Plain City Council will hold a joint meeting with the Madison County Commissioners next week to determine whether they will regionalize water and sewer services.
Council voted unanimously during its regular meeting Monday to set a special meeting for 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Plain City Municipal Building.
The meeting is the next step toward regionalizing utilities, as council voted unanimously in August to sign a letter of understanding regarding “the negotiation and planning stages of formation of a proposed regional water and sewer district.”
Council President Michael Terry previously explained that if the services are regionalized with Madison County, all water and sewer assets would be combined to become a separate entity – the district.
For that reason, Terry emphasized Monday that the meeting will entail “two bodies discussing the creation of a third body,” as the regional water and sewer district does not yet exist.
Ashley Boyes Hetzel, who was serving as legal counsel for the village in place of Law Director Paul Lafayette, said both council and the commissioners will be provided with a document that details reasons for creating a district.
She said each board will have the opportunity to pass legislation to file a petition to create a regional water and sewer district.
If the district is created, it will be governed by a board of trustees which Finance Director Renee Sonnett has previously said will have representatives appointed by Plain City and Madison County.
Following the signing of the letter of understanding, Terry said the proposed district would offer a better financial option for the village than garnering services from other municipalities.
He said it would also protect the Big Darby Creek by providing the village options other than continuing to expand on the watershed.
In other business:
– Mayor Jody Carney, who also serves on the Planning and Zoning Commission, provided an updated timeline surrounding the zoning code rewrite.
She said Village Planner Taylor Brill expects council to set a public hearing date for the updated zoning text at its Oct. 10 meeting.
The public hearing would likely be held around Nov. 14, Carney said, which would allow for a second reading on Nov. 28.
The mayor said that would allow for the zoning code rewrite to be officially approved by the end of December, which would allow zoning officials to begin its implementation in January 2023.
– Sonnett said Brill has accepted a position with the City of Piqua and her last day with the village will be Nov. 6.
Carney expressed gratitude for “all she has contributed to the village” on behalf of council and staff.
– Sonnett said the engineer for the Uptown streetscape project provided a number of alternates that could extend the area which the project covers.
She explained that the village will go to bid with the project the first week of October. Once bids are received, council members can decide whether they would like to move forward with any alternates depending on the price.
Sonnett noted that the completion time for the project was extended in hopes that the village might receive a lower bid price.
Terry said he was in agreement with the extended completion deadline, as he would rather “do it right” on the first go. Carney added that she would prefer not to have construction in front of Uptown businesses during the holiday season regardless.