Grand View Estates annexation approved

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By Erik Martin

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DARKE COUNTY — The Darke County Board of Commissioners Monday voted unanimously to approve a resolution authorizing the Village of Bradford’s annexation of 12 Adams Township homes.

The annexation of the Grand View Estates development, located at Grandview Drive, became immediately official upon the Commissioners’ vote. Adams Township and Bradford had both given prior approval to the measure.

Darke County Community Development/Grants Coordinator Jeff Marshall said that more than 51 percent of the homeowners in the development agreed to the annexation.

Grandview Drive is located off South Miami Avenue/State Route 721, just north of Bradford High School. The total amount of property annexed is 11.686 acres.

The primary goal of the annexation was to connect the 12 properties to Bradford’s sanitary system, as mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency. Now within the village limits, Bradford may in the future mandate other upgrades to the neighborhood, such as sidewalks and streetlights.

“This is a good option for you all to have,” said Commissioner Mike Rhoades to a group of homeowners who attended the meeting.

Rhoades noted that the residents had experienced severe sewage difficulties in the past, ones which had created cesspools in the area. “It’s been needed for a long time,” he said.

Dr. Terry Holman, Darke County Health Department commissioner, remarked that this is a common situation facing many residents in the county.

“Many of these developments were built in the 1960s, 1970s, or 1980s without much forethought,” he said.

Rhoades added, “There are a lot of others in the same boat we have to do this with.”

In other county business, the commissioners approved a resolution accepting the county’s 2016 budget as submitted by Darke County Auditor Carol Ginn.

In her submission letter, Ginn wrote that appropriations in the 2016 budget are estimated at $18,412,791, marking a “slight increase” above the 2015 actual appropriations.

“This reflects an estimated increase in appropriations for the County Health insurance premiums for 2016,” she wrote.

The commissioners also approved an agreement with the Ohio Water Development Authority (OWDA), assuming a zero-interest loan in the amount of $727,207.20 towards the county’s Industrial Drive project. The term of the loan is 20 years.

Marshall said the loan agreement with the OWDA should be finalized by the end of July.

The Darke County Board of Commissioners meet at 1:30 p.m. every Monday and Wednesday at 520 South Broadway Street in Greenville. The sessions are open to the public.

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