By Mitchell Banks
Seymour officials took a couple more steps in the process of adding 719 acres to the southeast and south sides of the city Monday night.
Barnes and Thornburg attorney Nick Kile attended a city council meeting to explain the annexation process and corresponding pile of paperwork that goes along with it. The annexation process won’t be complete for at least three months.
The four areas to be annexed mostly involve agricultural ground south of the city between State Road 11 (South Walnut Street) and County Road 975E where the new Burkart Boulevard extension currently is being built. It also includes the Ashwood and Hoevener subdivisions off of County Road 950E (Meadowbrook Drive) south of The Home Depot.
A total of 210 parcels lie within the areas to be annexed, which also includes land surrounding Phase 1 of the Burkart Boulevard extension from east of Silgan Plastics to east of Sycamore Road where the new road comes up near Walmart Supercenter east to County Road 975E.
In the past, Mayor Matt Nicholson said the annexations make sense for the future of the city, and the southeast and south sides are the direction to go.
Kile told the council they are required by state statute to adopt a fiscal plan for the annexation process to move forward.
The fiscal plan includes detailing what services, such as police and fire protection, trash and recycling collection, snow removal and street maintenance and public transit, the city will be providing to residents of areas to be annexed and how taxpayers will be affected.
Along with the fiscal plan, the council must pass a separate ordinance for each annexation area if it doesn’t border another parcel.
The ordinances also explain that a public sewer connection fee and a stormwater fee are waived from landowners in the proposed annexation areas.
More information about how property taxes are affected are included in the ordinances.
Annexed owners of agricultural land also are subject to rural lifestyle exemptions, meaning landowners are exempt from city code requirements and restrictions that are allowed by Jackson County ordinances.
Six informational meetings about the annexation were conducted in July by the city. Kile said changes were made to the ordinances after receiving public feedback at those meetings.
Monday night’s meeting marked the first of three times that the ordinances will be presented to the council.
The ordinances, which were passed by the council Monday, will not be discussed again by the city council until the public hearing about the annexations, which is scheduled to happen Oct. 25.
At the public hearing, the council may pass the ordinances on second reading.
Final action must be taken on the ordinances not less than 30 days after the public hearing and not more than 60 days after.
Landowners can formally oppose annexation by signing remonstrance petitions. Fifty-one percent of landowners in each annexation area must sign a remonstrance petition to be permitted a remonstrance trial.
If 65% of landowners in one area sign remonstrance petitions, the ordinance fails.
The council eventually voted 6-0 to pass the four annexation ordinances on first reading and the resolution adopting the fiscal plan. Councilman Dave Earley was absent.