The Alderson City Council will take “no formal action” concerning the potential annexation of nearby neighborhoods as of its regular meeting on Thursday, September 14.
Surveys were sent out to homes in the Glenray area near Alderson to determine the desire for annexation, which would provide more resources to the area at the cost of increased taxes. As part of the town of Alderson comprehensive plan for town revitalization, Alderson’s water infrastructure could have been connected to existing water lines to provide service to the Glenray area.
Of the 136 surveys, 84 came back against the annexation; 37 came back in support; and 15 came back as undelivered, resulting in the no action taken decision by the council.
“For those of you that were staunchly opposed to annexation and went about the witch hunt, there’s no point in doing that anymore,” said Alderson Mayor Travis Copenhaver. “I want to reiterate now, as I told you all in the beginning, this was a survey to see the thoughts of the people being surveyed. If I wanted to be the tyrant that some of you made me out to be, we would have done a minor boundary adjustment. The Supreme Court of West Virginia just upheld a 100-acre boundary adjustment in Westover, and you could have fought us at the county level.”
According to the Alderson revitalization plan, Glenray would have been the first area surveyed about interest in annexation. After Glenray, surveys would have been sent out to areas surrounding Alderson, including sections of Summers County.
“The town of Alderson has limited opportunity for new development,” the comprehensive plan reads. “To increase the tax base and to continue municipal services, the town will have to extend its boundaries. Areas the town would like to consider in the future for annexation are shown on Map 3.3: Proposed Future Annexation Areas. Some of these areas are already served by Alderson’s public water system. Most areas outside of town boundaries have water service, but have a septic system, not sewer service.”
Read more in the Friday, September 15, edition of The WV Daily News.
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