Salem gets go-ahead to annex 99 acres

By D.a. Wilkinson

LISBON — The city of Salem now has room to grow.

Columbiana County commissioners unanimously approved the annexation of 99 acres to the city Wednesday.

Salem Mayor Jerry Wolford had acted as the agent for the property owners in Perry Township in Columbiana County and Green Township in Mahoning County.

The properties are located on the west side of U.S. Route 62 north of the Route 62 bypass.

Wolford said most of the property is undeveloped.

A key property owner, Robert D. McCluggage, had tried to back out of the plan, and Wolford and Commissioner Jim Hoppel said the proposal might be dead. McCluggage’s land was needed to connect Perry Township to Mahoning County.

But Penny Traina, the president of the commissioners, said that, “If the petition [for annexation] meets all the statutory requirements, the board is required by law to accept it.”

Based on that advice from the Columbiana County prosecutor’s Office, the commissioners approved it.

Columbiana County Engineer Bert Dawson also had looked at the plan and said all the requirements were met.

The County Commissioners Association of Ohio also reviewed the proposal and agreed with the county.

Wolford filed the request under a portion of state law that did not require a public hearing with public comments.

Kevin Eckmeyer of Eck’s Racing Inc. of Atwater, Ohio, was at the hearing and was not pleased with the annexation.

He filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court against the Quaker City Raceway, which is owned by Dan Swindell. Eckmeyer has agreed to buy the racetrack for $1.5 million. He is seeking in excess of $25,000 in the lawsuit.

But Wolford said the track is not involved in the annexation, though other land owned by Swindell is involved.

The commissioners told Eckmeyer that he legally did not have a say in the annexation because he doesn’t own any of the land.

wilkinson@vindy.com