While the Lawrence County commissioners debate whether or not to allow South Point to annex part of Perry Township, the Lawrence County Trustees and Clerks Association is busy getting the word out about how much annexation hurts townships.

Wednesday, February 23, 2000

While the Lawrence County commissioners debate whether or not to allow South Point to annex part of Perry Township, the Lawrence County Trustees and Clerks Association is busy getting the word out about how much annexation hurts townships.

"The only thing we can do is express our opinion," said Judy Balmer, Trustees and Clerks Association president. "And we have sent letters to the commissioners and to our state representatives. We’ve had good luck with our representatives and congressmen in the past when we have asked them for things. We’re hoping they can be some help this time, as well."

When a village or city annexes part of unincorporated Lawrence County, the townships lose valuable resources and funding, Mrs. Balmer said.

"It hurts the township’s funds and the townships get little enough funds as it is," she said. "We get tax money and gas money. When it’s annexed into a village, the village gets that money. Townships already have a really low budget. When they lose a few thousand dollars, they cannot maintain their roads."

The loss of needed income is not the only reason trustees and clerks cite as a reason against annexation, however.

When a township loses part of its land, it also loses part of its identity, said Bob Blankenship, current member and past president and vice president of the association.

"South Point tried to annex Burlington a couple of times, maybe more down the years," Blankenship said. "Burlington just fought it. They have their own identity. It was the first county seat before the seat moved to Ironton. They wanted to keep that for historical reasons."

Blankenship also has experienced this annexation process firsthand and has fought hard to prevent its success.

A trustee of Hamilton Township, Blankenship has witnessed the City of Ironton try to annex the township, as well as Hanging Rock, on numerous occasions in the past.

"The last meeting I went to, it was about two to three years ago, we let the council know that Hamilton Township is against annexation," Blankenship said. "It’s a small township, but we’re well-off and we have no problems here. We’d like to have more police protection, but that’s the county as a whole."

Lawrence County commissioners recently approved an annexation in Proctorville, which gave village officials former Union Township land west of the corporation limit.

And commissioners are expected to reach a decision concerning the South Point/Perry Township annexation this spring.

The decision rests solely with the commissioners, and trustees across the county and state have their fingers crossed, hoping they decide in favor of the township, Blankenship said.

"We’re not putting the city down," he said. "But since I became a trustee, we have turned gravel road into blacktop, built another building for the fire department, got a fairly new fire truck, refurbished another pumper truck – we did all this. And, in my opinion, the city or villages cannot handle taking the land in. The state association fights this all the time. It’s not just an occasional thing."

The proposed South Point/Union Township annexation is part of a deal between South Point village officials and Marathon-Ashland Petroleum officials.

South Point agreed to allow a MAP pipeline to pass through the village, and in return, MAP pledged matching funds for an Ohio Department of Natural Resources grant for the village park as well as annexation of the remaining 400 acres of the ethanol plant property into the village.

Upon completion, the MAP pipeline will carry petroleum products from the Catlettsburg, Ky., refinery to Columbus.