Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Annexation Of Hwy. 67 Area Being Considered Again

Annexation has again reared its head in Gurdon and met with immediate opposition.

Karen Parker, a member of the Gurdon City Council, proposed an annexation ordinance for property along Highway 67 South to include the Gurdon schools in the area at the regular monthly meeting of the Gurdon City Council Monday night.

Such an ordinance takes three readings before becoming law. Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith said there was no way he would try and get this ordinance passed in one night, as it wouldn't give the people of Gurdon or the proposed area to be annexed the chance to voice their opinion.

Roland Calley, who lives in the area, was vocal in his opposition, telling Smith and the council this had been tried before and vowed to fight it once again.

Calley appeared to get angry over the issue and walked out of the meeting.

In 1996, the City of Gurdon attempted to annex the area along Highway 67 to the schools into the city limit by way of election. It failed by 24 votes and caused much animosity at the time.

"If you want the school in the city, OK," Calley said, "but we don't want to be in there. We didn't ask the school to be out there. You can go down the old highway and leave us alone."

Calley suggested the city take a back route an annex property owned by International Paper Company along the Old Gurdon Highway into the city limits, and leave property owners along Highway 67 alone.

Parker said while there are those who don't want to be annexed into the city limits, the primary reason she is pushing the issue is to help get police protection for Gurdon High School and Cabe Middle School.

Other residents at the meeting voiced their opposition to the issue saying they should have been told about an annexation attempt beforehand. This was one of the primary complaints in '96, as many residents said they felt they were being forced into the city limits and weren't contacted by the council.

Smith said it would be wonderful if the city could annex the schools into the city limits and leave the property owners alone, but the law won't allow it. Annexations in such instances must include contiguous lands.

Earlier in the meeting, he pointed out people along the Taylor Dairy Road had submitted a petition to the Clark County Quorum Court to be annexed into the city limits. This petition has been filed with the Clark County Clerk's Office and a public hearing set for July 1 at the Gurdon City Hall on the matter.

Clark County Judge Floyd "Buddy" Manning will preside over this hearing.

Smith said the city has two ways of annexing the property along Highway 67 into the city limits one is by petition, such as the one presented by the Taylor Dairy Road residents, and the other is by special election.

When people along Highway 67 were asked to help with a petition drive, they said they were too busy. This, Smith said, leaves the election method.

He further said no one is trying to force this on anyone living along the highway. "We're not trying to pull the wool over the people's eyes on this," Smith said. "Nobody wanted to get petitions and go door-to-door."

There are people in this area, Smith continued, who have changed their minds. They voted against annexation in '96, but say they will vote for it should an election be held because things are different now.

In '96, only GHS was involved. However, since then, CMS has been built, along with a new physical education building for CMS students, and a new football stadium and track are under construction.

The GPD has no jurisdiction on school properties unless called to help by the Clark County Sheriff's Office. This was done recently when a CMS student brought a weapon to school and made threats toward others.

It was also pointed out there will be little or no police protection during home football games, as GPD officers would be outside their jurisdiction and the CCSO doesn't have the manpower to fully staff the games.

Smith reminded those present ordinances require three readings before they can be passed. He said this time the annexation issue has been instigated by Parker.

The survey forms seen in area stores, he pointed out, are not legal documents and were only to gauge the public's feelings on the matter.

Councilman Johnny McGuirt asked if it would help for the council to personally speak to people in the area and was told no, they had been through this before.

The residents said they have nothing against the school and gave right of ways for the water project, or their property would have been condemned, but were under the impression there would be no annexation attempt unless they asked for it.

Smith apologized for any misunderstanding or misinterpretation, saying this was never the city's intent. The petition method, he said, would be cheaper than an election, but no one wanted to circulate petitions.

Parker said the annexation issue wasn't brought up to offend anyone, but because of concern for having police protection at the schools. She said were two incidents at CMS this year concerning her as her sons attend this school.

Don Childres, with the GPD, said he, too, has a child attending CMS and wants the school in the city limits so the GPD can protect the students and patrol the area.

Smith said if the city went down the county road and took in the timberland, the city would still have to provide all city services within three years. These services include police and fire protection, water and sewer service and 9-1-1 service. But, he said, no one lives there and it would be pointless.

While there were complaints about having to pay the city tax, Smith said the 5.4 mill city tax would increase the property tax on a $50,000 home by $54 a year.

He added with the potential savings in homeowner insurance by being in the Gurdon Fire Department service area, the policies could be reduced as much as $300 annually.

Currently, he said, the 5.4 mill tax brings in about $40,000 a year.

Those properties on the east side of Highway 67 are in the Beirne Fire Department coverage area. This department has a class 10 rating, whereas the GFD has a class 7 rating.

Smith said there are people along Highway 67 who don't want to be in the city limits, want all the city services yet don't want to pay for them. Legally, he said, the city can't provide services outside the city limits.

The most important issue for consideration in this annexation push, he said, is getting the GPD the ability to protect the school. When football season begins this September traffic control will be needed, as will foot patrols in the parking lots to insure the safety of vehicles parked there.

It was said nothing has been mentioned about annexation by the council until the survey showed up.

Smith