City Manager Paul Lolli said the city is required to pass legislation signaling its consent to the annexation, a service ordinance, and a zoning buffers ordinance within 20 days of the filing of the petition to then allow the Board of County Commissioners to approve the annexation request.
While the city owns properties outside of its corporate boundaries, an annexation petition was filed to bring all of the properties in question within the municipal boundaries of Middletown, Lolli said during Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
The city will be responsible for all services to the annexed land, including police, fire and public works, Lolli said.
Council member Rodney Muterspaw asked Lolli if the city has any immediate plans to annex residential properties in Lemon Twp. Lolli said that wasn’t part of the city’s strategy.
Mayor Nicole Condrey said she hopes the city never annexes the portion of the township where the Creekwood Village trailer park is located. She said that area is “very low income” and would increase the need for city services.
Council member Tal Moon said he was “very leery and cautious” about annexing residential properties.
Members also approved legislation that will allow the city to purchase a replacement generator from Glenwood Electric for the City Building. The generator will cost $690,000, and of that, $516,000 will be covered by an Ohio EMA grant, Lolli said.
Still, the city is spending $174,000, or $117,000 more than it originally planned.
When the city received its first generator proposal from a different company in 2021, the cost estimate was $573,521 with 90%, or $516,087, covered by the grant. The city’s share was $57,343.
In March 2022, City Council approved a contract with Sidewinder Electric for the replacement of the City Building’s generator, according to the staff report. But, at the time, the city was waiting to hear from Ohio EMA on the status of its grant application for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) offered through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
With the grant application pending, the city notified Sidewinder Electric not to install the generator until grant awards were announced.
Five months later, the city was notified it was awarded the grant and the grant agreement was received on Aug. 31, 2022, according to city records. But the signed agreement and implementation documents were not returned to the city until Oct. 25, 2022, according to the staff report.
The documents contained specific contract provisions that needed to be incorporated in the city’s contract documents. The revisions were reviewed by the city’s law department, and in March 2023, Sidewinder Electric notified the city it was unable to honor the cost proposal that was submitted in 2022.
The legislation was an emergency because grant funds have an expiration date of Aug. 5, 2024, Lolli said.
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