Council takes final step to pitch levies to voters

2/7/2002

DELTA - Village council took the second and final step Monday night to ask voters for more money for fire protection and recreation on the May 7 ballot.

Council member Dan Miller cast the lone opposing vote in the 5-1 decisions for two 0.5-mill replacement fire levies and one 0.5-mill replacement recreation levy, as he had on the first step last month. All are five-year levy requests.

One fire and emergency levy brings in just more than $10,000 a year now and the other raises $13,700. They would each raise $21,300 a year if replacement issues pass. That would mean an additional $18,900 for fire and emergency funds.

The recreation levy collects a little more than $10,000 annually now and would go to $21,300 if a replacement levy passes. Mr. Miller has said he prefers a renewal that would keep taxes the same instead of increasing them.

If all three replacement levies would pass, it would cost an additional $29 a year to the owner of a $100,000 house.

Each levy would cost such a property owner $15.75 a year, for a total of $47.25. Such a property owner is now billed $13.14 for the two fire levies and $4.96 for the recreation levy, a total of $18.10. All of the levies expire at the end of the year.

The levies all passed overwhelmingly in November, 1997, when they were renewals and did not increase taxes. The fire levies passed 803-177 and 732-200 at the time and the recreation levy passed 675-339.

There are 1,562 registered voters in Delta.

Also Monday, council:

w Decided by a 5-1 vote to borrow $375,000 from the Ohio Water Development Authority to hire Poggemeyer Design Group, Inc., of Bowling Green, for engineering work on a water treatment plant.

The village plans to build the plant on County Road H in York Township, across from the present plant, at a cost of $3.9 million. The water authority loan comes at 5.65 percent annual interest.

Mr. Miller cast the “no” vote, saying he did not think council needed to approve the motion as emergency legislation at the first meeting where it was heard publicly, according to Gary Baker, village administrator.

w Agreed to send a letter from the township attorney to Adelphia Cable asking for a contract with the cable television provider.

The last contract with a predecessor of Adelphia expired about five years ago and years of negotiations have been fruitless, Mr. Baker said.

He estimated Adelphia has 700 subscribers in the village. It has been paying the village $5,000 a year, but the village wants more.