Brooklyn’s town council last week approved a resolution to annex territory north of the town, including two mobile home parks — Country Manor and Sunset Manor.
The annexation, Clerk-Treasurer Karen Howard said, should take between six months and a year. It would add an estimated 1,200 people to the town’s population, .76 miles of roads and 26 parcels of land that equal 227.8 acres. The estimated assessed value of the annexation territory is nearly $5.3 million, according to documents detailing the annexation. The annexation territory is primarily residential with some undeveloped agricultural land.
The first public hearing on the annexation is currently scheduled for Nov. 17. A time has not yet been set. Howard said it will likely be in the park shelter house.
Howard said the annexation would allow the town to better serve the people within that area and will give those residents a say in the government of the town.
“We already provide them a lot of services,” Howard said Friday. “We want to better serve them by making them a part of the town.
“They will have the benefits and amenities of the town such as cheaper rates for shelter rentals and they will have the right to vote for council members who make the decisions in the town.”
Howard said the town already patrols the area through a mutual aid agreement with the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department. A part of the plan includes adding a part-time deputy and a vehicle for that deputy to drive, allowing them to cover the area more effectively. The plan also would increase the price of the town’s contract with the Brooklyn Volunteer Fire Department.
The town also already provides wastewater services to the territory. There are parcels within the annexation territory that are not hooked onto the town’s wastewater system.
Homeowners with existing septic systems that are in good working order would not be required to hook into the sewer system. Any resident that would like to hook into the system will be allowed to do so at the homeowner’s cost. Residents not already receiving the town’s water would also be allowed to hook onto the system at their own costs, but would not be required to do so.
The annexation calls for the town to collect trash in the new territory as well.
Howard said that while the town would be responsible for roads within the territory, those roads within the two mobile home parks are not included in the .76 miles. The owners of the parks would still be responsible for those streets.
The plan calls for the town to extend services to all of the annexation territory within three years.
The fiscal plan, which is available at the Brooklyn Town Hall, 10 E. Mill St., projects that the expenses of the town will increase by $127,112 per year because of the annexation. Those costs include $48,000 for the salary, equipment and vehicle for a part-time police deputy; $39,000 for fire protection and nearly $40,000 for the street department.
The project would bring in $126,531 through user fees, excise and cigarette taxes, highway and street funds, income taxes, the County Adjusted Gross Income Tax and property taxes.