SPRINGTOWN -- The request of five property owners to have their lands annexed into Springtown failed to be approved by the Springtown Council at its April 14 meeting though at least one of the petitioners is hoping a vote at the May council meeting may bring approval.
Though the Eagle Observer had not by press time on Tuesday yet received draft minutes of the council meeting which it requested on April 15, Shane Bauman, the town's treasurer and recorder did send the following information by email: "The Springtown voluntary annexation vote was split 2-2. A non-resident landholder solicited several households just outside of Springtown's western boundary to apply for voluntary annexation into Springtown. When spoken with, these residents expressed desire to expand Springtown's western border closer to the town of Gentry, to ultimately have Springtown annexed by Gentry. During the town meeting, the non-resident landholder verified that he felt annexation of Springtown by Gentry was ultimately in Springtown's future and in Springtown's best interests.
"After speaking to a majority of the registered voters in Springtown, opposition to the Springtown annexation felt that adding new town residents who were actively interested in ultimately having Springtown annexed by another town was not in the best interests of the town of Springtown."
According to information the Eagle Observer was able to obtain from those who attended the meeting, council members Terri Glenn and Karee Barrett voted against the annexation. Council members Linda Taylor and Don Jech voted in favor of approving the annexation. Council member Chuck Guess was unable to be present.
John Wasson, longtime UCLA professor of Los Angeles, Calif., and formerly of the community of Springtown, one of the five land owners, said he wanted to annex his land into Springtown because of his love and concern for Flint Creek.
Wasson was the only petitioner who would not have become a permanent resident of Springtown if the petition was approved, though he does own a house in the town.
"I want to preserve the beauty of Flint Creek," Wasson told the Eagle Observer on April 15, explaining that he thought annexing his land would help preserve the pristine beauty of the creek and prevent a developer from coming in someday and building a housing development and golf course along the creek.
Wasson said he also worked together with other property owners along the creek to petition for annexation with the preservation of Springtown's history and the beauty of Flint Creek in mind.
Mary Droho, who, along with her husband Ed Balluck, owns property along the west side of Flint Creek, said she and her husband wanted to be a part of the Springtown community and work to make it better place. She too told the Eagle Observer of her desire to preserve Fint Creek.
"We wanted to be a part of the Springtown community," Droho said, "and we wanted to preserve the creek."
Al Lemke, another of the residents who petitioned to have his land annexed into Springtown, told the Eagle Observer he did so because he desired to have the fire protection and trash services available to town residents and because he was supportive of the plans for a town walking trail.
"I feel like having more people would be for the good of Springtown," Lemke said, adding that he thought all who wanted to be annexed into the town were wanting "the best for the community."
According to Wasson, Lemke and Droho, Preston Barrett, Springtown's mayor, said in the April 14 meeting that the ultimate purpose of the annexation petition was to have Springtown annexed into Gentry.
"The mayor brought this up like it was some big deal," Al Lemke said. "I don't know where he got it from. It was an outlandish statement to make. Gentry is two miles away!"
Droho too said the mayor had suggested this and not her.
Wasson said he realized the day could come when Springtown becomes a part of Gentry but that would be "decades away," he said. He told the Eagle Observer his goal was not to somehow draw Springtown to be annexed by Gentry. He desired the council to act favorably on the petition before it now and make his land a part of Springtown.
Wasson said he hoped the matter would come back to the council's May meeting with all the council members present in hopes it will pass. Wasson said he anticipated the mayor would veto the council vote if it approved the annexation, but thought he would at least have to provide a written reason if he did so. Bauman told the Eagle Observer by email he was not yet sure if the matter would be coming back up again at the May meeting.
According to Wasson and Droho -- and also referenced in Bauman's email -- Mayor Barrett told the council he had taken a private survey of the (appoximately) 35 registered voters in Springtown and found that 20 of them opposed the annexation, leading him to urge the council not to approve the annexation petition.
In a copy of a freedom of information request obtained by the Eagle Observer, former Springtown mayor, Paul Lemke, requested by email on April 14 "a list of 20 registered voters that disapproved of the voluntary annexation."
In an email response on April 17 by Bauman, the town's treasurer and recorder, he sated: "As stated in the meeting, the survey was informally conducted by the mayor."
The Eagle Observer also requested the list and was told by Bauman, "As Mayor Barrett was informally polling voters on the issue, I do not have a list of them."
No list was provided to Paul Lemke or to the Eagle Observer.
The Eagle Observer requested and received from the Benton County Clerk's office a list of registered voters in Springtown. The list included 54 registered voters, making the 20 voters who are reported to be in opposition to the annexation only 37 percent of Springtown's voters.
In its Feb. 4 issue, the Eagle Observer reported on another instance in which Barrett, Springtown's newly elected mayor, took it upon himself to withdraw a grant application for a walking trail which had been approved by the town's council in October of 2014. Barrett then appealed to concern expressed by the Springtown community and to a private petition circulated in Springtown the previous summer. In the February 10 meeting, Barrett told the council a majority of voters did not want the walking trail and that he was acting on behalf of the people he represented.
A call to Preston Barrett, Springtown's mayor, was not returned by press deadline on Tuesday.
General News on 04/22/2015