By CARL E. FEATHER - Staff Writer - cfeather@starbeacon.com Star Beacon
ASHTABULA — Ashtabula County commissioners have approved the annexation of the Wade Avenue property in Saybrook Township to Ashtabula city.
Now the next move is up to the city.
Ashtabula Area City Schools wants to build a five-building elementary school campus on the property. Commissioners voted unanimously to allow the 79-acre annexation and thus cleared another hurdle in the process required by the Ohio Revised Code.
“The county is finished with it,” said Peggy Carlo, board president. “The city and school board met their obligations. It’s all out of our hands at this point.”
The county held a hearing on the annexation June 16, two months after commissioners granted the school district and city council an extension on the hearing. The city had failed to meet a requirement regarding the filing of a statement indicating the services it intended to provide in conjunction with the annexation.
Ward 4 Councilwoman Julie Lattimer was the lone representative of the city at the county’s hearing. On Wednesday, she was glad to hear the commissioners approved the annexation.
“I’m anxious to work with the school and Saybrook and welcome them in,” she said.
The city intends to provide safety forces and sanitation to the new schools. The school district will pay for three off-site infrastructure projects that need to be completed in order to open the campus, according to comments during last week’s hearing.
“It’s a great thing,” Ward 5 Councilman Jim Trisket said. “It will keep us from losing more income tax and it will give us more land.”
The other Ashtabula City Council members were unavailable for comment.
Staff writer Shelley Terry contributed to this story.
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