DaytonDailyNews.com

The Sugarcreek Twp. board of trustees last week declared itself neutral on the issue of a Bellbrook-Sugarcreek merger, but all three trustees said they are in favor of Issue 9, the Nov. 4 ballot measure that is the first step toward that merger.

On Nov. 4, voters will decide whether a commission of city and township residents should be selected to set the conditions for a merger. If this year's measure passes, the commission would draw up a plan, and residents would vote for or against the actual merger (based on the commission's plan), likely in 2010.

The trustees — Mike Pittman, Nadine Daugherty and Dick King — said it is too early to take an informed position on whether a merger would be beneficial or not. But all three want a merger commission to study the issue to get more information.

These are excerpts from their comments on the issue last week:

Daugherty: "I see this as a way to make an informed decision. I will vote for a study. ... I'd like to see our zoning stay the same. I'd like to see our employees keep their jobs. I'd like to see our taxes lowered, and maybe by combining services, we might be able to do that. ... The added bonus is this keeps a freeze on annexation. That's not a reason to do this, to me, but it is an added bonus."

King: "I strongly endorse the passage of Issue 9 as a 'no brainer.' It should be obvious to both the Bellbrook and Sugarcreek voters the need to protect the township's commercial tax base from further annexations. ... The electorate must be allowed to make their conclusions derived from completely accurate and unbiased information sources."

Pittman: "This whole process is one of the best things about small-town government — the fact that all the citizens can get involved in this. ... We have annexation issues; (Bellbrook has) the reverse — they're isolated. They have no room to grow at all unless they do this merger ... or they get on the annexation bandwagon. And if they do that, we would have to fight to save our community, and we wouldn't just easily allow that to happen."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2278 or jkelley@DaytonDailyNews.com.