A request to annex a property to the village of Greenfield was put on hold by Highland County Commissioners until next week after Madison Township trustees indicated that they were not in favor of the annexation.
A hearing on the annexation was scheduled for Wednesday’s meeting, at which Betty Bishop, who filed the request on behalf of Sheila and Charles Beechler, was present, as was Greenfield City Manager Ron Coffey.
Bishop, a former Hillsboro mayor and former city manager of Greenfield, summarized the annexation process, saying that the property in question had been one of two properties previously requested. The first was annexed, but the second included a typo in the address. So, she said, the process was started again for that property in order to correct the error.
She added, “The Beechlers have gone overboard to make sure we have everyone notified, and no one should be unaware that it’s happening.”
Coffey told commissioners that Greenfield is “still supportive and still offering to provide all of the basic services needed for annexation.”
But Commissioner Shane Wilkin said that commissioners had received notification from the Madison Township Trustees that they were not in favor of the annexation. As this notification was recent, the commissioners had not yet received in writing a reason for their opposition.
Wilkin said he discussed the matter with Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins and said that it would be best to postpone the matter a week until all parties could be present for discussion.
Wilkin said, “This is similar to the eminent domain issue, which got worked out once everyone was here.”
Coffey told commissioners that it “seems logical to get input from both sides on this issue.”
Bishop told commissioners that during the first request for annexation of the property, there were no objections. She added that this was the first she has heard of any objections.
In other business, Wilkin discussed a meeting he attended in Columbus, where the loss of the managed care organization (MCO) funds was a topic.
The Times-Gazette previously reported that recent changes will no longer permit the county to impose sales taxes on MCOs, potentially costing the county as much as $800,000.
Wilkin said that a temporary fix is being considered, but that there are no plans currently in place for the long-term.
“The word I’m getting is maybe a brief ‘wean you off of it’ (period), but nothing lasting,” he said.
Wilkin also said that the revised budgets from county departments, as a result of the MCO change, are due to the commissioners office on Oct. 7.
Also on Wednesday, Commissioner Tom Horst said that there is a “little change” on the decking of the porch for the ramp that is to be added to the administration building. He said that construction on that project is set to begin next Monday.
He also said that due to that construction, the administration building’s front door will be unusable early next week.
Commissioners said that improvements to the courthouse and the Hi-Tec Center are continuing. The Hi-Tec Center’s renovations “should be done by the end of the week,” Horst said.
Finally, commissioners passed a resolution vacating an unnamed alley in Jackson Township, after conducting a viewing of the alley.
