Trustees Respond To Questions About Village Ordinance Providing Sewer To Owens
The Granville Press asked the three Township Trustees, Fred Abraham, Bill Habig, and Wes Sargent about Granville Village's proposed ordinance providing for sewer service to the Owens Corning site. See our questions and the Trustees' response written by Trustee Bill Habig.
Are you, as a trustee, in favor of restricting sewer service to Owens to service provided only by Granville Village? Why or why not?
"It is premature to do this. Southwest Licking has stated a price for sewer service without conditions on the development. Granville has not quoted us a yet and they have attached conditions, which Owens legal counsel will review."
How do you feel about the policy of the past, using restricted availability of Village-supplied sewer and water service to control growth within Granville Township and/or the Granville school district? Should that policy be continued? Is it time to consider other options such as Southwest Licking?
"This policy appears to have worked well for the community thus far. In the future we need to be able to respond to new opportunities in a time efficient and cost effective manner. This means that situations such as the Owen Corning JRS application may call for alternative measures to assure that competitive economic development opportunities are realized to build our property tax base."
Are you in favor of the restriction in Council's proposed ordinance that reads, "...so long as the property to be served is intended to be, and when developed is used exclusively for an office, technical, and research-related business park?" If yes, why? If not, why not?
"The Owens Corning property is zoned M-1 as follows.
'Section 808 Light Manufacturing District (M-1)
The purpose of the M-1 District is to encourage the development of manufacturing and wholesale business establishments, which are clean, quiet, and free of hazardous or objectionable elements such as noise, odor, dust, smoke, or glare; operate entirely within enclosed structures and generate little industrial traffic. Research activities are encouraged.'"This zoning has given Owens Corning the flexibility to perform both research and light manufacturing activities. Their redevelopment plan is based on this flexibility. We see no reason to rezone it."
Are you in favor of and will you participate in modifying the grant application as suggested by Village staff: "...Council approve a companion resolution requesting that the Township Trustees amend the grant application to clearly indicate that the sanitary sewer services for the proposed Granville Science and Technology Complex would be provided by the Village of Granville?" If yes, why? If not, why not?
We have not received a request to do this. As indicated above, Southwest Licking has made a specific proposal and quoted a price. Granville is still in the process of assuming control of the sewer from Kendal. They have attached conditions, which Owens Corning's legal counsel must review. We will not prejudge this. Granville also needs to quote a competitive price.
The township has an agreement with Southwest Licking that allows them to serve property within the township only upon our agreement as to the property to be served. This could be extended to serve only Owens Corning, if necessary.
Modifications of the application would have to be agreed upon by Owens Corning and could put our JRS application at a statewide competitive disadvantage. These factors would have to be evaluated should Granville make such a request.
Click here to view the complete response written by Trustee Habig.
The next Township Trustee meeting is on Wednesday, July 23. At that meeting citizens can voice their opinion of the trustees' views during the public comment period.
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See previous stories about the Township - Owens Corning grant:
SWL sewers opposition letter
Trustees comments sound very bad. I'm away. Gone fishin'. Literally. Will return next week and send letter to state opposing Owens grant and Southwest Licking deal. Foolish of me to think Trustees would do what's right for Granville. Too much money to be made.
Go For It!
Good for you, loosechange.
Let's all write to the state and object to the grant application.
The Trustees are not working for Granville - I hate to think it, but I guess they are working for the developers, for money.
Habig is out of control
Habig is out of control and Wes and Fred seem to either not understand all the problems or not sufficiently want to correct them.
Village offers to supply sewer to Owens; Trustees say no
That's what your headline should have said.
Remember, the Trustees had been saying they "prefer" that the Village supply sewer. Now that they can have what they supposedly "prefer," they don't want it. Of course, we all knew that. What they really "prefer" -- as I and others said earlier -- is that the Village not impose controls on growth.
Or how about this headline: "Trustees say no to Village effort to promote tax base and limit school-damaging residential growth."
For the trustees not to see what's wrong with turning over planning policies to legal counsel for Owens Corning, the township's biggest property owner, shows how blind these fellows are.
