SPRINGTOWN -- Annexation requests of five property owners to be a part of Springtown were denied on July 14 after a resolution to accept the lands into Springtown was passed by the council and vetoed by the mayor, with the council failing to override the mayor's veto.
At issue was a petition to add lands belonging to Mary Droho and Eddie Balluck; Lynda and Al Lemke; Greg Lemke; Nhia Vang, Chao Thao Moua and Steven Vang; and John Wasson. The annexation would have made all of the above, except John Wasson who lives in Los Angeles, residents of the town. All the land to be annexed was on the west side of the current town boundaries and along Flint Creek.
After much discussion, the Springtown town council passed on a 3-2 vote a resolution to accept into the town the land of five property owners who had petitioned for annexation and whose petitions had been approved by the Benton County judge. Linda Taylor, Chuck Guess and Don Jech voted in favor of accepting the annexation request. Karee Barrett and Terri Glenn voted against it.
Then, in a promised move, Springtown's mayor, Preston Barrett, announced that he had spoken to three of the five property owners about their reasons for wishing to join the town and didn't believe accepting them into the town would be in Springtown's best interest. He said he had tried to contact all five but was unable to reach two of them and they hadn't returned his calls.
Barrett told the council he was required to provide a letter explaining the reason for his veto within five days and passed out a signed letter he had prepared before the meeting.
The letter, dated July 14 and addressed to the Springtown council members, stated: "After discussion with three of five property owners who are petitioning for voluntary annexation into Springtown, I have determined that it is not in the best interest of the town of Springtown to support their request. Therefore, I am vetoing the passing of the ordinance to accept their request for voluntary annexation into Springtown."
His fear, the mayor said, was that annexing in the properties on the west side of the town along the creek would move the town closer to Gentry and put the town in danger of being annexed into Gentry. He said the residents would then have little say in decisions regarding their town.
Barrett said that the annexation plan was the work of John Wasson, a property owner in Springtown who doesn't live in the town but is desiring to preserve Flint Creek and set up a walking trail from the headwaters of the Flint Creek into Gentry.
"John Wasson wants us to donate our home to the community," Barrett said, adding that "Wasson is not going to live here and wants to bring the border closer to Gentry. He has no other motive than to be annexed by Gentry."
According to Barrett, John Wasson suggested the Barretts donate their home to the community since it is built over a spring after which the town is named and which is a major contributory of Flint Creek.
"So you believe that John Wasson instigated a conspiracy with the other property owners," Taylor said, with the Barretts questioning the use of her word "conspiracy."
"Is this for the best long-term benefits to Springtown?" Glenn asked.
"These people want to be a part of our town," Taylor said. "It's a beautiful little town, and it's in the best interest of our town."
"I'm looking for growth (for our town)," Jech said.
"Do we know how much turnback (money) we will receive per person?" Glenn asked, saying it would cost the town money to pay fire dues for the new residents if they are accepted.
In discussions prior to the council's actions, Paul Lemke, former mayor of Springtown, handed the council a petition with the signature of 34 Springtown voters requesting the council accept the voluntary annexation. The petition lists the landowners and includes a map of property locations.
The petition states: "We, the undersigned citizens of Springtown, feel that the addition of these five properties is in the best long-term interests of Springtown. The annexation will bring our city needed tax revenues and will add high-quality citizens that can help carry the burden of making Springtown a better place to live."
In reference to the petition statement about the annexation adding high-quality citizens to the town, Glenn asked, "Can we define high quality? We need more high-quality people in town, so we're going to bring in these people?" she said questioningly.
"Why don't you want these people?" Paul Lemke said from the audience.
"I don't think we can afford it," Glenn said.
"I think the turnback (money) will be a lot more than the extra $200 it would cost the town in fire dues," Lemke responded, adding that he thought it would be well more than $200 per person.
Eddie Balluck, one of the petitioners, addressed the council before the vote, urging the council to accept he and Mary Droho into the city.
"Springtown is the entity, the city I live in," Balluck said. "It's a great place. We ought to be beating our own drum and make it grow," adding that the annexation would help make it more of a working community.
Balluck and Lemke argued that if Springtown doesn't take in any other properties, Gentry will be across the creek and Highfill on the east side of town.
After Barrett's veto and additional discussion, Linda Taylor moved to override the mayor's veto. Don Jech seconded the motion. Taylor, Jech and Guess voted in favor of the override. Karee Barrett and Glenn voted against the measure. Since a two-thirds majority is needed to override a veto, the attempted override failed.
Other actions
In other business, the council voted to waive the building permit fee (estimated at $800 to $1,200) for the Springtown Pentecostal Church to add on to its building and replace the building currently used for Sunday school classes.
General consent was given to a suggestion brought up by the mayor to purchase several U.S. Flags to be flown in the park and town on national holidays. The money would be taken from the park budget.
Since the June meeting did not have a legal quorum and the mayor cannot be counted to make up the quorum, minutes and financial reports approved in June were combined with those for last month and approved on July 14.
Also discussed was grading of Aubrey Long Rd. from the bridge to Bredehoeft Rd. with the mayor saying he had spoken to the county about grading Bredehoeft Rd. but not Aubrey Long Rd. because of problems there. When asked about the problems, he said county work on Aubrey Long Rd. (to the north of the bridge) caused sinkholes to open up on his property and said the town would maintain the road with a tractor.
Michael Cain, who is building a home on Luedecke Rd. and uses Aubrey Long Rd. for access, said the road needed to be cut with a grader and that the town would not be able to do that with its tractor and equipment.
The mayor suggested rerouting (straightening) Aubrey Long Rd. and moving it further from his house and the spring or having traffic turn on the northeast side of the bridge and take Bredehoeft. Some on the council and in the audience said rerouting the road would move it too close to their homes. Paving was also suggested as an option.
General News on 07/22/2015