PENDLETON — Pendleton took another step toward finally completing the large annexation west of the town during a special meeting Tuesday.
The Town Council had a public hearing for any concerned citizen living in the proposed annexation area. The area is more than 500 acres stretching west of town to Indiana 13 and bordered by County Road 700 South on the north and Interstate 69 on the south.
Marvin Warner, who lives in the annexed area, was the only one who spoke during the public hearing. Warner was concerned about whether his zoning would change once the annexation became official and how this would affect his electric bill.
Town Manager Tim McClintick assured him the zoning would not change if Warner’s property went from county to town.
“Usually zoning is changed at the behest of the property owner,” McClintick said. “We’ll zone you the same as what you are zoned now.”
As for Warner’s electric bill, town attorney Alex Intermill said the town will look to purchase the rights to that area from Duke Energy if the annexation becomes official. But he said Warner shouldn’t expect to see a change until the summer of 2015 at the earliest.
With only one person speaking, the public hearing was over fairly quickly. The town had planned on conducting a second reading and voting on the annexation but was advised by Intermill it would have to wait 30 days after the public hearing because it’s not a 100 percent voluntary annexation.
The council plans to vote at its October meeting. If the annexation is approved, it will begin a 90-day remonstrance period. If none of the homeowners protest the annexation, it should become official sometime in early 2015.
With all of the discussion in the Statehouse about possible changing laws regarding annexation, Council President Robert Jones wondered if new laws enacted next year could have any impact on this annexation.
Intermill, who testified Monday before an interim committee tasked with studying the annexation issue, said the town should be fine because the focus will be on involuntary annexations. Since the proposed annexation is a voluntary one, Intermill advised any new law should have little effect on the annexation.