What does village council think?
Maybe the Granville Press should ask the members of the village council what they think of Habig's answers.
What Habig thinks
Good point, Jimmy. Let's see what the Village Council thinks.
For a refresher course in what Habig thinks.
In a September 19, 2007 e-mail to trustee Wes Sargent, Habig wrote: “Our township needs to get ready for economic development by creating its own water and sewer capacity in whatever way makes sense. The village will not help us.”
Habig's war on the Village began right away.
On October 18, 2007, Habig sent a private e-mail to the Columbus developer who'd bought land on Weaver Road and wanted sewer without controls. Habig wrote: "I called Southwest Licking chief Don [Rector] and he said he had bigger issues with the county to handle first...Don also said the [Licking County] commissioners may not support us not using Granville water and sewer."
To Habig, the county Commissioners are just another roadblock -- along with the Village, the Comprehensive Plan, the 208 Plan, Granville voters, etc. -- to giving developers' what they want.
In the same e-mail, Habig told the developer: "We have a Comp Plan meeting tonight at which I’m asking that Weaver be shown as commercial. Call me if we need to discuss."
The Weaver Drive property had been labeled "open space" in previous Comprehensive Plans because it was part of Granville's flood plain and inside Granville's aquifer protection zone. (The Kent family filled in part of the property a number of years ago.)
Habig did the developer the promised favor: He got the land reclassified for commercial development. Habig did not reveal he was doing it at the developer's behest. Someone at the meeting asked: Isn't that in a flood plain? Habig responded: You can fill in flood plain.
So, it's no surprise that Habig hasn't opposed filling in Granville's flood plain to help his developer friends. After all, what's the big deal about Granville's drinking water or flooding downstream when a developer has a buck to make? This is a fellow who supports the nastiest type of development in Granville --the type that fills in flood zones for parking lots, offers sewer without conditions, makes private promises to developers and then executes them at public meetings without telling others. And then has the gall to attack the Village for being unhelpful!
The Owens Corning fiasco is just one weed in the Trustees' garden. What does it say that Wes and Fred don't have the independence and foresight to oppose filling in a flood zone that protects Granville's drinking water?
Q. Where are the Trustees?
A. In the developers' pockets.
Any developer. Any time.
Let's hope Habig was right in his first e-mail: "The village will not help us."
Poor Wes and Fred
They really are out of their league, aren't they? Just good old boys from Granville, not too slick, not too quick, not too experienced.
And here they are, playing in the big time with Bill Habig and all his developer friends from Columbus. Habig made central Ohio what it is - urban sprawl with lots of profits for the developers at the expense of the taxpayers - and he now wants to make Granville over into a developer paradise.
Poor Wes and Fred. They probably love Granville and want what we want, but they just don't have the necessary stuff to deal with Habig.
Well, they do have two votes to his one, but they don't seem to have the right equipment to stand up to him.
Too bad... we all lose - except, of course the developers and Habig.
Maybe he'll buy a new Porsche.
The poor Wes and Fred thing is getting old...
Jimmy,
I used to think that way. I have regarded both of them as friends.
But it is getting harder and harder to excuse them on the basis of "they just don't get it."
By now they should realize that something is very wrong.
Ben
the sad thing here...
The sad thing here is that Southwest Licking will never supply sewer to Owens or to River Road. How can anyone who has lived in Granville for more than a year and a half think this is possible?
The question is how much damage the Trustees -- specifically Wes and Fred -- will do to their own reputation and to Granville in a doomed attempt to please Habig in his doomed attempt to please developers. I too have considered one of these trustees as an acquaintance and another as a pretty good acquaintannce. But I agree with others. They're out of their league. The fact that they are trying to make Granville self destruct in conflict over something nobody wants is a real tragedy. Lack of leadership is the kind way to say it.
We have to start thinking about potential trustees who have some professional and technical skills to run an important arm of local government. The good old boy thing isn't working any more.
Something is wrong with this picture...
"It is premature to do this. Southwest Licking has stated a price for sewer service without conditions on the development. Granville has not quoted us a yet and they have attached conditions, which Owens legal counsel will review."
