EDMOND — If Edmond City Council was wondering how residents living outside of Edmond city limits might feel about possible annexation, they received an earful Monday night.
Dozens of residents who live in unincorporated areas around Edmond came to the City Council meeting to either speak against the move or present petitions from property and business owners.
The discussion followed Mayor Saundra Naifeh’s call during the March 12 council meeting to look into possibly annexing certain areas considered to be a part of Edmond, but not within city limits.
The areas include land between Sorghum Mill and Waterloo Road, continuing east of Bryant for 5-6 miles and an area south and east of Waterloo and Western.
“Residents need to want to be annexed,” said City Attorney Stephen Murdock. “The city must get a majority of residents’ consent. A process that takes time.”
The mayor called the discussion “a baby step.” She said she had received several e-mails from those residents whose biggest concern was if annexation would take their children out of Deer Creek schools and lack of utilities.
Mayor Naifeh said a positive benefit to annexing the land would be access to streets that would be major arteries and the collection of sales tax dollars from businesses.
“The downside is we have more ordinances,” she said.
Bill Sutton, a property owner in an unincorporated area, said he is not only opposed to the move, but he and some other residents also have retained counsel to stop the annexation.
“Try to examine what a business has to go through,” he said. “When you consider annexation you are faced with several different expenses.”
Mary Beth Smith, who lives near Coltrane and Anderson Road, said she is pleased with the services already provided by Oklahoma County.
“Oklahoma County is great when it comes to snow and ice removal,” she said. “The sheriff’s office works very hard for us.”
She said annexation would cause residential and business property values to increase.
Anna Perry said she moved to the country because of her number of pets. She also said the City of Edmond would not be able to match the price she pays for garbage pickup.
“You can’t beat $4 a week,” she said. She said she feels secure with both Logan and Oklahoma county providing protection.
Several residents complained that due to lack of infrastructure, the City of Edmond would not be able to provide utilities or services to most of the unincorporated areas. But Edmond Fire Chief Gil Harryman said the Edmond Fire Department provides service to unincorporated areas due to an agreement with the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments. He said a bill is presented to the property owner for response to fires. Owners are charged $250 per unit for the first hour and then $200 per unit for each hour afterward.
In 2004, a state law went into effect that requires municipalities to own a 300-foot buffer around an unincorporated area in order to prevent other cities from annexing the unincorporated land.
Council closed the discussion, not taking any action.
In the previous council meeting, Councilwoman Paula Sanford said a citizens group should look at the city’s charter and make recommendations for changes. Councilman David Miller and Mayor Naifeh brought up several names of former mayors and council members to serve on this committee. Councilman Wayne Page suggested that no action be taken “to allow the public to have more input and see if any of them are interested.”
A list of names will be prepared for the council to consider during the April 10 meeting.
Council also approved a $338,500 contract to remodel Fire Station 4. Downey Contracting had the lowest bid of $246,00 to expand two bays about 23 feet to allow trailer and tow apparatus. The contract also includes $92,000 to upgrade the station’s exhaust system.
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County residents say no to Edmond annexation
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