Wheeling Council OKs Metro Study

By CASEY JUNKINS
WHEELING — While the ink on the city’s home rule application is still drying, members of City Council have agreed to study metro government — though some of them say there is no value in the concept.

While much of their focus lately has been on home rule, members adopted a resolution during Tuesday’s meeting supporting the “creation of a charter review committee to study the feasibility of metro government,” by a vote of 5-2.

Mayor Nick Sparachane, Vice Mayor Mike Nau, Councilwoman Gloria Delbrugge, Councilman Brent Bush and Councilman Barry Crow voted in favor of the resolution, while Councilmen Vernon Seals and Robert “Herk” Henry voted against it.

The Rev. Mark Seitz said a metro government would consolidate the city of Wheeling with the unincorporated areas of Ohio County — including The Highlands but excluding Bethlehem, Triadelphia, Clearview, Valley Grove and West Liberty.

“This is just step one toward creating a metro government because the county would have to adopt the same thing,” said Seitz, a member of the Hopeful City organization that has promoted discussion of the issue for months.

Seitz said 55 percent of people living in the city — and 55 percent of people living in the county, but not in the city — would have to vote in favor of creating a metro government.

“Actually voting on a metro government is still a long way away, but this is a step in the right direction,” he said.

Sparachane said now is a good time to study metro government because both the city and Ohio County are doing well. “The county has a great success story going up there at The Highlands, while we are doing well here, too,” he said.

Crow — while voting in favor of the resolution — said said he is not yet convinced metro government is worthy of exploration.

“I voted to study metro government, but I see no value in the idea at this point,” he said.

Seals was decisively opposed to the study.

“I am voting no on this. People who live out in the county live there because they want to live there, and people who live in the city live here because they want to live here,” he said.

Though opposed to the metro government study, Seals said home rule would benefit the city in terms of economic development.

City Manager Robert Herron said home rule would allow local elected officials to address problems that specifically affect their areas.

“Nothing in the home rule application can be inconsistent with the state or U.S. constitutions,” he said.

Herron said the application will require two readings before council for approval, the first of which he said will take place during the regular Dec. 4 meeting.

“If our application is accepted, we will then be able to write the ordinance,” he said.

Herron previously said there are three main concepts the city’s home rule application specifically addresses: enforcing service liens, issuing conditional use zoning and planning permits, and registering vacant properties.

‘‘When cities such as Wheeling spend over $200,000 per year to demolish dilapidated property, the vacant property escheates to the state and is later sold for amounts as low as $1,” the application states. It further notes that the city loses its lien and collects no money after having abated a health, safety and welfare nuisance.

To remedy this problem, the application asks that the city be granted an enforcement mechanism behind such service programs. The city requests lien priority status to assist in fee collection for demolition costs involved with abating public nuisances.

The city also wishes to have the right to recapture some of the general fund money used to perform these activities in the past.

Herron said zoning and planning could be greatly facilitated for the city were it granted home rule.

The application also addresses registration fees to be imposed on vacant properties in the city.

A document from the city of Wilmington, Del., provided by Herron shows the annual fee schedule as $500 for a property that has been vacant for one year; $1,000 for two years; $2,000 for three to four years; $3,500 for five to nine years; $5,000 for 10 years; and $5,000 plus $500 for each additional year after 10 years.

The median fee imposed on 650 vacant properties in the city in 2006 was $3,500 for the year.

The document shows more than $3 million in revenue was created for the city in 2006 as a direct result of the vacant property registration program.

Herron said requiring the owners of vacant properties to pay a registration fee would provide them incentive to either renovate or demolish the property.

Wheeling City Council’s next regularly scheduled meeting is set for 7:30 p.m. Dec. 4, while the public hearing regarding home rule is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Dec. 18.