City Council votes to annex four targeted areas
By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com

A series of El Campo City Council votes Tuesday night mean home and business owners in four of five areas targeted for annexation will be paying municipal taxes next year including the Sandy Corner neighborhood.

Industries along D-A-M Road and 400 feet east of Hwy. 71 North, however, will be exempt from annexation via an industrial district agreement. Instead they will pay a fee equal to the El Campo city tax levy for the next 15 years, Council said.

The agreements were accepted in a 4-2 vote with Councilwoman Gloria Harris and Councilman Anthony Collins against.

Those industries will not receive city water or sewer service, but will not be subject to the more stringent municipal ordinances during the term of the agreement.

It took City Council only 17 minutes Tuesday night with very little discussion to end six months of annexation debate.

All developed areas were approved, although some narrowly so.

And Council, now composed of six members with the resignation of Mayor Pro Tem Kyle Smith, was able to avoid a tie throughout the motions involving annexation.

Instead of the "all or nothing" vote planned, Council opted to look at each area individually.

"My reasoning was Ms. (Gloria) Harris," Mayor Phillip Spenrath said. "She wanted to separate them. It was based on her wisdom."

City Attorney Ronny Collins prepared the five proposed ordinances for annexation based on that request.

The separate vote allowed Council to address each area and its concerns individually.

"I haven't heard anyone who is against the whole thing (annexation)," Spenrath told the Leader-News.

As the votes were tallied before the audience which filled Council Chambers, only Councilman Collins stood in opposition to all proposed annexations (please see related story). At times, he was the lone dissenter while at other points Harris sided with him.

Tracts approved for annexation included the Sandy Corners neighborhood along with 400 feet east of Hwy. 71 North to Wilbur Road and FM 2765 land owned by the Bode family who did not request an agricultural exemption.

No vote was taken on the area south and east of the new El Campo Middle School Tuesday when it was determined the entire area fell under agriculture exemptions.

With the exemption, those lands will remain outside the city limits for the next 15 years so long as they are working farm or ranch land. If developed during that time period, the land would be immediately annexed.

Council also approved annexing land on East Jackson to encompass Wharton County Electric Cooperative and capture all previously debated land west of South Meadow Lane and along the U.S. 59 south corridor.

The current cost estimate for annexation is $5,047,523.50 which would cost every El Campo utility customer, currently in the 4,400 range, between $5.66 and $7.10 per month for the next 20 years.

That amount could drop, however, if an estimated $865,000 in the city's Utility Fund balance is tapped.

Council's earlier decision to not pursue annexation of the Sunset Terrace area will also have an effect on the numbers.

With Tuesday's vote, approved annexation areas will become part of El Campo Jan. 1 and subject to taxation. All city ordinances will be enforced in that area at that time, and city benefits will be offered as soon as possible. Some services, such as police protection, will begin Jan. 1.