Canfield officials differ on merging city, twp.

Some officials wonder whether funding a study is money well-spent.

By JEANNE STARMACK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

CANFIELD — City council gave its unanimous endorsement to studying whether the city should merge with Canfield Township.

As for the township trustees — well, it depends on whom you talk to.

They aren’t sure if the issue will be on their agenda for their Monday meeting.

But two of them, Randy Brashen and Paul Moracco, told city and township residents who are pushing for a study that they would like to talk with the city about it. The third trustee, Bill Reese, told those same residents at the trustees’ August meeting that he is against “dissolving the township.”

He said Wednesday in a phone interview after the city council meeting that he is not in favor of funding a study.

The reason, he said, has to do with a $20,000 study from Ball State University several years ago, which was supposed to recommend community improvements. He said the study recommended improvements for the city but ignored the township. The township gave $5,000 toward that study, which, Reese said, was a waste.

Brashen, who attended the city council meeting Wednesday, said he also is hesitant about spending money on a study.

“I’m willing to sit down and talk,” Brashen said. “I don’t know how much I’m willing to spend.”

Moracco, reached after the meeting, said he is in favor of a study on pros and cons of a merger, as long as an independent agency does it.

How residents feel

A handful of city and township residents approached council and trustees in recent months about a study, citing concerns that the township is shrinking as developers push for annexations to the city so they can get sewer and water services for their land.

To keep its status, a township must have 25 square miles of land or be fiscally solvent, Moracco said. Though the township does not meet the land requirement anymore, it is solvent, he said. The township now has about 21 or 22 square miles, he said.

Marie Cartwright, a township resident who wants a study, has questioned what would happen if the township “couldn’t be a township anymore.”

Other township and city residents said a combination of services would be more efficient.

“You need to combine things. We have too many jurisdictions in too many places,” said city resident Jack Walter.

“If they could do a simple merger, it could make our government more efficient, and it should be more economical,” said township resident Claire Glove, who also pointed out the city and township are already served by one fire district.

Like city police force

Others said the city’s police force is a plus, and they would not want to lose it. The township contracts with the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department.

“The cops are around my house all the time,” said city resident Chhaya Joshi, who appreciates those patrols. Walter questioned whether a merged entity would be ready to bear the cost of a police department.

Other questions arose about taxes, with township residents wary of the city’s 1 percent income tax.

Joshi said she would welcome not having to pay the tax.

Township resident Andrea Groubert said she also would not want to pay the city’s tax. “I live on a huge horse farm, so my taxes are already enormous,” she said. She also was wary about what zoning changes would be in store.

Another resident, Steven Held, who lives in the city, said eliminating wells and septic systems would mean a healthier lifestyle for a merged entity.

City Manager Charles Tieche said a merger, whatever form it would take, would be up to voters.

Voters won the city its independence from the township in 1992, when they voted to secede, he said. The city and the township were separate entities, but the township was able to tax city residents.

starmack@vindy.com