Farmington Mayor Opposes Ordinance To Detach Land

FARMINGTON — A proposal for Prairie Grove to annex Farmington land for a new Rausch Coleman residential subdivision did not set well with Farmington Mayor Ernie Penn.

Penn first read about the proposal to detach about 27 acres of Farmington land in an article in the July 24 Enterprise-Leader.

Prairie Grove City Council approved an ordinance at its July meeting to detach 27 acres from Farmington and then annex that land into Prairie Grove. The title of the proposal is the 2019 Barker Detachment and Annexation Ordinance.

Prairie Grove’s annexation ordinance cannot take effect unless Farmington City Council approves its own ordinance to detach the land and then allow it to be taken into the city of Prairie Grove.

According to the ordinance, the current owner of the property requested the action for a simultaneous detachment and annexation because he owns adjoining property to the west already located in Prairie Grove.

The current owner is not identified in the ordinance but City Attorney Steven Parker told Prairie Grove City Council members Rausch Coleman Homes is interested in purchasing and developing land behind David Rose Gun Shop at 12521 W. Highway 62 in Farmington. Of this land, 27 acres is in Farmington and about 12 acres is in Prairie Grove.

City officials said Rausch Coleman prefers to deal with one city, instead of two cities, and also wants to connect its subdivision to the Valley View sewer system, owned by Washington County Property Owners Improvement District No. 5. The improvement district is in the process of becoming a customer of Prairie Grove’s wastewater system.

Penn said he does not support the proposal.

“There’s no advantage to our city to lose 27 acres of residential development because we have the streets on both sides, Jim Brooks Road and Clyde Carnes,” Penn said. “We’ve just done $130,000 worth of improvements to Clyde Carnes and there’s no benefit to us. We’d lose any kind of real estate tax revenue from it.”

Penn acknowledged Farmington cannot provide sewer to that land at this point but detaching the property “would not be a positive thing for our city, especially since they (Prairie Grove) did an annexation all the way down 62 from their city limits to our city limits a few years ago and captured all that commercial property.”

Friday, Larry Oelrich, Prairie Grove’s director of administrative services and public works, said city officials were under the impression from Rausch Coleman that Farmington was OK with the idea.

But Melissa McCarville, Farmington’s city business manager, said the way she understood it from Jesse Fulcher with Rausch Coleman was that the proposal was still being “investigated” by the development company.

“I didn’t realize it would happen immediately,” McCarville said.

She added, “I didn’t say anything about agreeing to an annexation or deannexation. They were talking about services.”

McCarville said she also told Fulcher the City Council makes such decisions.

“I always say those decisions are not mine to make and I can’t predict what the City Council will do,” she said.

Fulcher was on vacation last week and could not be reached for comment.

Penn said McCarville gave the right answers.

“Melissa can’t commit to anything,” Penn said. “If you want to know the answer you might talk to the mayor.”

Prairie Grove Mayor Sonny Hudson on Friday said he doesn’t blame Penn for his reaction to the proposal.

“We just did our thing,” Hudson said. “They were told if they wanted sewer from Prairie Grove they had to be in Prairie Grove.”

If Farmington turns down the proposal, it will be up to the developer to figure out what to do, Hudson said.

Farmington City Attorney Steve Tennant on Monday said he has received a certified copy of the ordinance.

Tennant said Arkansas Code 14-40-2101 spells out the procedure for a simultaneous detachment and annexation by two cities for land that is contiguous.

According to the law, Farmington must hold a public hearing on the proposal of the ordinance within 60 days. This statute also requires Prairie Grove to publish a legal description of the land to be detached and annexed at least 15 days prior to the public hearing.

Tennant said Farmington City Council would consider the proposed ordinance at its next regularly scheduled meeting following the public hearing. The law itself says that the governing body of the municipality in which the lands are located “may” bring the proposed ordinance up for a vote.

If a majority of the council members vote for the detachment and annexation ordinance, then Prairie Grove would be responsible for services to that area. The decision of both governing bodies is final, unless a lawsuit is filed in circuit court.

Jerry Kopke with Communities Unlimited, which currently is serving as the receiver for the improvement district, said Rausch Coleman asked about connection to the Valley View sewer system. Kopke said Engineering Services Inc., is determining if the nearest lift station has the capacity for more sewer connections. If not, the developer would be responsible for any costs to upgrade the station, Kopke said.