Columbus City Council is taking a second swipe at a potential annexation study, this time at a quarter of the cost of a previous proposal.
Consultant Chris Watson of Oxford-based Bridge and Watson told the council Tuesday night he would put together an annexation study for between $9,000 and $11,000. He said Vice Mayor and Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens and Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones contacted him about performing the work.
Mickens and Jones had originally asked the Golden Triangle Planning and Development District to do the work, but the proposal was tabled due to the cost. The PDD was going to charge $40,000.
The study would look at two areas Mickens and Jones proposed as possible annexation targets in October — one to the east of town and one to the southeast.
The first area is adjacent to East Columbus, and is bordered by Ward 2 and Ward 3. It is bounded by Highway 82 in the north, Armstrong Road to the east, Lehmberg Road to the west and the area of Deerfield Drive to the south.
The second area is bounded on the east by South Lehmberg Road, on the south by the area adjacent to Scott Drive, on the west by Hargrove Road and to the north by the approximate area of Vernon Branch Creek. It is adjacent to Ward 1 and Ward 2.
“Every annexation must go to court and must be declared reasonable by a (chancery judge) to be approved,” Watson told the council. “We must first determine whether that annexation is reasonable.”
That determination is based on several factors, including demographics, financial information and how well the city has done in the past in serving annexed areas, he said.
If people object to the annexation, it could drag out the process and become more costly, Watson said.
“You never know if that’s going to be the case until you get there,” Watson said.
On top of the $9,000 to $11,000 cost for the study, Watson estimated $5,000 to $6,000 for litigation costs even if there are no objectors.
Bridge and Watson has done some preliminary work toward redistricting already, but Watson recommended completing the annexation first, if possible, as the newly annexed residents would have to be folded into the city.
Watson said he thought the city should shoot for having the annexation, if any, as well as redistricting, complete by September 2024 to allow ample time to prepare for the 2025 municipal election cycle.
After the meeting, Jones told The Dispatch he reached out to Bridge and Watson because the firm already has a relationship with the city.
“They’re actually doing our redistricting already,” Jones said. “We probably should have been talking to them in the first place.”
City Attorney Jeff Turnage, speaking at Mayor Keith Gaskin’s Wednesday press conference, said annexation does not affect the certificated area for utilities. Residents would stay with their existing provider, if they have one.
“It used to be that when a municipality annexed they would take over the utilities involved,” Turnage said. “If the area is certificated to a rural electric co-op or water association, the city would collect a franchise fee (from those utilities).”
School district lines don’t change, either, he said.
“That’s a common myth,” Turnage said. “It’s not affected by annexation. We would provide fire and police protection, sanitary sewer and garbage collection. That’s about it.”
Gaskin said the council would take up the annexation question in more detail at its next work session.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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