St. Albans Township/Alexandria Merger Commission Meeting

Agenda/Minutes 4/2/25

1. Call to order, pledge of allegiance

Chairperson Carianne Meng calls to Order the St. Albans Township/Alexandria Merger Commission Meeting of April 2, 2025 at 7:00PM.

2. Committee Member Roll Call:  

Baer: Present / Not Present 

Barnes: Present /Not Present 

Burton: Present /Not Present

Lodder: Present / Not Present

Meng: Present / Not Present 

Robertson: Present / Not Present 

Schiller: Present / Not Present 

Taylor: Present / Not Present

Thorpe: Present / Not Present  

Zanks: Present / Not Present 

Additional Attendees:

Zac Walker, Stan Robinson, Jean Morrison, Mitch Peters, Bruce Lane, Brian Hammond, Cheryle Hall, Tad VanNess

3. Review and Approval of Minutes

Minutes from St. Albans Township/Alexandria Merger Commission Meeting 3/19/25

Baer made a motion; seconded by Lodder, to approve the 3/19/25 minutes. All in favor?

Chair declares motion failed / carried. 

4. Old Business 

Next meeting date: April 16 at 7PM.

County Commissioner Meeting Report: Meeting went well; receptive and they had questions for the Commission. They were impressed with the amount of time and research the Commission has put forth. They were receptive to knowing that the two (former) entities plan to work together. Compliance Officer Ken Oswalt brought up expedited type 2 annexation (ORC 709.023) which would allow properties adjacent to the new village to annex into the new village to benefit from village services.

Electric aggregation – if this ballot measure were to fail in the Township this spring, residents of the new Village (post merge) can opt into the aggregation.

Commissioner Black was very complimentary to the Commission and its work.

Discussion of Plank Law Responses and current Merger Condition draft:
-Barnes to verify floodplain/platting information for the current Village

5. New Business


General Updates:

Future Timeline for Approval for Ballot

Each member of the Commission will need to have a statement/report that is read into the minutes that summarizes why they voted the way they voted about putting the merger on the ballot.

Target date: Wednesday, April 16 is the latest date for lawyered conditions to be in the Commission Members’ hands

Target date: Wednesday, May 7 is our deadline to have the Commission Decision about whether to put the merger on the ballot. We will meet on this date at 7PM. STATEMENT TEMPLATE HERE.

6. Citizen Comments (3-minute time limit)

Mitch Peters re: roads and the reactions of the Commissioners

Mitch Peters re: rainy-day fund

7. Meeting Announcements
Next meeting is April 16 at 7PM at the St. Albans Firehouse Meeting Room

8. Adjournment
Lodder made a motion; Robertson seconded by to adjourn.
All in favor? Chair declares motion carried / failed. 

Chairperson Meng declares the meeting adjourned at 8:33PM.