Annexation approved despite split Board
Starkville will grow a little bigger after the Board of Aldermen voted to approve the proposed annexation ordinance Tuesday night after months of resistance from some Oktibbeha County residents.
The vote was tied 3-3, and Mayor Lynn Spruill broke the tie by voting in favor of annexation, something she has supported for years.
Vice Mayor Roy A. Perkins along with Aldermen Henry Vaughn of Ward 7 and Ben Carver of Ward 1 voted against annexation while Aldermen Hamp Beatty of Ward 5, Jason Walker of Ward 4 and Sandra Sistrunk of Ward 2 voted in favor.
Of all opposing Aldermen, Perkins was the most firm in his criticism of the vote.
"Basically, what the city did tonight was
wrong," Perkins said. "They dragged these people into the city against their own will. They brought them in, in a very involuntary way. It was just wrong."
Perkins, Vaughn and Carver have all spoken out against annexation to various degrees in the past, but Perkins mounted the most substantial objection Tuesday night at the conclusion of the Board's final public hearing on annexation.
The subject of his objection was BARB-Q Road, a gravel road located north of the Highway 12 and Highway 82 intersection within the area to be annexed approximately 1,100 feet long and narrower than 16 feet in some places.
Perkins questioned City Engineer Edward Kemp about his knowledge of the road and the costs associated with paving and improving the road.
Kemp acknowledged the poor condition of the road and when asked said only six or seven houses were on the road.
To chip seal pave, a cheaper method of paving, the road, Kemp said he estimated it would cost the city $43,000. To add a curb, gutter and asphalt to the road, Kemp said the cost would be over $100,000.
Perkins continued by bringing Terry Kemp, head of the city's Utilities Department, in front of the podium to answer questions about connecting annexed areas with Starkville's water and sewage system.
Perkins said he was afraid the city would face a repeat of problems that arose from the 1998 annexation, noting some residents were told they would have connections within five years and still were not being provided certain city services.
"It's been over two decades since that representation was made," Perkins said. "So, I want to note on this sixth day of August of 2019, I want to make sure these people if they are brought into the city won't have to wait another 21 years."
When asked, Kemp said expanding sewage to reach BAR-B-Q Road would cost about $750,000.
Perkins argued that bringing in parts of the county like BAR-B-Q Road, where improvements were costly, was not a smart decision for the city, regardless of whether residents wanted or did not want to be annexed.
"Even if they did ask to come in, we just cannot afford it," Perkins said.
Looking forward, Perkins said he believed annexed residents would be constantly asking their aldermen for assistance with their grievances, adding that the area was "very likely" to land in his ward, Ward 6.
"If it's brought into Ward 6, I'm just going to tell them, ‘Go see whoever passed the bill,'" Perkins said. "Don't come asking me for one red penny because I'm not going to fight for it."
Perkins said Starkville had no reasonable motive for annexing areas that were so expensive to improve.
"No disrespect to the people who live on BAR-B-Q Road, but the issue is we have to be great stewards of the taxpayer's purse," Perkins said. "We have to be conservative stewards of the taxpayer's purse. There's nothing conservative about bringing an area like this, with all these types of potential expenditures."
Perkins said the annexation map had been "strategically gerrymandered."
Addressing county residents in the room wary of annexation, Perkins said he felt the move was un-american and encouraged them to fight it to the best of their ability.
"If you're not satisfied with whatever happens here, take it to court," Perkins said. "Because you have the right to the freedom, you have a right to the liberty, you have the right to the freedom of choice and you have the right to not be bothered by government officials."
At the conclusion of his objection, Perkins requested city attorney Chris Latimer preserve the photos of BAR-B-Q Road provided by Perkins for any potential appealing litigation the annexation might invite. Latimer accepted the request.
Alderman Vaughn followed Perkins and echoed the Vice Mayor's sentiments, arguing the people had every right to refuse annexation and the Board should respect such a decision.
"Why would I want to make somebody come somewhere when they don't want to be here?" Vaughn asked. "That bothers me. That really bothers me."
Referencing the city's multiple-year street plan, Vaughn said he already had existing road problems and feared adding more by way of annexation to the city's list of things to fix.
"I've got some streets that won't come for probably three years from now, two years from now, that need to be paved right now," Vaughn said.
Vaughn said the city's best course of action would be to abandon the annexation plan.
"Mayor, Board, I wish we would just stop, kill this now and start all over," Vaughn said. "I think that would be the best thing we could do."
Ward 1's Carver said he knew the ordinance would pass with the mayor breaking the tie vote and added it was one of her campaign promises, a claim Spruill denied, saying she had only ever been supportive of annexation and never promised anything.
Carver said his reservations on annexation stemmed from doubts about whether the 1998 annexation had truly been handled well.
"If I really felt like I could put my hand on a Bible in front of a judge and say that we have provided all services for the 1998 annexation, I might feel different about what we've rested on tonight," Carver said.
The timing of the annexation was another problem Carver cited as reason for opposing the move.
"We've still got some things with staffing issues," Carver said. "I just think it's a couple years, two, three, four years too early."
Finally, Carver said the overwhelmingly negative reaction from the public was reason enough for him to question the plan. He said heeding such a reaction was vital to governing well.
