Norton residents again might be asked to decide whether the city should be responsible for paying the bulk of the cost for sewers.
William Paluch, a Norton resident, filed petitions with the city Tuesday to get an issue on the ballot that would limit to $5,000 the amount residents can be charged for sewer costs. The city would be required to pay any expense that exceeds that amount.
The petition uses somewhat different language from a ballot measure Norton voters narrowly rejected last month that would have ended property tax assessments for water and sewer lines, ceased tap-in fees and capped water and sewer bills for residents to $35 a month, with a maximum increase of 2 percent a year.
Paluch said he crafted the new language based on Norton’s previous assertion that the city would pay two-thirds of the sewer cost, while residents will pay one-third. He thinks $5,000 is a fairer share for residents to pay than the $20,000 that some, including him, have been told they might be charged.
“I think that’s a fair amount,” said Paluch, a homeowner in the Nash Heights neighborhood targeted for a sewer project. “I’m trying to make everybody happy.”
City officials, however, aren’t pleased that this issue has resurfaced, and said they had hoped it had been put to rest with the Aug. 6 election.
Council President Don Nicolard sees this latest attempt as essentially the same.
“It’s still, ‘Will someone please pay for my sewer for me?’ ” he said.
Nicolard said the charter amendment would have the same result of overburdening the city’s budget and causing cutbacks, including the layoffs of police officers. He said council and the administration have been working on legislation that would create a fixed price for sewer assessments and tap-in fees, but it isn’t finished.
“We’re working on a plan that would set a fair and equitable cost,” Nicolard said.
The latest petition language says no property owners “shall be assessed a total combined fee for construction of and connection to water and/or sewer lines in excess of $5,000.” The language also says property owners who have paid $5,000 or more for water and/or sewer lines “shall have future payments of their assessments paid by the city of Norton from the date this charter amendment” is approved.
Paluch filed the petitions, which he said contain about 560 signatures, with the city, which then delivered them to the Summit County Board of Elections. He would need 465 valid signatures to get the issue on the ballot.
When the issue would appear on the ballot isn’t clear at this point.
The deadline to get issues on the Nov. 5 ballot is Friday.
Joe Masich, director of the county elections board, said board employees might not have time to check the petitions by the deadline, especially because employees need to get ready for Tuesday’s municipal primary. He said employees also are going to need to check thousands of signatures for a statewide ballot issue that would repeal a ban on Internet cafes. Boards must validate those signatures by Sept. 20 for the referendum, which would be placed on the ballot in November 2014.
Even if board employees were able to check the petitions, Nicolard said he doesn’t think council, which would need to meet to vote on putting the issue on the ballot, would have time to ready the legislation and have a special meeting by the end of the week.
If the issue isn’t on the November ballot, that could mean a special election might be needed — an expense Norton would be required to pay.
Paluch said he isn’t working with Citizens for Norton, which supported the previous charter amendment, or any other organized group. He said he had about five people who helped him circulate petitions and did a robo call letting people know where he would be if they wanted to sign the petition. He said he got a huge response from these calls, particularly from senior citizens on fixed incomes.
“They’re the ones I’m most concerned about ...” said Paluch, getting choked up. “The people who are going to lose their homes. ... The people who can’t fight for themselves.”
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com.