(PHOTO BY JESSE DAVIS / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
FULL HOUSE … The chambers of the Delta Village Council are filled as council members discuss and hear public comments on the potential enforcement of previously unenforced annexation laws in the village.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
A large crowd of people now facing the imminent or future risk of being annexed into Delta spurred the proposal of changes to current legal triggers for annexation during the most recent Delta Village Council meeting.
Among the roughly two dozen attendees – the majority of which were there for the annexation issue – was Emily Callahan. She told the council she was attending to share her and her husband’s “great disinterest” in being annexed.
“Joining the village would mean increased property and income taxes and sewer rates on top of water rates we already pay.”
“If and when our septic system fails, we have the cost to reroute our sewer lines to the city and go through the abandonment process to decommission our system.”
“That’s thousands of dollars – most of which are annually – of unnecessary and unexpected expense for someone who intentionally purchased in the township,” Callahan said.
The central issues were previously unenforced laws passed in 1996 requiring anyone who used either the village’s water or sewer service to “exert all efforts to obtain annexation of his or her property, including signing an annexation petition.”
According to Callahan, her family wouldn’t have moved into their home – in the township they intentionally chose – if they thought there were “strings attached,” and that joining the village doesn’t “offer any objective advantage.”
“And further, it’s a concept that we didn’t vote on, being proposed by a council we didn’t elect, in a village that we’re not part of, which feels like an unfair power play between township and village,” she said.
Councilman Robert Shirer said the situation offered the “opportunity to update some old legislation on our books.”
He offered the compromise of passing a change to the legislation which would trigger annexation for a property only if the resident is using both water and sewer services from the village, rather than just one.
“If you’re getting all services from the village, you’re part of the village at that point,” Shirer said.
He also recommended the grandfathering of one of the properties while also declining to support an exemption for a property whose resident already received water service from the village and signed a contract last month which included language indicating annexation as a requirement.
The property is contiguous with the Delta Acres development property, which is within current village limits.
Shirer said the only options were to address the annexation issue now or to continue pretending the rule didn’t exist and not enforce it, a choice which could be used by larger commercial entities down the road.
“Yes, we are dealing with it now, and it’s going to affect people, and it sucks, and certain people are going to be affected more than others, and I am sorry. That is what it is,” he said.
With few comments from other council members and nothing in disagreement with Shirer, Law Director Kevin Heban was directed to prepare the language for them to vote on the proposed changes at the council’s next meeting.
The council also approved on first reading an ordinance approving an annexation requested by Ryan Woodring and a resolution indicating that once annexed he would be provided with utilities services and police protection.
After the items are given final passage, the documents will be forwarded to the county, which will then come back for a final approval by the council.
The items are normally supposed to be passed within 20 days of the village receiving an annexation request, but it will be delayed due to the absence of council members Daphne Demaline and Chad Johnson at the meeting, which did not leave the council with the required five votes to pass an item on an emergency basis.
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES
Council members voted to approve the new job descriptions for the unified Department of Public Utilities, the creation of which they also approved on final reading.
The new department is a merger of the former water and wastewater departments. The wastewater department has had no employees for some time, with water employees forced to cover double duty.
Under the new job descriptions, the now-DPU employees will continue operating both facilities under an expanded definition of work.
They will be receiving either back pay or a bonus – the amount of which has not yet been determined – for the wastewater work they have been performing.
The council will next tackle the pay schedule for the positions, which is expected to provide a raise of up to 7 percent due to the additional work.
DELTA RECREATION COUNCIL
The council approved a request from Angela Riley with the Delta Recreation Council to allow the group to have a fundraiser at the park in early October.
The “Beer, Boots, and BBQ” event will feature country music, pulled pork, and possibly “a bull riding event,” according to Riley.
The DRC has previously used its funds to buy benches for the park and to assist with the Delta Chicken Festival. Their future plans include handicap-accessible swings, new playground equipment, new picnic tables, and new trash cans.
OTHER BUSINESS
The council selected Funks Concrete to complete repairs at the Delta Community Fire Station at a cost of $49,875.
Frazer demonstrated the village’s new website, created through CivicsPlus. The new site, set to go live July 28, is intended to be easier to navigate than the current site, and will include more information from the police department among other improvements.
New school zone signs have been installed around the Pike-Delta-York Local School District schools after a pair of school zones were extended to become a larger, single zone.
The police department is awaiting results of a grant application to fund the installation of additional flashing signs.
Police Chief Samuel Chappell reported the department is looking into security issues at the reservoir and is considering installing cameras on the property.
Councilwoman Lynn Frank reported on the status of the budget with regard to village insurance cost increases.
Through her inquiries, Frank said she discovered that while the village had budgeted for an increase in insurance costs, it was still lower than the renewal cost, and money had been moved within the fund in order to cover the total amount.
Frazer reported on the status of the Love’s Travel Stop, stating the company was set to finalize the purchase of the property in the area of State Route 109 and County Road H next month. Frazer said the project is expected to break ground shortly after.
Frazer reported the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has reduced the required weekly number of operator of record hours for the water plant from 40 to 20 hours per week due to a lack of negative findings over time.
Frazer reported he would be participating in a walkthrough of the Bunting Bearing site on July 22 with representatives of the Maumee Valley Planning Organization.
Bids for the property, which is controlled by the Fulton County Land Bank, will be opened at village offices on July 31.
The next regular meeting of the Delta Village Council will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, August 4, 2025, at 401 Main Street in Delta.