Prepared Comments Made to
NORTH CANTON CITY COUNCIL
September 30, 2013
I would
like to address last week’s presentation regarding the proposed JEDD for Cain
Toyota which is, in part, the basis for entering into a mutual economic
agreement with the City of Canton and the townships of Plain and Jackson to be
voted on tonight as Resolution No. 63-13.
I listened intently
last Monday night and took close notes as Council President Snyder described
the following: That Cain Motors could no longer meet their water needs with a
well and that the City of North Canton was better positioned to extend a water
line some great distance to Cain Motors as opposed to the City of Canton who
would have to extend its waterline from 38th Street to provide water
service. Mr. Snyder also said that Cain Motors would be afforded inside water
rates in spite of the fact that Cain Toyota is outside the North Canton City
limits. In exchange, Cain Motors would agree to the imposition of a two percent
municipal income tax.
Wanting to
dig deeper into the facts of this situation, I was able to meet the next
morning with David Cain, the owner of Cain Motors.
I
introduced myself to Mr. Cain and the first thing I said was, “I believe you
are being blackmailed and I also believe the City of North Canton is being
blackmailed.” Without hesitation Mr. Cain said, “I agree!”
What I
learned next from Mr. Cain astounded me as he told me that his BMW dealership
was presently a water customer of the City of North Canton and that the BMW
dealership has received water from the City through a four-inch waterline for
many years.
I am very upset in the total
misrepresentation of this entire situation at last week’s council meeting.
North Canton has water lines already in place right across the street from Cain
Motors and have been a North Canton water customer for years.
Mr. Cain told me that when he built
the BMW dealership several years earlier, he simply made a request for water
services from North Canton and it was provided without delay.
Mr. Cain related to me that his current
request for expanded water service for his Toyota dealership has gone on for
five months with numerous cost estimates from the City. Over the months of
delay, he has appealed to State Representative Kirk Schuring and then to State
Senator Scott Oelslager to prod North Canton into action. Three calls made to
North Canton Mayor David Held for assistance were never returned.
I am not sure when the idea of a
JEDD was presented to Mr. Cain and the accompanying demand that an income tax
be imposed, but Mr. Cain knew that the Toyota dealership could not open as
scheduled without water service. As the weeks and months went by, he asked everyone
he talked to why this wasn’t a simple business deal. North Canton has a product
to sell and he wanted to buy it.
These demands on Cain Motors are
nothing more than extortion and blackmail and I hope Mr. Cain seeks legal
representation.
North Canton has thousands of
outside water customers. Are we going to let them become pawns in these games
with the City of Canton and the townships of Plain and Jackson?
The City of Canton is providing no
services in this proposed JEDD and yet, like a mafia thug seeing easy money for
the taking, they are slated to receive one third of the income tax collected
for participating with Plain and Jackson Townships.
This is not a collaboration of
governments but a conspiracy of governments that border North Canton, designed to
forever end annexations by North Canton in Plain and Jackson Township.
Promises of additional income tax
collections from the construction of two new hotels have been made to sell this
pig-in-a-poke agreement. Hotels employ mostly minimum wage part-time employees.
Not much in the way of income taxes here. And then you want to split it three
ways?
Extension of water service
generally brings along with it annexations which allows North Canton to expand
its borders in the future. The only other benefit to North Canton in extending
water service outside the City is the added revenue from the higher outside
water rates that subsidize inside rates, thus keeping water rates low for
inside water users.
For Mr. Cain, this was never about
water rates but simply a need for more water. The offer of inside rates to an
outside water user violates our long-standing water rate policy, is patently
unfair to all North Canton water customers, and undermines the financial integrity
of the City’s water fund.
David Cain of Cain Motors has been
very generous in supporting community events in North Canton and is known to
many of you. I am stunned this City is treating Mr. Cain in this manner.
North Canton water is enjoyed far
beyond municipal boundaries. The City has spent decades putting in place this
infrastructure. Do not now change course on all that this City has built. The
current political climate will change in the future negating catastrophic
proposals such as the one now before you.
Consideration of this JEDD for Cain
Motors by City Council simply makes this City and all of City Council a party
to extortion and blackmail.
I ask that you not pass Resolution
No. 63-13. It simply moves the City closer to surrendering its autonomy as well
as its prospects for a successful future.
Chuck Osborne, Resident
City of North Canton
