Metro Toledo water district debate slated

Toledo, Sylvania mayors’ talk to be streamed live

4/5/2017

Sylvania Mayor Craig Stough, left, and Toledo's Paula Hicks-Hudson.

THE BLADE
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Two of the main figures involved in the debate to form a regional water district under state law for Toledo and its eight water customers will participate in a live Internet discussion Thursday with The Blade editorial board.

Toledo Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson and Sylvania Mayor Craig Stough will take questions and discuss the issue at 1 p.m. It will be streamed live on toledoblade.com. It also will be recorded and replayed at 9 p.m. on Buckeye Broadband’s community channel 69.

Leaders from Toledo and the eight water customers, which includes Sylvania, have for months been meeting to strike a deal that would equalize water rates. The group reached consensus last month at a Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments’ regional water planning committee meeting to bring in a neutral party to facilitate discussions.

Representatives of Toledo, Maumee, Perrysburg, Sylvania, Lucas County, Fulton County, Whitehouse, Mon- roe County, and the Northwestern Water and Sewer District voted unanimously to find a facilitator to work with the committee’s executive board. The end goal is to craft a regional water district, which is a political subdivision under Ohio law, with an appointed governing board and water rate structure that satisfies all parties.

Wendy Gramza, president of the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce, and Marc Stockwell, the group’s chairman, offered last month to find and pay for a consultant to help them.