Yeah, the conditions of the development that you set forth Bill. What more do you want?
"This policy [using Granville sewer and water] appears to have worked well for the community thus far. In the future we need to be able to respond to new opportunities in a time efficient and cost effective manner. This means that situations such as the Owen Corning JRS application may call for alternative measures to assure that competitive economic development opportunities are realized to build our property tax base."
Well, gee Bill, perhaps you should make the request to the village at the same time you make the request to Southwest Licking. Then the village could respond in the same timeframe. This is not the first time Bill has tried to make the village look bad when in fact the village was meeting his request. [Contrary to the implication of Habig's statement, the village responded within the time they were requested to respond and sooner than any number of entities asked to respond.]
"Granville is still in the process of assuming control of the sewer from Kendal."
This is priceless. Granville has from the beginning been providing sewer treatment services to Kendal. What a misleading statement.
And, then, he never answers the third question. He just gives one of those big time politician sorts of answers where you have no idea what he intends to do.
This man is too slick for his, and our, own good. He misrepresents, he misleads, he refuses to answer direct questions, and he incorrectly tries to blame others. Overall, in the words of our kindergarten teachers, he does not play well with others.
Are there any adults among the township officials that can take some corrective action on this?
Norm? Wes? Abe?
Anyone?
Highly inappropriate and illegal action by trustees
OldGranville is right on target with this one.
The unified response submitted by Trustee Habig makes it clear that the trustees have had discussions other than at a publicly announced meeting regarding something before them as trustees. This is a violation of the Ohio sunshine laws.
Of course, for a number of us it only confirms what we have known for some time: that the trustees are regularly violating Ohio law related to meetings.
This one looks bad
I am not certain that the trustees have been regularly violating Ohio sunshine laws, but this one sure looks bad (but I will admit, this is not the first time I have wondered about it).
It also bothers me to not have the responses from the various trustees. We elected three trustees, not one. A trustee makes good money for being a trustee (if you factor in the potential for state retirement, it can be great money). The least they can do is answer questions about their thoughts on major issues.
Can they do this?
Don't the trustees have to have a meeting in public to discuss something like this and then vote to have Habig write a response for all three of them?
Q. Where are the trustees on this?
A. In the developers' pockets.
In case we had any doubt.
Time for loosechange and friends to unload their opposition to the state on this travesty. Habig and his fellow (un)Trustees cannot give up Southwest Licking sewer because this is really about bringing Pataskala sewer and Pataskala zoning to River Road and Weaver Drive for Columbus developer Jack Lucks, who's trying to fill in Granvile's flood plains for retail development, drive-thru restaurants and parking lots.
The Trustees can no longer make any claim to our respect or trust. The Village gave them exactly what they said they wanted -- sewer for an R&D park at Owens Corning. The Trustees said no because that ISN'T what they really wanted. What they really want is the power to deliver money to developers and reinvent Granville as Pataskala.
This isn't about sewers. It's about delivering favors to developers. And, on that, there is no compromise for these bumbling, dishonest, anti-Granville trustees.
Trustees you can't trust
Absolutely correct YesMan.
Amazing how they ask for one thing, they receive it, and then they want something different. The charade is way past over. Our trustees are not trustworthy.
By the way, I am not at all surprised by this action. It fits in perfectly with their multiple secret attempts to get Pataskala sewer deep into the township.
Let's let Habig ride back to Columbus in his Porsche to do favors for his developer friends there. I think we can do better without his "help" here.
Trustees, fetch! Good, trustees. Good trustees.
Habig said: "It is premature to do this. Southwest Licking has stated a price for sewer service WITHOUT CONDITIONS ON THE DEVELOPMENT. Granville has not quoted us a yet and they have attached conditions, which Owens legal counsel will review."
Habig admits what you say, yesman. This is about the "conditions." What are those conditions? That the land use be what the sewer was requested for -- R&D, light industrial. Oh my! How burdensome!
