During a recent Sunbury Village Council meeting, Sunbury Mayor Tommy Hatfield said with Census 2020 on the horizon, and the Village of Sunbury is on the cusp of becoming the City of Sunbury, it’s time to start thinking about establishing a Sunbury Charter Commission.

Sunbury would have the option to apply for charter status following the first census after a population of 5,000 (city status) is reached. With current estimates of Sunbury’s population already exceeding 5,000, that status is going to happen during Census 2020.

Of course, there’s the option of Sunbury electing to continue to operate under the Ohio Revised Code (ORC) umbrella as a statutory city, but that would not be an ideal situation, considering the growth taking place in eastern Delaware County.

Sunbury has been led down the charter path before.

According to ORC, Sunbury Village Council members always have had two charter options. Place the issue of establishing a village charter on a ballot; or let the natural tide of residential growth bring the charter issue to the village at its own pace.

In July of 2006, Sunbury Village Council members approved an ordinance that offered village voters the option of establishing a 15-member charter commission that could have framed a document incorporating the village. That document would have defined every aspect of village government falling under that corporate umbrella.

In 2006, advocates of a charter form of government for Sunbury pointed out that a statutory form of government mandated by Ohio Revised Code is an inflexible, one-size-fits-all, generic solution to the problems of how to structure and operate the village; opponents of a charter simply wanted their quiet little village to remain just that for a few more years … a quiet little village.

Voters rejected that move toward forming a charter form of government during the November 2006 General Election, and Sunbury continues to fall under guidelines set for villages by ORC.

Recently, Hatfield said the village is planning to have a newsletter ready for distribution in April. That newsletter would include charter information.

“About May or June, we would like to have a couple of information sessions and recruit people willing to serve on a charter commission,” Hatfield said. “Members of that commission would then meet one or two times a month for 12 to 18 months.”

Hatfield said he would like to see a Sunbury Charter item on the November ballot. To be placed on the ballot, the village would need to file a petition with the Delaware County Board of Elections signed by at least 10 percent of registered voters who voted in the previous General Election.

The Village of Sunbury is certainly growing. During Census 2000 Sunbury’s population was 2,630; Census 2010 numbers placed Sunbury’s population at 4,389; Census 2020 numbers are only a few years away, the village already exceeds that magic 5,000 number, and the residential population growth in eastern Delaware County continues to accelerate.