Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Annexation Plans Facing Short Deadline

Right now the City of Gurdon is working hard to get a couple of area annexed into the city limits.

This is being done to make the deadline for the 2000 census. Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith said for annexed property to be counted in the upcoming census, the annexation must be done by Dec. 31, 1999. Otherwise, the city will get no benefit from bringing in new areas.

However, Smith said, the city will not be looking to annex the area along Highway 67 toward the Gurdon High School. Instead, the city is working to bring in a section along Taylor- Dairy Road, including the Rose Hedge Cemetery.

If the city annexed this area in after the deadline, Smith said, it would still be responsible for providing all city services, but would not get any state turn back funds.

Turn back funds, he continued, are not new taxes, but are taxes people are paying in at this time, which are turned back to municipalities by the state. These funds are turned back based on population.

On average, this money amounts to about $62 per person, with $40 of this being earmarked for street work. The rest of the money goes into the general fund.

In Gurdon, four departments operate out of the general fund: administration, the Gurdon Police Department, animal control and parks and recreation.

But, Smith pointed out, the half-cent sales tax passed last year by the voters is helping take care of funding animal control and the GPD.

City Marshal David Childres said he would like to see GHS annexed into the city limits. "I have children going to this school. The people should try to put the school in the city limits."

As it stands, the GPD has no authority at the school when something happens. All an officer can do is work to get situations under control and wait for deputies with the Clark County Sheriff's Office to arrive.

Childres said he's timed the CCSO from the time they are called until an officer arrives. A recent incident involving a gun on campus saw it take a deputy 25 minutes to get to the school.

The GPD, Childres said, is only two or three minutes away. This makes a big difference in an emergency situation.

Smith said the city won't pursue this area for annexation. He added, if people living there would like to be in the city limits they can get a petition together to be annexed.

The city did try to annex this area a couple of years ago, but was unsuccessful as the people voted it down by a margin of 404-379 in a special election.

"If the people in the city want GHS to be annexed, we will work with them," he said.

There are other areas wanting to be annexed, though, and these will come first, he added.

While the Gurdon Primary School is not inside the city limits, it is surrounded by property that is. Smith said GPS can be annexed by an ordinance from the city council, and will be.

In using the petition method of annexation, Smith said, the property must be contiguous with property already in the city limits. Those getting the petition together must get legal descriptions of the land to be annexed and have the petition signed by a majority of the property owners who will be affected.

Once this is done, the petition is taken to the quorum court for its approval. Next, the petition goes to the city council for final approval.

"It's a time consuming process," Smith said. "That's why we need to start now."

If anyone living along Hwy. 67 wants to try and get petitions for annexation, Smith said, the city already has the property description in hand. Such an annexation would also bring Lowe Field, the city's airport, and the Gurdon City Park into the city limits, along with GHS.

Any area annexed into the city limits would receive all city services. This includes city water and sewer, along with fire and police protection.

It was also pointed out when the Go-Devils play football in their new stadium this season, officers with the GPD will not be on hand to provide security.

This, again, is because GHS is outside the city limits and out of the GPD jurisdiction.

In addition to security, it will be up to the CCSO to work traffic detail. There will be one road in and out to the stadium.