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Group tries a new tactic
Lexington annexation foes turn in 366 sewer requests
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Published: July 12, 2008
LEXINGTON - Opponents of annexation flooded the Lexington City Hall yesterday with requests to have their homes linked to the city's sewer system.
In what one expert called a new strategy for anti-annexation groups, members of Citizens United Against Forced Annexation brought in 366 requests filled out by people who live in the four areas that the city is considering annexing. The requests came in this week after the Lexington City Council held a public hearing Tuesday on annexation. Residents in the proposed annexed areas have until Monday to request that sewer service within two years.
"Our point was that the city can't afford it," Mike Bralkowski, the vice president of the group, said.
The applications all had stickers on them that said "I agree to the same water/sewer extension policy that is in effect for city residents pursuant to NC Statute 160A-47 (3) B."
That statute lays out how the city is to provide sewer service to areas that it annexes. But its interpretation is a sticking point between city officials and annexation opponents.
The city's policy is to provide sewer service to all newly annexed areas within five years. But residents can petition to have sewer service extended to them within two years.
Opponents argue that the state law requires the city to have the money in place to pay for installing those sewer lines. The city could use bond money or simply borrow the money, but it shouldn't be paid for by property owners requesting sewer extensions, opponents say. All that property owners should pay are tap and capacity fees, Bralkowski said.
Alan Carson, the assistant city manager, said that state law allows cities to follow their own policies on how to pay for sewer extensions that are requested by property owners in annexed areas. The sewer-request forms say that "the requested extension will be made according to the current financial policies of the city for making such extensions, which may require substantial financial participation by the owners of benefited property, in advance."
For Elizabeth Dawson, the secretary for Citizens United Against Forced Annexation, that substantial financial participation came to $84,372. That represents half the total cost of extending the sewer to her property.
David Lawrence, a professor at the Institute of Government at UNC Chapel Hill, said that state law allows the city some latitude on how to pay for those sewer extensions. Some cities require the property owners who request sewer service to pay the full cost, he said.
What happened yesterday morning, Lawrence said, appears to be a new strategy employed by annexation opponents; they want to make it too expensive for Lexington to move forward with annexation.
Bralkowski said that city officials are trying to intimidate residents because the city can't afford to provide sewer service within two years.
Carson said that the city can borrow the money to provide the sewer service as requests come in. And when the city last annexed in 1998, the sewer cost came in at $5.1 million, about $900,000 less than what city officials had estimated.
But that wasn't the only sticking point. City officials rejected all 366 sewer requests because of the stickers. Tina Lanier, the city clerk, told annexation foes that the city couldn't accept the applications because the stickers altered the forms.
Opponents then went into the conference room in the city manager's office, pulling the stickers off the forms. Then Carson, who had been at a meeting, told them to stop, saying that removing the stickers altered the forms as well. And he couldn't extend the deadline, he said, because of state law.
So Monday, members of Citizens United Against Forced Annexation Plan to again flood Lexington City Hall, with new sewer-request forms, this time minus the stickers.
■ Michael Hewlett can be reached at 727-7326 or at mhewlett@wsjournal.com.
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