Charter Amendment Opens City Council Discussion. Starkey Home Demolished as Westerville Expansion Moves Forward.
City Manager Warns of Costs and Confusion if Charter Amendment Passes
Westerville City Manager Monica Dupee used her report during Tuesday night’s City Council meeting to detail the expenses and difficulties the city would encounter if voters approve Issue 21, a citizen-initiated charter amendment requiring Westerville Electric and Water divisions to provide residents with traditional analog meters instead of smart meters.
Dupee said the amendment, which appears on the November ballot through a petition drive, may seem simple but would require rebuilding an outdated meter-reading system from scratch. “It would require separate hardware, software, personnel, and other resources,” she told the council. The city estimates that $310,000 will be needed to establish the system, followed by ongoing maintenance and labor costs. Because the amendment forbids charging customers who choose manual meters, “that service would be subsidized by all other customers,” she said.
Council President Michael Heyeck called the “no additional cost” language in the amendment misleading. The amendment states that customers would not pay for installing older meters, but Heyeck argued that this only covers a small part of the actual expense.
“The real cost isn’t the meter itself,” he said. “It’s the separate system we would have to create to support it—staff to read the meters, vehicles, handheld devices, billing infrastructure, and data entry. That’s where the ongoing costs come in.”
He noted that smart meters have been the industry standard for years and are already used by more than a billion customers worldwide. “These old meters are like carburetors,” he said. “They worked once, but they’re outdated, inefficient, and no longer manufactured.”
Westerville completed its transition to advanced meters in 2024 after a decade of planning and upgrades. The automated system enables quicker outage detection, more accurate billing, and encrypted data transmissions that last only milliseconds.
Dupee said smart meters are “one of the most studied technologies in the world,” citing research from the World Health Organization, American Cancer Society, and the Electric Power Research Institute, all of which found no harmful effects from the low-frequency radio signals used by the devices. Customer information, she said, is encrypted, stored securely, and state law protects utility data from public release.
Because the amendment was proposed by residents—not the city—Westerville is restricted by law to providing only factual information. Dupee said that each household will receive a postcard with instructions to visit westerville.org/issue21, where the full text of the amendment and a detailed FAQ are available.
“We want people to understand what this would mean operationally,” Dupee said. “It’s not about opinion. It’s about what it would take to make this work if it passes.”
Council members thanked Dupee for publicly addressing what many described as confusion on social media. Councilmember Coutyana Coombs said residents deserve clear information, adding that “it’s our responsibility to explain what the change would actually require.”
Several members, speaking personally, said they would vote against the amendment. Mayor Ken Wright noted the city has already offered opt-outs for nearly a decade but said the older meters “aren’t even made anymore.”
“The amendment would force us to buy and maintain outdated technology and then staff an entire manual system to read it,” he said.
Former council member Tim Davey spearheaded the petition drive earlier this year, saying he wants residents to have “the right to choose” their type of meter. His proposal would require the city to replace smart meters with analog ones “at no additional cost” to the customer and allow residents to supply their own meters if the devices meet accuracy standards verified by the utility.
Davey and his supporters say the change is about consumer choice, privacy, and potential health concerns. City leaders counter that it would undo years of modernization and increase costs citywide.
If approved, the amendment would require the city to manage two separate systems: one automated and one manual. That would require purchasing discontinued equipment, hiring and training meter readers, and reprogramming billing software for hand-entered data.
“The manual system would operate in parallel with the existing digital system, which means duplication of effort at every level,” Dupee said. “It would make the city less efficient and more expensive to run.”
The measure appears as Issue 21 on ballots in Franklin County and as the first issue on the ballot in Delaware County for the November 4 election. A “yes” vote would amend the Westerville City Charter to require installation of non-smart meters on request, while a “no” vote would maintain the current system.
“This is not a city-sponsored initiative,” Heyeck reminded residents. “It’s a citizen petition, and it’s up to voters to decide—but they should do so with a full understanding of what it would actually cost.”
Westerville’s charter allows residents a straightforward way to propose amendments. A citizen group only needs to gather signatures and have them certified by the state before an initiative can go on the ballot. Unlike many Central Ohio cities, no local board or council approval is necessary.
