Census figures will make big difference for some communities

COLUMBUS - Results of the 2000 federal census will be of more than causal interest in communities such as Powell, St. Clairsville and Nelsonville.

All three towns have about 5,000 people, the minimum population set by state law for a community to move from village to city status, or back again. Such changes also mean significant restructuring in government.

Every 10 years, three or four communities anticipate a status change, said John Mahoney, deputy director of the Ohio Municipal League.

"Three become cities and one goes back to village status," he told The Columbus Dispatch for an article, yesterday.

Villages that evolve into cities need charters and civil service commissions and might have to change their accounting procedures.

The new status also makes them eligible for more community block grant money.

What is likely to be the most dramatic example of a village becoming a city is the community of Powell, in southern Delaware County north of Columbus.

Powell was a largely rural community of 2,154 residents with plenty of land available for development in 1990. As Columbus expanded to the north, that land began to fill with houses. Census estimates in 1999 show Powell had 5,220 residents. Village officials think that number now is about 6,000.

"When we got here, it was definitely just a crossroads, not the hubbub it is now," said Dan Hollenback, who operates an antique store with his father, Don. "In southern Delaware County, we don't raise corn, we raise housing developments."

Said Village Manager Steve Lutz, "We fully expect to become a city."

He said Powell will retain its village atmosphere because it is not likely to grow significantly larger in the next 10 years. Most of its 3 square miles now are developed.