|
Annexation early voting starts Tuesday |
|
|
Tuesday, 07 October 2008 |
Residents of the Northlake area of Saline County and Benton residents may begin early voting Tuesday for the Oct. 14 special annexation election that will determine whether the Northlake folks stay in the county or become a part of the city.
Today also is significant because this is the final day to register to vote in the Nov. 4 general election.
People may register to vote in the Saline County clerk’s office, which is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through Friday.
Early voting will be held in the clerk’s office during those hours through Monday, Oct. 13. No weekend early voting is scheduled.
The Northlake annexation issue has become a competition between Benton and Bryant. Both claim territorial jurisdiction over the area.
Benton officials say they were surprised when Bryant introduced a proposal to annex the area at a June 9 public hearing. Bryant Planning Coordinator LaVenia Jones also introduced the areas of Springhill, Midland, Hilldale, Wilkerson and property surrounding the new Saline County Regional Airport. Jones said that if passed, the annexation would nearly double the size of the city limits and include about 1,200 residences.
On June 5, Benton Mayor Rick Holland sent a letter to Bryant Mayor Larry Mitchell stating the city’s opposition to the Northlake area proposed for annexation in Bryant. Holland said the area is under Benton’s territorial jurisdiction and that a water tower was planned for the area to serve residents of Hurricane Lake Estates and Quail Valley housing additions.
“Benton ... strongly objects to Bryant annexing the unincorporated territory in Sections 7, 8, 17 and 18 of Township 1 South, Range 14 West,” Holland’s letter stated. He requested a meeting between officials of the two cities to try to work out a resolution to the dispute.
Holland said both cities had an agreement in 2005 regarding the territorial jurisdictions and that Benton controls the areas of Northlake. A May 2005 map supporting Benton’s position, bearing the signatures of both cities’ planning commission chairmen, showed that the land south of Northlake Road was designated for for annexation into Benton.
Bryant officials have alleged, however, that Benton broke that agreement by creating a new planning map in 2006.
“When I actually started working on this annexation [in March], I was going by the 2005 agreed upon map,” Bryant Planning coordinator LaVenia Jones said. “We were originally working on that 2005 agreed-upon planning area map, but we discovered that the city of Benton adopted a new one two years ago in 2006.”
Benton Community De-velopment Director Marsha Guffey said the 2006 map mirrored the agreement of 2005 and did not alter the Northlake area.
The two cities have not been able to reach an amicable agreement regarding the land.
Initially, Benton City Council adopted an ordinance calling for an Aug. 12 special election to decide whether to annex land south of Northlake Road. Bryant later scheduled a special election for Sept. 9.
Benton later rescheduled the special election to Oct. 14 and in response, Bryant pulled its special election date in option for the Nov. 4 general election. If both annexation proposals pass, residents in the Northlake area will vote in a third election to decide whether to annex into Benton or Bryant.
Holland said that if the annexation proposals on the special election ballots fail, he’d like to see everything “go back to voluntary annexation.”
he said the decision of the Benton council to hold a special election for the particular area is “time-sensitive” and vital to the growth of the city.
“The Benton council’s decision to focus only on the Northlake area also proposed for annexation by Bryant means that the issue will no longer be city versus county,” Holland said, “but will instead be a question of whether residents will choose Benton over Bryant.
Jones asked the Bryant council to pull the special election.
to save taxpayers money and noted that it would fall within 30 days of the Benton special election.
It was incorrectly stated in Sunday’s paper that early voting for the annexation proposal was to begin today.
|
Razorbacks
