SOUTH POINT – Village limits will soon grow a little larger as South Point and Perry Township officials finalize the annexation plan for the former ethanol plant property.

Saturday, September 23, 2000

SOUTH POINT – Village limits will soon grow a little larger as South Point and Perry Township officials finalize the annexation plan for the former ethanol plant property.

South Point Village Council members and Perry Township trustees will meet together Oct. 3 to complete the Cooperative Economic Development Agreement, which also addresses how property taxes will be divided, officials said.

The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at village hall.

"Basically, what we’ve done is both the township and the village came together and developed an agreement to allow the village to annex land outside the limits," Perry Township trustee Doug Malone said. "South Point wanted to annex 500 acres of land and the commissioners have asked us to work out an agreement between the two of us."

Several meetings between the two governments resulted in the development of the economic agreement, Malone said.

"There was never a harsh word spoken between us and that’s rare in politics especially when annexation is involved," he said. "We held a series of meetings in which we worked out an agreement agreeably."

It outlines the village’s new boundaries and includes how taxes will be distributed, Malone said.

"The trustees feel the agreement is a win-win situation," he said. "We have decided to let them have the land and collect all taxes associated with the property. And, in return, they will reimburse the township 40 percent of those taxes for as long as they control the land. The trustees worked together as a group along with the village council to agree 100 percent on this arrangement."

Village Mayor Bill Gaskin said the agreement’s main goal was to bring jobs to the area.

"Our goal is all the same and none of us are being greedy," Gaskin said. "We all just want to get something going with the industrial park We all just want to create some jobs for the county. Both sides of the fence have agreed on this annexation and we feel great about the agreement."

He said the village will be providing sewage and water services as an enhancement to the plant site.

"We feel like it will be beneficial to have our utility services available down there in the park," he said. "Both the trustees and council feel this will help attract businesses to this area. We have everything available any company would need to be successful. We have the highway, the river and the railroad all right here."

Both Gaskin and Malone said resolutions to accept and finalize the annexation will likely surface at the October meeting.

"Right now, the park is in the planning stages," Gaskin said. "We want to get annexation finalized and get on with creating jobs. We all came up with a real nice agreement and this hearing will be the final step in the annexation process."

Malone agreed with the mayor, saying the township was receiving a fair deal.