Council gets look at plans for city limits
Dudark offers maps of areas where annexations are likely.

By JUSTIN WILLETT of the Tribune’s staff

Story ran on Saturday, June 9, 2001

OSAGE BEACH - After more than 30 years of voluntary annexations, Columbia’s boundaries have expanded very unevenly, and city officials are looking to voter-approved annexations to help even them out.

City planning director Roy Dudark at the city council’s annual retreat with department heads offered preliminary maps showing possible areas the city could annex to help round out its boundaries.

While making the city limits more even and planning for growth are some of the reasons bandied about for voter-approved annexations, mayor Darwin Hindman already has targets he wants to bring into the city soon.

The city council last month exempted a Lake of the Woods retailer from the city’s beverage container deposit ordinance, which caused retailers, deposit proponents and even deposit opponents to cry foul.

Hindman said yesterday that he wants to keep his promise and try to eliminate the waiver by annexing in the county competitors as soon as possible.

"We said we were going to promptly attempt to annex the competitors," Hindman reminded his fellow council members. "I think we should get ready and try as soon as we can."

Fifth Ward councilman John John, however, said the city should incorporate more than just two county retailers into an annexation plan. "We may be stubbing our toe on the big plan by punching through the little one," he said. "We need to really go at it with a plan."

But city attorney Fred Boeckmann said isolated annexations can happen quickly. "The smaller the territory, the faster you can go."

Developing a plan of intent is the first step in annexing an area when landowners have not come forward to ask for annexation. Plans of intent state how soon the city can provide services to the area and what zoning it proposes.

"We’ve got to be able to serve that area in three years with ‘normal’ services," Dudark said.

The next step is to notify residents of the targeted area by certified mail at least 10 weeks in advance of an election and to provide evidence supporting the city’s ability to comply with the plan of intent.

That’s when democracy enters the picture. The city would be required to hold a dual election on the proposed annexation. Approval requires a majority of voters both within the city and within the area to be annexed. If city voters approve the plan and those in the targeted area defeat it, a combined election must be held within 120 days. In the second vote, a combined two-thirds majority of voters can approve the plan.

The final step is to gain a declaratory judgment by filing suit in circuit court and proving that the city has followed all the rules, that the annexation is reasonable and that the city can provide adequate services within three years.

Columbia in 1968 added enough property through an involuntary annexation to roughly double the size of the city. The concept maps Dudark showed are based on that approach, city manager Ray Beck said.

The council will hold a work session to decide where it wants to draw the lines and what areas it wants to annex.

Third Ward councilman Bob Hutton reminded his colleagues that they must look at the issue realistically.

"Our ambitions can’t outweigh our ability to deliver services," he said.