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LISBON -- Commissioners on Wednesday delayed approval of an expedited annexation of 16.207 acres of land from Perry Township into the city of Salem amid questions about the utilities.
Commissioner Roy Paparodis had suggested they hold off any action for a week.
Commissioner Mike Halleck explained that they received a phone call from someone concerned about the utilities, specifically dealing with water and sewer.
"I think we need to get some answers," Halleck said, adding they just want to exercise some caution.
No one from the city was at the commissioners' meeting and neither was anyone representing the petitioner.
Owned 100 percent by J & M Builders and Land Improvements, LLC, the land is located off of the U.S. Route 62/state Route 45 bypass, just east of Jennings Avenue and Goshen Road. The property backs up to Hickory Lane, off of Meadow and Springdale Street, and property owned by George S. Wilson.
In other business, commissioners heard some requests from Jamie Nentwick, a Madison Township resident and member of River Valley Organizing, who asked commissioners to ensure oversight on the installation of the proposed solid waste landfill in West Point by hiring environmental consultants to oversee the project. The proposed location for the landfill is at the site of the former Rosebud Mining Company off of state Route 45, under the name West Point Renewables, a subsidiary of Vogel Holding Inc.
The project has yet to be approved and is still in the public comment phase. Nentwick said they wanted to get environmental consultants in place in case the project is approved. Halleck said they would take it under advisement.
She also asked commissioners to contact the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and request the written comment period for the project be extended by a couple more weeks.
Apparently a wrong email address was listed where people could send written comment and she took it upon herself to issue a press release correcting the email address. The deadline had been April 11, but when she contacted an OEPA representative about the mixup, she said she was told they could have another week, which would mean this week.
The address was corrected on the OEPA website, which says written comments can be submitted by email to epa.dmwmcomments@epa.ohio.gov.
She thought residents should be given more time.
Nentwick also brought up an issue in Wellsville regarding talc powder which she said was contaminating people's homes. She was told by Halleck that it needs to be addressed by that community, not the county.
In other matters, county commissioners approved two proclamations, one recognizing April 28 at Workers Memorial Day in Columbiana County and one declaring the week of April 14 through 20 as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, which recognizes dispatchers for their diligence and professionalism in keeping the county and citizens safe and for the critical need they provide as a link to police officers, deputies, firefighters and paramedics in the field.
The Workers Memorial Day is set aside "to honor all workers who have been injured, fallen ill, or suffered a fatality as the result of a workplace incident and to respect today's workers by providing safe workplaces."
The commissioners also: gave Dale Hood permission to hunt on County Home Road, Lisbon property; permitted the county engineer to participate in the Ohio Department of Transportation winter road salt contract; and allowed the advertising of bids for precast materials for Signal Road, Fairfield Township.
The next meeting of the county commissioners will be 9 a.m. April 24.