In contrast, Columbus made that process significantly more difficult in 2021. In August of that year, voters approved Issue 3, a council-sponsored amendment that doubled the signature requirement for citizen-initiated charter amendments. The threshold increased from 5 percent of those who voted in the last gubernatorial election to 10 percent of all registered voters, creating a much higher barrier. Supporters argued the change would discourage frivolous or poorly vetted amendments, while critics contended it weakened direct democracy and limited public input on city policy.
Westerville has not imposed such restrictions, which explains how the current meter proposal was able to reach voters under the city’s longstanding open amendment process.
City Manager Monica Dupee said Westerville’s charter makes it relatively straightforward for citizens to propose amendments. “Most communities have more steps in charter amendments in their charter,” she noted after a recent council meeting. “We do not at this point. We will review that and see if it’s necessary.”
Starkey Home’s End Marks Next East of Africa Objective
Giovanni Napoli stood in the rain Tuesday afternoon, watching as a demolition crew tore down the walls of the house where he grew up, including the bedroom he once called his own.
The home on Africa Road, where Napoli lived with his grandparents John and Joyce Starkey, was reduced to debris within hours. Once surrounded by farmland and dirt roads, the 1.5-acre property is now at the center of a major infrastructure expansion that will extend Westar Boulevard east into the city’s newest commercial development.
The City of Westerville bought the home from the Starkeys in 2024 for $710,000. The purchase was part of a larger plan to connect Westar to the 88-acre East of Africa development, a mixed-use area aimed at boosting commercial growth and increasing traffic access.
Demolition started mid-afternoon after months of site preparation, including septic tank removal, utility clearing, and inspections. By the end of the day, only splinters, scraps of insulation, and memories remained. The two-lane extension of Westar will soon pass directly through the spot where the Starkey kitchen once stood.
In a previous conversation, Joyce Starkey remembered the day she and her husband moved into the home over 40 years ago.
“Africa Road was just a narrow dirt road with hardly any traffic,” she said. “There were farms all around us, and a big barn right across the street.”
Today, Africa Road is a busy three-lane street with curbs and gutters. Nearly all the neighboring farmland has been developed or repurposed. The Yarnell Farm next door still grows soybeans and corn — but only as leased land, not a homestead.
The view from Joyce’s kitchen, which once extended over open fields toward Alum Creek, now stops at the dead end of Westar Boulevard. That road will soon run through the space where she used to cook.
“Losing the home will be difficult, given all the memories,” she said. “If they build the road, it will come right through my kitchen.”
After the sale, the Starkeys moved to Sunbury. Their old home has been cleared to make way for part of a major transportation route linking Westerville’s center to its northern outskirts.
Construction crews have already started grading and paving in sections of the East of Africa project. City officials say the full extension of Westar is expected to open by fall 2026.
What was once a quiet home at the edge of town is now a construction site, and soon, a thoroughfare in a fast-changing city.
East of Africa Stories About The Starkeys in The Westerville News
City Buys Family Home for Westar — The City of Westerville purchased the Starkey home, a 1.5-acre property between Africa Road and Westar Boulevard, for $710,000 to make way for the East of Africa roadway extension.
Starkey Home Purchased by City — John and Joyce Starkey relocated to Sunbury after selling their home of more than forty years to the city.
Crews Clear Utilities at Former Starkey Home Ahead of Demolition — City crews prepared the site for demolition by clearing utilities and removing the septic system.
Paving This Week in East of Africa Update — Demolition of the Starkey home occurred alongside paving and grading for the new four-lane connector road through East of Africa.
East of Africa Begins Growing Crops Again — Portions of the site were replanted with hay to preserve its agricultural tax status during early development stages.
East of Africa Dirt Piles Update and Sunbury Road Closure — Soil and construction debris stored near the Starkey property were reduced as grading advanced across the development.
East of Africa For Sale — The city began listing parcels for sale on the East of Africa site, including land surrounding the former Starkey property.
2024 Westerville — In Review — The Starkey property purchase and demolition were among the city’s most visible projects of 2024, marking a significant step in Westerville’s expansion.
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