CIC Merger Study Gathering Momentum
CIC's proposal on the possibility of a merged
community has resulted in the first meeting of representatives of the City and
the Township. Thus far, the elected
official from the Township is Dee Dee Leidel and from the City is Mark Luetke. The rumor is
that Doug Haynam.will also represent the Council. The Trustees have sent Susan Wood,
Acting Administrator, instead of Dave Simko, Township Fiscal
Officer. Frank Kozak and Tom Grubs are the
facilitators from CIC.
The goal of the committee is to identify
"key issues, questions and objectives to address early in the
process", in order to present the "pros and cons" on whether or
not to continue with a merger study as prescribed by
Copies of all research materials accumulated
by the AdVantage over the past few months are being made available to the
committee.
City and Township will not cooperate on Land
Use Plan
According to Pam Hanley, President of
Township trustees, the Township requested the City to implement a moratorium on annexation while
the City and Township jointly update the Land Use Plan. However, the City
refused any moratorium on annexation during the process and the Township is
updating Sylvania Township Master Land Use Plan without the City. Two reasons
were given: the proposed time frame for a joint update would take approximately
12 to 14 months, while the Trustees feel it needs to be updated during the next
6 to 7 months, and the Trustees recognize that as a result of annexation the
Township and City goals may be adversarial and would not be conducive to a joint update.
In response, Barbara Sears, President of City
Council, expressed her disappointment: "Doing a joint Land Use Plan makes
logical sense, is more cost effective for both communities and is simply
appropriate. I believe that the
residents in our greater Sylvania community expect joint planning from their
elected officials".
Jack MacMillan
For