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Second Reading Of Annexation OK'd
November 11, 2004
By a 5-0 vote, Oneida's Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted Thursday to approve on second and final reading the annexation of Meadow Creek subdivision into the corporate limits of the town.
Mayor Jack Lay said the board's action on the annexation becomes official following a 30-day "waiting period" for protests to be filed in court. The ordinance was adopted on first reading on October 21.
Thursday night's vote followed a public hearing on the proposed annexation, during which Alton Terry and Sonya and Chester Stanfill spoke out in opposition to the annexation.
Terry and the Stanfills both own property along a section of Coopertown Road between the town's present city limits and the subdivision, and are among 14 residents who had not petitioned the board for annexation.
Mayor Lay explained that because of a relatively new state law, in order to annex Meadow Creek, the town had to annex property along both sides of the road to the entrance of Meadow Creek.
Terry told the board that he farms along both sides of the road and the annexation came as a surprise to him, that he had not been notified and had not seen a map. Terry's granddaughter, Debbie Sheets, told the board that Terry's opposition was because "basically, he doesn't want to pay city taxes."
After a brief discussion, Terry said: "If I can't do nothing about it, it will just be done, I guess."
The Stanfills, who own and rent four houses and 14 mobile homes, said they were opposed to being brought into the city limits because more taxes meant higher rent "for people that can't afford it," Sonya Stanfill said.
Gene Bond, a Meadow Green subdivision resident, told the board that he was in favor of the annexation, adding that the benefits offset the taxes, particularly with regard to police protection and city sewer service.
Vice Mayor Jeff Tibbals made the motion to accept the annexation ordinance on final reading and it
carried by an all-aye vote.
news@ihoneida.com
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