Salem annexation hits snags

By D.A. WILKINSON

wilkinson@vindy.com

SALEM

Mayor Jerry Wolford will try again tonight to get enough votes from city council to block a proposed referendum over an annexation to the city.

Wolford had hoped to get three readings in separate meetings Wednesday night, today and Friday.

The mayor said, “We’ll try again tomorrow.”

Wolford previously asked several landowners in Perry Township in Columbiana County and Green Township in Mahoning County to be annexed into the city. The properties total about 99 acres located on the west side of U.S. Route 62, north of the Route 62 bypass, and would be used for development to the city.

Green Township trustees filed a lawsuit against the Columbiana County commissioners, who approved the annexation. Judge David Tobin ruled in favor of the commissioners.

Because of a clerical error, the final ordinance to complete the annexation did not have an emergency clause that would have made the annexation go into effect after passage. Instead, it will go into effect after 30 days from the court ruling.

Petitions have been circulated in order to repeal the annexation. William Knepper of Salem, who has been circulating the petitions, has not returned calls. The petitions would need valid signatures from voters equal to 10 percent of the votes in the last governor’s race in the county, or 417 valid voters, to get on the November ballot. The group obtained a total of 977 signatures.

Wolford said that adding the emergency clause would stop the referendum.

But because of the recent resignation of a council member, there are only six council members. Councilman David Nestic and Brian Whitehill voted against it. Five members were needed for passage.

Nestic and Whitehill said they voted against the measure to allow people to have their say.

In other action, council gave first reading to allow the city to collect a 1 percent income tax for people who live in Salem but work elsewhere.

Wolford had hoped to get it approved as an emergency measure.