Honest people don't have a problem making binding agreements to match their oral claims. This isn't about research and development. It's about building hundreds of single family homes, Big Box retail, etc. That's why the Trustees say one thing...but won't put nothin' in writing!
The Trustees speak the truth only to developers -- and to themselves in embarrassing emails obtained by Granville Press through public records requests! To Granville voters, it's happy talk and lies.
Absurd leaps
Perspective is a funny thing...
I read the Habig response and thought, "holy s***, Village Council better get off their collective rear ends and provide some more substantial information to the trustees if they have any hope of gaining an edge in the battle for utility revenue from the OCF site."
You read it and spin it in a completely opposite perspective. Then by some random application of the Transitive Property you make the collossal leap from the issue at hand an unrelated issue all together so that it fits your conspiracy theory about the trustees.
That's some pretty inflammatory verbage in your post. I wonder if your homeowners' insurance covers slander.
Stop blaming the trustees at every turn, and start encouraging Council to ACT rather than react. They are in a situation where they are not in control, and the sooner they realize it, the better off our community will be in the long run.
The issue is protecting Granville Schools, not "utility revenue"
NoSpin,
If you think, as you say, that this is about Granville winning a battle for "utility revenue," then you are completely and utterly missing the point.
The reason why Granville Township and Village have been united for decades on not allowing Pataskala or Newark sewer into the Granville school district, with the many homes that would follow, is quite obvious to anyone who has been paying attention to the Southwest Licking School district.
The trustees better wake up to what is important to the community. "Utility revenue" is, in the big picture, nothing. The future success of our children is everything.
The trustees and you seem to have forgotten history. There was a time when the village and the township were strongly united. In fact, until 2008 they were completely united on not having Pataskala sewer deep in to the township. There was a time when the interests of our children were paramount. Apparently now the township trustees are willing to put developer interests above our childrens' interests.
For me, and I suspect for many others, that is completely unacceptable. Children first, even if that means developers don't get exactly what they want.
Now, if the interests of our children are not enough. If you need something that will mean more money for you personally, then I would suggest a quick comparison of the prices paid for homes in the Granville School district and the prices of similar homes in the Southwest Licking district.
A fair comparison would indicate that following the Pataskala approach will ensure major drops in the value of Granville homes should Granville bring Pataskala sewers deep into Granville Township. Is that enough for you? Or is protecting our kids and the values of our homes not enough for you?
From every perspective, Pataskala sewer coming deep into Granville Township would be a disaster.
Sorry, but this is much more than a "battle for utility revenue from the OCF site."
The current trustees need to join those who went before them and focus on the big picture, rather than continuing with their reckless attempts to get Pataskala sewers into Granville Township.
"The reason why Granville
"The reason why Granville Township and Village have been united for decades on not allowing Pataskala or Newark sewer into the Granville school district, with the many homes that would follow, is quite obvious to anyone who has been paying attention to the Southwest Licking School district."
Serious question, here. Do township and village zoning cease to apply just because a property has the potential to be served by water and sewer originating outside of the township and village? I don't understand this???
Good question
Good question uptown.
The answer has some history to it. One reason why the township and village have always been concerned about extension into the township of water and sewer is that once the water and sewer are there, the 5-acre zoning used by the township might be found unconstitutional as there would no longer be a health and safety justification for the 5-acre minimum zoning. Given the Ohio Supreme Court's developer orientation, this is a distinct possibility.
This is particularly a concern where the only power to restrict usage is vested in a township. Townships are not favored by state law in Ohio.
If the water and sewer is being supplied by the village at least the village as a separate legal entity under home rule [a status that under the Ohio constitution restricts the ability of the state to determine how the village will operate] still has the ability to limit the usage of the utilities. When the water and sewer is supplied by someone like Southwest Licking, then we as a community of township and village risk losing control. We do not want to risk our township by using a water and sewer supplier that would be more than happy to supply whatever some developer wants.
The other question that comes to mind given Habig's answer is what does the township really want done with the land? The village is on board with supplying sewer for R&D development. But now Habig is saying that "condition" would/might be a problem. I guess I just don't understand why, if there is not going to be residential development, we cannot say there won't be residential development...