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Collaboration and cooperation were a theme of the evening at Monday’s joint meeting of the Marysville City Council and the city’s Planning Commission.
It wasn’t just about how the two bodies could work better together, but also how the city is working with the county, the schools, nearby townships and other municipalities.
Officials explained that prior to the meeting city staff solicited discussion items from the two bodies and boiled them into three themes: the housing market and economic development, lessons learned from prior development and looking toward the future.
Economic Development Director Eric Phillips said that Union County grew nearly 59% between 2000 and 2021. He said that amounts to about 1,000 people per year or 3 people per day. He said Marysville has grown by about 65% in the same time, adding about 1.2 people per day.
He said Union County is the second fastest growing county in the state.
Planning Commission member Michael Nickoson wondered if the schools are considered as the city grows.
“Our decisions are affecting them,” Nickoson said.
He said it seems like there is “a gap” when it comes to developers talking to the school district about their plans.
“We ask (developers) to talk to them. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t,” Nickoson said.
Phillips said developers usually ask to meet with the school district.
City Planner Ashley Gaver said she and other city staff members meet with district officials bimonthly to review “pretty much every development” coming into the city, “so that they know what’s coming as well, just to double check from any conversations that may or may not have happened.”
City Manager Terry Emery said he meets at least once a month with schools Superintendent Diane Allen “working through some of the concerns with the growth.”
Phillips said Marysville is in an enviable position, noting that just 10 counties in the state are actually growing.
He acknowledged that new residents bring a cost for the schools, but added that they bring costs for the city as well.
“Schools have a concern about students. The city, their job is to take care of roads, fire, police. I look at schools, their job is to educate children,” Phillips said. “If it is a cost to add a child, it is a cost to add a roadway for the city as well. I think if you are in the business of building an educational system, which I think is what they are in for, let’s go, let’s do it.”
Nickoson said the difference is that city officials are the ones making the decision.
“The school board, they don’t have a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote,” Nickoson said.
Planning Commission Member Scott Hunter said one of the body’s check-list items is to ask about conversations with the school.
“We get a response, it is just not overly elaborate,” Hunter said, adding that the planning commission doesn’t often talk much about the school.
Planning Commission Member Chad Wolniewicz said he wants to make sure the planning commission and the council “keep reaching out to the school system.”
Officials said that while the schools are impacted by development, the city needs housing.
Phillips said apartments have become the affordable housing in the community.
“At some point, if the affordability does not come down, we may have to have this discussion about do we incentivize more affordable options in the community,” Phillips said. “I don’t know how to do that other than just different incentive tools, but we have to look at that.”
He said that if a community has no housing for employees, a company will look at other areas.
City Engineer Kyle Hoyng said there are developers wanting to build, “just right now, there is a lack of land within our corporation limit to develop single family homes.”
Planning Commission Member Lesley Verbus said that while it is important to have diversity and a variety of housing options, “we are never going to get a developer to come in and make a neighborhood of $200,000 homes.”
“We would love it, but we are never going to see it happen,” Verbus said.
Gaver said that as more homes are built, the price of older homes will decrease.
“You have to have a new housing development to ultimately have an old housing development,” Council Member Alan Seymour said. “We are growing fast now so everything that is happening is kind of new, but it is going to take time for that to get older to get more diversity and affordability.”
Wolniewicz said that inadequate infrastructure is limiting housing options. He referenced a proposed development inside the city that would have emptied onto county roads. Because the roads were not able to handle the volume of expected traffic, the project was rejected. Wolniewicz asked how the city could work with the county to improve the infrastructure.
Emery said city officials are “meeting with the county all the time” to discuss growth and development.
He explained that the priority in those discussions has been the area between Marysville and Post Road, “and not so much the other direction as much as it could be or should be.”
Emery said the city has made preparations to have balanced growth, but acknowledged that roads outside the city are not adequate.
Officials said the key will be to work with townships and the county to have developers pay to make the necessary improvements to accommodate the growth.
Council member Henk Berbee said he would also like to see developers have a comprehensive master plan for an entire subdivision, not just specific neighborhoods within the development.
At the close of the meeting, both boards shared their appreciation for the joint session, before adjourning into executive session to discuss the purchase of property.