In what Fourteenth Chancery District Judge H. Jim Davidson Jr. described as a “procedural matter,” a date for discovery was set Thursday for the upcoming trial regarding annexation for the City of Columbus. The case was brought against the city by property owners in the proposed annexation area.
“We are setting a road map and getting ready for trial,” Davidson. “We probably will not be able to set a date for trial (Thursday).”
Martha Stegall of the Oxford office of Mitchell, McNutt and Sams, who is representing the city, and attorney for the plaintiffs, Jerry Mills, agreed on December 31 as the date for discovery.
“This means that depositions from each side should be in and everyone can see what the other side is thinking,” Davidson said. “I will be surprised if we can get this done by December 31.” Pre-trial motions were set for March 15, 2013.
Representing the city at the hearing were Mayor Robert Smith, City Attorney Jeff Turnage, Chief Operations Officer David Armstrong, Ward 1 Councilman Gene Taylor and Ward 3 Councilman Charlie Box.
The Columbus City Council unanimously voted in July 2011 to file its plan to annex four areas, including Lehmberg Road from Hobbes Sheffield Road south to Yorkville Road East.
The plan would also bring the Riverwalk into the city limits, as well as the recently built Columbus Middle School at the corner of highways 45 and 373 and part of Woodland Heights Drive, which is east off of Highway 45 North.
The annexation would add about 1,462 residents, 638 homes and 44 businesses or about 615 tax parcels with an estimated value of $64.4 million.
The annexation map, which was initially presented to the board by Chris Watson of Watson and Bridge of Oxford, has been met with some resistance from both business and home owners in the proposed area. One of the major businesses potentially affected by the annexation is Columbus Nissan at 100 Highway 12 in East Columbus.
Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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