Oberlin spurns JVS annexation attempt

OBERLIN — For now at least, the Lorain County Joint Vocational School will not be allowed to become part of the city of Oberlin. In a 7-0 decision Monday night, a seemingly annoyed City Council rejected the vocational school's bid to have its 98.37 acres be folded into the city limits. The vote marked the end of a long and bizarre conflict between the two governmental bodies. Oberlin's attorneys waged a five-year legal fight to try to force the JVS to annex from Pittsfield Township. But after the JVS filed a petition that would have given it lower utility rates as part of the city, while also barring Oberlin from collecting income taxes from its workers, Council cried foul. Frustrated, city Law Director Jon Clark pointed out the JVS would not have paid any taxes at all — in fact, its sanitary sewer fees would have dropped considerably. "This would have cost them nothing," he said. The JVS school board has a fiduciary responsibility to its taxpayers across the county, "and they have failed miserably," said Councilman Kelley Singleton. He lambasted the JVS Board of Education and administration for allowing the legal fight to go on for so long at the expense of residents who foot the bill. "They would have saved money by annexing, and the taxpayers should know that," Singleton said. He went so far as to ask what would happen if the city cut off utility services to the JVS. There could be a positive effect on water pressure and other factors for businesses and residents on Oberlin's south side, which in recent years has seen growth, Singleton speculated. The answers he asked for were not available Monday night. The JVS purchases about $450,000 per year in electricity from Oberlin, Singleton said, but massive purchase increases by other buyers could soon offset that loss as natural gas reclamation company EDL builds a new plant, and as Oberlin College switches over to geothermal heating and cooling, which requires a great deal of power. He also took aim at the JVS' lack of a modern fire suppression system, saying it would have caused the Oberlin Fire Department's Insurance Service Office rating to drop, and potentially cause residents' fire insurance bills to rise $70 to $80. Clark acknowledged that had annexation moved forward, the city would have been responsible for providing more police and fire coverage to the school, located on state Route 58 south of U.S. 20. Right now, the Wellington Fire District is responsible for nonemergency responses, though Oberlin has mutual aid agreements in place to help with large emergencies. Clark also responded to comments by JVS Superintendent Glenn Faircloth that were published in The Chronicle-Telegram. They revealed concerns that as part of the city of Oberlin, the school risked having to shut down its shooting range and end its practices of open burning and storing construction debris on-site. "I don't believe those concerns have merit, and I am a little bit concerned the JVS superintendent does not understand that," Clark said. When two political subdivisions — a city and school, for example — overlap, they enjoy a certain level of freedom that most residents wouldn't, Clark said. In this case, the JVS would not have to comply with certain city rules that would place undue burden on its curriculum and other public duties. The root of the strife between the school and city goes back to 1971, when the JVS was built. At the time, Oberlin had a policy that properties had to be annexed to receive utilities and other services, but the vocational school was nowhere near the city limits. It made an exception with the understanding that the JVS would annex when the southern border reached the school. That's the case now, after Oberlin has seen commercial and residential growth southward over the last couple of decades. But state law has changed, too. Fifty years ago, there was just one kind of annexation — what today is considered the "traditional" way, said Clark. Now there is a Type 2 annexation. The major difference, with regard to Oberlin's situation, is that it exempts the workers of organizations such as schools from municipal income taxes. Clark said Monday that had Council accepted the JVS annexation deal, the city's taxpaying residents would have been on the hook for covering the cost of the school's services. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.