Akron balks at, then concedes water to Copley fire
station
By Stephanie Kandel
COPLEY — After a war of words with Copley Township trustees, Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic has agreed to allow the extension of water to the new Fire Station No. 2 as it nears completion.
The mayor announced in September he would not honor any requests for water extension into Copley until the trustees answered his questions about future development in Copley Township and its Joint Economic Development District (JEDD) with Akron.
For the subsequent eight months,
Plusquellic said he hasn’t been satisfied with
attempts to clarify the situation
with Copley, and he has stood by his vow not to extend
water — including to the new fire station.
“We’ve done every
single thing that we could to be a good partner,”
Plusquellic said earlier this week.
Bringing the issue to a head
was a situation that began last year, when a large area
company, the name of which Plusquellic would not divulge,
expressed interest in relocating to Copley. Two of the
possible sites for relocation are completely or partially
inside the JEDD, and they each have several owners,
according to Akron city officials.
Plusquellic, with what he believed
to be the backing of the trustees, started the ball
rolling on wooing the company to Copley, including agreeing
to facilitate the land purchase.
Then, according to the mayor,
“at least one trustee” began making negative
comments “about the city ‘buying up property
in Copley.’”
Plusquellic wasn’t happy
with the apparent mixed messages being sent to the company,
he said.
“I don’t do business
that way,” the mayor said.
Hence his vow not to extend any
more water to Copley without a clear indication as to
what the trustees desire.
“I’m not the bad
guy in this,” Plusquellic said. “[The trustees]
have chosen this battle.”
On April 18, Plusquellic wrote
a letter to the trustees asking for a formal response
to how the city of Akron should respond to requests
for economic development projects in Copley.
“... The city of
Akron has a good reputation for working with businesses,”
Plusquellic wrote. “We cannot be in a position
where we are dealing with a particular business and
have an individual with some personal or political
motivation undermining our efforts.”
The trustees responded 10 days
later in a joint letter that said they would “fully
cooperate with the city of Akron regarding requests
for economic development in the existing JEDD areas
... [and] any requests for development outside the existing
JEDD areas will be carefully considered on a case by
case basis.”
That letter was far from the
answer Plusquellic needed.
“Their letter of April
28 did nothing to clarify the situation,” Plusquellic
said. “They knew it when they wrote it.”
Plusquellic responded May 2 with
another letter stating he needed to know if Copley trustees
want him to assist in purchasing property in areas of
Copley in the JEDD when asked to do so by a business,
and if officials from the city’s Economic Development
Department should engage in the several activities it
undertakes when such a request is made.
That was how it stood May 8.
Then, after a phone conversation
with Trustee Dale Panovich late that afternoon, in which
a Copley-Akron JEDD Board of Directors meeting was set,
Plusquellic relented and gave the go-ahead for the water
hookup.
According to Bath Township Administrator
Bill Snow, the water was scheduled to be connected today,
May 11.
Snow and Trustee Scott Dressler
said the water lines already have been run to the property;
the tap-in is all that needs to take place.
The Copley-Akron JEDD Board of
Directors will meet May 15 at 5:45 p.m. in Akron City
Council chambers in downtown Akron. The members of the
board are Copley trustees Dressler, Panovich and Helen
Humphrys; Plusquellic; and Akron City councilmen Michael
Williams (D-at large) and Dan
Horrigan (D-Ward 1). The alternate member is Akron Councilman
Bob Keith (D-Ward 8).
“I’m just glad that
we’ve come to the resolution,” said Panovich,
whom Plusquellic lauded as rational and responsible
and “one of the finest elected officials I’ve
ever come in contact with.”
Panovich added she is glad for
the opportunity to “get the mayor’s questions
answered and be on the same page.”
Dressler said the trustees haven’t
responded to Plusquellic’s letter of May 2.
“He wanted to discuss it
in the meeting, which is fine,” he said. “That’s
what the meeting is for.”
The fire station, which is a
joint project between Copley and Bath townships, has
been on track for completion in late May. In November,
the Copley trustees voted to add the parcel on which
the fire station is situated to the Akron JEDD to facilitate
the hookup of water.
A formal dedication and open
house was originally planned for June 2-3, but Dressler
said those plans might be revisited, as they wanted
to dedicate and open the station on the same day.
Meanwhile, Plusquellic said he
received a call from a representative from the company
interested in relocating to Copley, who said the company
planned to go to another site. Plusquellic said he talked
the representative into holding off on that decision.
In response to Plusquellic’s
assertion that the trustees have made him the “bad
guy” at the 11th hour because of the water extenstion
issue, Dressler chose not to elaborate.
“We’re still working
out the details, so no comment,” he said.
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