Meeting Minutes

St. Albans Township/Village of Alexandria Merger Commission

February 21, 2024

Present: Jeff Baer, Sean Barnes, Dawn Burton, Ann Lodder, Cari Meng, Elaine Robertson, Dean Schiller,

Absent: Stephanie Taylor, Craig Thorpe, Ben Zanks

Attendees: Pam Hills, Andrew Bottar-Dillen, David Lees, Bruce Lane, Jean Morrison, Dave Dicks, Gregg Williams, Mike Washington, Steve Meisel, Anita McCoy, Mike Miller

The fourth meeting of the Merger Commission was called to order at 7:01 p.m.

Old Business: None

New Business:

Finance Committee: Met with Chief Michael Thiesen of the St. Albans Fire Department regarding

finances. Currently the fire department is the largest expenditure in the township and village and

residents of both pay for it. There is a 10 mil replacement levy on the March ballot and two levies will drop off.

Dean Schiller requested the 1% Earned Income Tax figures for Alexandria from RITA.

2020=$7,109,000; 2021=15,617,000; 2022=15,415.000. He is waiting for data from the School

District and County Auditor.

Ann Lodder reported that she had left a message for Bernie Brush, a member of the

Pataskala/Lima Township merger commission in 1996 and placed a records request with the City

of Pataskala for the merger documents.

Action Items for March:

1. Creating a calculation formula for residents to calculate their cost
2. Obtaining Pataskala documents
3. Talk to Bernie Brush
4. Verify any outstanding village and township loans
5. Create combined village/township asset document

Services Committee: Dawn Burton reported that Stephanie Taylor had met with the Northridge

Schools Superintendent. The district is watching population growth and land sales. While not funded by the township or village, growth in those 2 areas affects the schools.

Other services that will be looked at by the committee include Fire, EMS, Police, Roads, Water &

Sewer and Recreation.

Action Items for March:

1. Look at Roads; call county engineer
2. Sean will be looking at Water & Sewer; waiting on 208 plan to be settled to determine where services will be coming from; JAG agreement

Zoning Committee: Jeff Baer is looking at Pataskala’s gun overlay but does not have one finalized yet.

Sean Barnes reported that Pataskala/Lima based their zoning off the pre-merger conditions and then the village moved forward crafting a new zoning resolution. Pataskala has a gun discharge area and primary/secondary road designation played a roll in it (Pataskala Order 505.11(c).

Action Items for March:

1. Craft conditions for merger and look at issues where municipality trumps township and fix discrepancies
2. Look in Pataskala’s Right to Farm Initiative

General: Sean Barnes clarified the timeline laid out in ORC 709.462(c) that the conditions for merger need to be finalized by August 2024 and the vote needs to happen by November 2025 general election.

Ann Lodder reported that she sent an email to the village and township advising them that an attorney will be consulted and the cost will be shared by the 2 entities.

The Commission will start crafting merger conditions in March and begin submitting them to a lawyer.

Citizen Comments: Andrew Bottar-Dillen thanked the committee for their work.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, March 20, at 7 p.m.

Sean Barnes made a motion to adjourn; Ann Lodder seconded

Meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.

Submitted by Ann Lodder

Secretary, Merger Commission