One by one, some 60 people from Howland and Vienna Townships went before their trustees in a joint meeting Wednesday.
They've been against annexation by the city of Niles since it started in 2019.
But a parcel of land in both townships now up for annexation has brought their concerns back to top of mind.

"Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead," said Kevin Brichetto of Howland Township. "That's the only thing that's going to stop Niles. This is a power grab, it's a money grab."

Despite city leaders in Niles insisting otherwise, trustees at Wednesday's meeting weren't convinced, either.
They passed a resolution formally opposing the annexation.

"What could happen here is you have the city taking land away from the townships and making it their own and eroding away at the townships," said Vienna Township trustee Robert Root. "We've all moved to these townships to be part of these townships. We didn't move here to be part of the city of Niles."

The 30-plus acre parcel in question sits between Stillwagon Road and Route 11.
20 or so acres sit in Howland, 10 or so sit in Vienna.
The owners want to turn it into a residential development and asked the city of Niles to annex it for its utilities.

Wednesday, Niles city council passed the first reading of a measure to go ahead with the annexation.

"The property owner is following Ohio Revised Code, following state annexation laws, and again, this is not the city forcing annexation on a property owner, this is at the sole request of the property owners," said mayor Steve Mientkiewicz.

But folks in the townships say they've been left in the dark.

"We have no idea what their plans are," said Howland Township trustee Dr. James Lapolla. "What we do know is that right now, that parcel of land is well maintained in terms of the necessities to live there by Howland and Vienna Townships at this time."

A county can deny annexation requests. Everyone at Wednesday's meeting is hoping Trumbull County commissioners will do just that when they meet December 7.