Huber Heights Council approves Bethel Township annexation

Huber Heights Council approves Bethel Township annexation

City council also approves pre-annexation agreement

HUBER HEIGHTS- The city of Huber Heights is moving forward with a controversial annexation of approximately 296 acres of property currently located in Bethel Township.

The Huber Heights City Council members voted to approve a resolution accepting the proposed annexation during their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, July 22. They also voted to approve a resolution authorizing a pre-annexation agreement regarding the proposed annexation.

Huber Heights City Planner Aaron Sorrell said the pre-annexation agreement includes a donation of property for the construction of a new fire station, school, and park.

“It really does three things,” he said. “It sets out a donation of between 16 and 18 acres for a new school and park. It sets out a donation of 2.5 acres for a new fire station, and it also directs the city and the developer to amend a previous 2009 agreement related to future TIF proceeds.”

Council voted to approve the resolution authorizing the pre-annexation agreement 6-1; Council Member Scott Davidson voted against the resolution. Council also voted to approve the resolution accepting the proposed annexation 6-1; Council Member Scott Davidson also voted against the annexation. Council member Anita Kitchen was absent from the meeting.

“I just want to explain my reasoning,” Davidson said. “Even though I think it’s best to have a school, I’m voting no for several issues there.”

“Getting out there, talking to the neighborhood up in Carriage Trails, I see the situation they have there right now,” he said. “I’m looking more for the kids and the students than anybody else; that is my reasoning for that.”

“I want the community to know, this issue weighs heavily on the majority of the people who are up here,” Council Member Dr. Fred Aikens said. “My biggest concern, as an educator, is to ensure that the students are taken care of, be they residents of Bethel or Huber Heights, whatever the case may be.”

“I wish I had a time machine to go back to when those persons sold the 300 acres to the developer; we could talk them into doing something different,” he said. “I’m glad to see that we are working with different entities to get a school built prior to building homes there, if that’s the case.”

“At the core of what’s important, to me, is that we don’t put the students in environments where they cannot learn,” Dr. Aikens said. “I want to make sure the students are taken care of.”

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Several Bethel Township and Huber Heights residents also spoke on the annexation and the pre-annexation agreement.

“I believe we are being unfairly treated,” Bethel Township resident Jeff Morford said. “The three elected Bethel Township Trustees disapprove of the annexation. The three elected Miami County Commissioners disapprove of the annexation.”

“The lawmakers in Columbus have been able to violate the democratic voting process,” he said, “by establishing annexation laws and processes that are discriminatory in nature, and violate the civil liberties of citizens living in townships across the state.”

“The saga of Carriage Trails began over 23 years ago,” Thomas Dillingham said. “There’s plenty to say about how this development was managed, and opinions are as varied as the landscape itself.”

Dillingham said Bethel Local Schools currently serves around 1,900 students in grades K-12, with 1,400 of them living in Carriage Trails. According to the last census, Bethel Township covers 34.8 square miles and houses 4,758 people.

“Carriage Trails occupies 668 acres, or about one mile, and accounts for 70 percent of the student body,” he said.

“There’s been far too much squabbling about which school or town is superior,” Dillingham said. “The demonization of HHCS students, staff, and especially by those who live in and send their children to Huber Heights City Schools, needs to end.”

“Let’s plant the seeds of unity, respect, and cooperation for a future where all our children can thrive,” he said.

“If 1,400 of the 1,900 kids are already Carriage Trails 1 students, and Carriage Trails 2 could bring another 1,000, that means that most of all students will reside in Huber Heights,” Carriage Trails resident Cynthia Schwartz said. “What does that mean for Bethel Local Schools in ten years? Could Huber absorb the Bethel Local School District?”

“I think Huber Heights needs to stay out of Bethel’s business,” Huber Heights resident Roberta Budell said. “I can’t see how it really benefits either community. It looks like the main entity that benefits from this is the developer, and I don’t think that’s right.”

Council members also discussed the details of a recent meeting between officials from the city of Huber Heights and Bethel Local Schools.

“The plan would be for there to be an actual school building up and running, functioning and built, as new Bethel students are coming into the district,” Huber Heights Mayor Jeff Gore said. “We would hope that Bethel would work with us on that to determine what type of school they would need, and what facility would serve their interests the best.”

“We would actually be looking for the city to build that school, and then lease that school building back to Bethel,” Gore said. “With us building it, we don’t have to wait for whatever’s going to happen from the school and the Ohio Facilities Planning Commission. We can contract and build that building, get it done, and ensure it’s ready to go when the kids are actually moving in.”

Council members also discussed the possibility of resurrecting a 50-year moratorium agreement on future annexations passed previously by Bethel Township Trustees, but was not approved by Huber Heights Council at the time.

“I think it’s certainly possible,” Huber Heights Law Director Christopher Conard said. “There’s some terms and conditions from both sides that we’d have to flesh out. We’ve got a core document that could be worked with, and tailored to, the existing environment.”

“I fully support a moratorium,” Council Member Brian Looney said.

“I’m for a moratorium,” Council Member Mark Campbell said. “I’m also for building a school for Bethel in Carriage Trails 2, but close to Carriage Trails 1.”