"The day that you get elected is not the last day you listen to your constituents," Carver said.
Alderman Beatty of Ward 5 was the most vocal supporter of annexation Tuesday night. During his campaign earlier this year to join the Board, he announced he fully supported the move.
Beatty criticized attacks made by county residents on issues unrelated to annexation, such as the developmental improvements to Russell Street and City Hall.
"These comments were simply made to insult Starkville city officials about the decision making," Beatty said.
Beatty went on to praise the Starkville Fire Department and assured future city residents in attendance the SFD would respond quicker than the East Oktibbeha Volunteer Fire Department.
"That's the reason Starkville has a class four fire rating," Beatty said. "We have full time firefighters and better equipment to respond and put out fires quickly."
Continuing his praise of Starkville's services, Beatty said Starkville was responsible for treating sewage from Mississippi State University, which includes sewage flowing in from the East Oktibbeha Waste Water association.
"Starkville charges for this service, but it would be extremely expensive for MSU and the East Oktibbeha Waste Water Association to collect and treat their sewage in a standalone facility," Beatty said. "The cost of new sewage treatment facility with the capacity to handle both MSU and the East Oktibbeha Waste Water would probably cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $40 million to $50 million."
Beatty then claimed many business on the Highway 182 corridor in the annexation plan were benefiting disproportionately from being just outside of Starkville's borders.
"There's not a business on Highway 182 within the proposed annexed area that would exist except for its proximity to Starkville," Beatty said.
In a rebuttal of past complaints by county residents, Beatty said the backlash was sparked for one reason.
"The opposition to this annexation has ostensibly been about wanting to live in the country or losing control of property rights but what it's really about is the prospect of paying city taxes for benefits that are already being provided by the city, such as fire protection," Beatty said.
Beatty concluded by guaranteeing county residents of the benefits being close to Starkville provided.
"Please know that you do benefit from living or owning a business next to the city of Starkville, even if you don't realize it or want to admit it," Beatty said.
Alderwoman Sistrunk of Ward 2 said the blowback from the communities pulled in by annexation did not surprise her.
"I've read a lot about annexation in other communities, and the things that y'all bring forward as issues are consistent with every other place that's done an annexation," Sistrunk said. "We have started with a big plan, and based on what we have heard, we have scaled it down. I don't agree with the use of the word ‘gerrymandering.'"
While acknowledging the complaints of county residents, Sistrunk said there was "nothing unique" about the conversations being had over this annexation plan and encouraged fellow Aldermen and citizens to put the issue to bed.
"It frequently does get lost in the shuffle that the city of Starkville carries a lot of weight of Oktibbeha County," Sistrunk said. "We have a budget with property taxes of about $7 million in the city limits. We pay over $14 million to Oktibbeha County in property taxes."
Spruill ended the discussion of annexation by first refuting Carver's claim that annexation was a campaign promise of her's.
"I didn't make campaign promises," Spruill said. "What I said was, I believed that this was an appropriate thing for the Board to look at."
Spruill said the process of developing a final annexation plan, which has lasted nearly 18 months, was handled well by the Board and the plan discussed on Tuesday was reasonable. The original plan saw a much larger area both in terms of population and land being annexed, including MSU'S campus.
"I wanted us to go over 30,000," Spruill said. "I'll be the first one to tell you. I thought we had provided MSU an opportunity to be comfortable with that."
Spruill said following MSU'S refusal to be annexed, the goals of the plan were readjusted.
"One of the things that has moved us to where we are now is these are the areas of growth," Spruill said. "These are the paths."
Residents, Spruill admitted, were not the main concern of the annexation but rather it was aimed at businesses benefitting from Starkville's proximity without paying their "fair share," echoing Beatty's earlier point.
"To be perfectly honest, I'm a little surprised that anybody doesn't think Starkville is a great place to be," Spruill said. "I don't think we're going to do anything that's going to cause your lives to change dramatically."
As other Board supporters of annexation did, Spruill denied accusations of gerrymandering and argued the final plan was "very judicious and very conservative."
"I believe annexation is the right thing for us to do," Spruill said. "I realize there are going to be some who are not happy about this, but from my perspective, the city in its entirety is my scope and what I believe to be in the best interest of the city as a whole is the vote I would take on that. And I believe that annexation is appropriate for our community at this point time."
Annexation has dominated several Aldermen meetings over the summer, and despite approving the ordinance Tuesday night, it will still be some time before it works itself through the court system and becomes law.
Some county residents have promised at previous public hearings that, if annexed, the city would find itself facing legal appeals.
Perkins said he believed it was reasonable to expect annexation to invite litigation from county residents but could not speculate on whether or not such a notion would become a reality.
IN OTHER NEWS
• Aldermen unanimously approved a new stormwater ordinance for the city of Starkville meant to help developers plan for more efficient ways to transport water to appropriate drainage sites.
• In executive session, Aldermen ordered a stop word order for construction going on in the Country Club Estates neighborhood off of South Montgomery Street. Residents of the neighborhood came before Aldermen in June asking the Board to take action due to extensive flooding in parts of the neighborhood.