study of its water system.
Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams repeatedly has said it's not the city's goal to annex the townships.
JEDD in planning
The study is ongoing and the results will advise the city how its water distribution system could be a benefit in the formation of Joint Economic Development Districts with surrounding communities, the mayor said.
"For the 483rd time, we're not considering annexation based on water use," Williams said Wednesday. "We want our region to grow, and this can and should be done through cooperation and not annexation."
The JEDD study will propose change, he said, "but it will be change for the better."
The lawyers told trustees that incorporation, formation of a water district or a legal battle over ownership of the waterlines are among their options to avoid annexation by the city.
"We're getting prepared so that we will be on the offensive, not on the defensive, if there is an actual annexation attempt," Miller said.
The townships are being responsible by using the services of "competent legal counsel," Williams said.
As a home-rule township, Boardman has the option of forming its own water district. That's where Aqua would come in.
Austintown, however, isn't a home-rule township, so it doesn't have the option of forming a water district on its own.
"Our entire township is supplied by the city of Youngstown," Austintown Trustee David Ditzler said.
He said the communities just want to know what their options are.
"We just want to be prepared for what could potentially happen so we're not caught completely off-guard," Ditzler said.
What's expected
He thinks the two townships and Youngstown will be able to sit down and work out a solution that's amenable to all.
Youngstown has a good product and is well below its full capacity of customers, he said. Perhaps a JEDD could be developed that would help the city secure additional customers, thereby increasing revenue without harming the townships, Ditzler said.
"I believe cooler heads will prevail," he added.
The city wants a partnership with the townships, Williams said.
"Anyone looking for fireworks from the city of Youngstown won't find any," he said. "We look forward to constructive discussions."
If Boardman decides to pursue Aqua as its sole water supplier, the private water company would have to get approval from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to increase its area, Miller said.
Even so, there's still the issue of waterlines through which Boardman customers get Youngstown water.
A Mahoning County prosecutor's opinion released earlier this year said the city owns the waterlines and water towers.
But Miller said she's spoken with other attorneys who don't share that view.
Miller said a proposal from Aqua would include the projected water rates the company would expect to charge township customers.
Even if the rates are higher than the city's water rates, she reasons, township residents may prefer paying that to paying the city's income tax, which is currently 2.75 percent, the highest in Ohio.
The lines and towers are owned by the city and aren't for sale, Williams said. It would be cost prohibitive for Aqua Ohio to build its own lines and towers in Boardman, he added.
CONTRIBUTOR: David Skolnick, city hall reporter