ARTICLE TOOLS

E-mail story

Comments

Printer friendly version

iPod friendly version

Share This

Text Size: A A A A

Signal Mountain council OKs annexing two subdivisions

By: Adam Crisp
(Contact)

Included in this article

Paul Hendricks
Joe Dumas

Signal Mountain’s Town Council voted Monday evening to move forward with the proposed annexation of the Fox Run and Windtree subdivisions.

The council already has held one public hearing and will again take public comments at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 10 before a final vote. Residents of those neighborhoods are promising legal action if the annexation moves forward.

Mayor Paul M. Hendricks said he knew the annexation would be unpopular.

“We’ve work on this long and hard. ... It’s something that has been long in the making,” Mr. Hendricks said. “I think it will be a benefit to both the town and the annexed areas.”

The new residents of Signal Mountain will get access to city services in exchange for paying city taxes.

The proposed ordinance states that allowing the two neighborhoods to exist without annexation would “retard” the growth of Signal Mountain.

One Fox Run resident, speaking after the first vote, suggested the city wait to vote on the annexation until the national credit crisis was resolved. Until then, he said the city should cut spending to function without the new line of revenue.

“We live in very uncertain times right now, in terms of our nation and governments and everything else,” said Fox Run resident Lee Norris. “Americans are going to have to change the way we live our lives, and cities and counties are going to have to do the same thing. You’re going to have to trim your budget.”

Joe Dumas, who already lives inside the Signal Mountain city limits, said the annexation question threatened to divide the community. A previous recall vote of city leaders already caused that sort of strife, he said. He commended the current council for easing the bad community feelings.

“Do you want to enlarge Signal Mountain so you can divide it?” Mr. Dumas said. “Think about the taste you are going to leave in those people’s mouths: those people who already live here and those you propose to bring in.”

Comments