Residents oppose FR annexation

Fort Recovery village council heard input Monday night from residents who do not want to be annexed into the village.
The Sharpsburg Road residents would prefer not to be part of the annexation of land east of Ohio 49 and south of Sharpsburg Road, which the village wants to annex to prevent a pocket of non-village land from forming between the village and  future development.
The annexation involves 12 properties, and seven owners have said they are in favor of the annexation.
Pockets like the one Fort Recovery wants to avoid create a “logistic nightmare,” village administrator Randy Diller said. It complicates utilities, road maintenance and other services only available to village residents.
“I’m still struggling to understand what we would benefit from being annexed into town,” Dillan Schulze told the council.
Benefits include the option to get village utilities, being within police jurisdiction, brush and leaf pickup and being able to take advantage of lower natural gas aggregation prices, Diller said.
“We don’t even know what we want to do with the place yet,” said Schulze, who along with his wife Paige has lived at his property for less than a year. “And if we get annexed in, we’re limiting what we can do with that land.”
Laverne and Jane Weitzel have lived on Sharpsburg Road for 33 years, though, and said they have been fine not being part of the village.
“After 33 years of being out there on my own, what can any of you guys offer me that I haven’t been able to live without?” Laverne Weitzel asked.
Jane Weitzel noted property taxes would increase, and they might encounter another expense if sidewalks are put in along their property.
“You guys are just in a tough situation there for the town to grow,” mayor Roger Broerman told the Sharpsburg Road residents.
“We just want to know how we’re hindering the town from growing,” Paige Schulze told council.
Diller reminded the residents that while the village does plan to pursue annexation, the residents will get their chance to speak at a hearing set by Mercer County Commissioners, who will make the decision.
Council also:
•Unanimously passed an ordinance authorizing a mutual aid agreement with St. Henry, Coldwater and Rockford, Ohio, police departments.
•Unanimously passed a resolution to enter a regional water study. At the very least, this study will give the village information about potential sites for future wells, Diller said. An application for the study has not yet been sent to the state.
•Heard from Diller that Tom’s Construction began work Monday on the village’s sewer lagoons to improve hydraulics and he expects the street overlay project to begin this week.