Junction City Commissioner Richard Pinaire wants an annexation policy for the City. He is urging staff to develop a policy on what the City will do if they annex people's property.
Pinaire this week pointed to a 2006 time frame when 46 properties in the Spring Valley Road area were annexed and apparently many have still not received city water and sewer service. Yet they pay city taxes. Pinaire also wants to see them hooked up to those services for free. "I think that is immoral for the city to continue to have these people pay taxes from 25-30% of their tax rate and we not provide them with services."
Mayor Pat Landes noted that he did not know many properties that the City has come through that haven't had water and wastewater to their site. Many have been done and received those services. He pointed to replacement of a sewer line on South Spring Valley Road to serve residents in that area. "That should have been done back when they were annexed back in the 2000's. I agree. Those things I think we need to do." The mayor added, "If you've got a septic system that's still working and if we can buy a little time as we continue to recover from our financial difficulties from 20 years ago we need to do that."
Landes observed that if you're in the city you get more than water and wastewater. You also get police and fire protection services, EMS, streets, stoplights and signs. He pointed to what he termed swiss cheese holes in town and noted those haven't been contributing to everything else residents have, so it's also a matter of fairness. "We're not just here being the evil overlords, trying to take everybody's land. We're trying to give a fair shake to everybody, even the city residents.
The mayor said he plans to look into water and wastewater with the public works department to see what sites still need to be served that are within Junction City borders, and develop a plan going forward to take care of those matters.
City Manager Allen Dinkel noted that some sewer services were provided, but on the water side if customers are taken away from Rural Water District One that District may have to cease. That could cause a problem involving whether the City would need to service those in the rural area on Water District One. Discussions would be necessary there.