The recent approval by the Norton City Council of a new sewer agreement with Barberton promises to close decades of aspirations and years of detailed negotiations about how the two communities can work together for their mutual benefit. The Barberton City Council is expected to approve the deal today, with a formal signing set for later in the month.
Under the agreement, Barberton will become the sole provider of sewer services to all of Norton, having earlier purchased Summit County’s sewer lines in the smaller city. In the short term, the agreement will result finally in action to extend sewer lines to the Nash Heights neighborhood of Norton, where old, poorly maintained septic systems are polluting local waterways. Barberton will take over the Nash Heights project, relieving Norton of the responsibility of meeting an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency order to bring sewers to the neighborhood.
The agreement also will set the stage for cooperation on other projects. Other neighborhoods in Norton are in need of sewer lines to replace old septic tanks, which can cause health issues, as they did in Nash Heights. William Judge, the Barberton mayor who has been the driving force behind the sewer agreement with Norton, already has been contacted by Norton business owners and developers about sewer line extensions.
The sewer agreement is as close to a win-win proposition as is imaginable in negotiations between local governments, and it again underscores the value in taking a regional approach. For Judge, the extension of sewer lines in Norton will bring much-needed revenue, via a surcharge, to maintain an aging municipal system. For their part, Norton Mayor Mike Zita and a majority of the City Council have a way to deal with the potential for more EPA action in neighborhoods with failing septic systems.
Just as important, Norton can plan to shore up its tax base with commercial and industrial development, taking aim at improving its financial health, too. Rather than hold to a semi-rural past, it is long past time for Norton to develop in a responsible way.
Since at least the 1970s, leaders in both communities saw the potential linkage, Barberton with excess sewer capacity and Norton with land for development. In early 2015, with the approval of a memorandum of understanding on sewers, it appeared a breakthrough was at hand, but the Norton City Council stalled on implementation, failing to meet the state EPA’s order on Nash Heights.
Mayor Judge deserves much credit for restarting negotiations despite objections from some members of the Norton City Council. In the end, the two sides ended up with essentially the same deal they struck last year.
Many leaders in Northeast Ohio talk about the benefits thinking and acting regionally, but move ahead with little more than small-scale projects. The agreement between Barberton and Norton deserves notice for its scope and potential benefit to both cities.