City delays ordinance enforcement in annexed areas until Jan. 1
By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com

Although Sandy Corner residents may still be debating the pros and cons of annexation into the El Campo city limits, they are already starting to reap the benefits.

With City Council's vote accepting annexation on Dec. 11, the ordinance became effective immediately. The areas won't be placed on tax rolls, however, until Jan. 1.

Police, fire, animal control and other quick response services are now available to all annexed areas, City Manager John Steelman said.

Residential garbage pickup should follow by the first of the year.

"The residential is the easy stuff. The commercial is kind of on their own depending on the level of service they need," Steelman said

The city is in the process of meeting with BFI/Allied Waste (the municipal service provider) to arrange routes and other requirements.

Sandy Corner residents will "have to come in and put up a deposit," Steelman said, adding that will be $25. The standard residential trash fee is $19.06 per month.

Streets and drainage will also start immediately.

The city plans on working with residents in the area on implementation of ordinances with enforcements not starting until Jan. 1 - including the sale and use of fireworks. No crackdowns are planned.

"We're going to ease into this," Steelman said. "We've never had (annexation) of this magnitude."

Any new building will require city permitting, however, and inspections.

Code enforcement will start at the beginning of the year, Mayor Phillip Spenrath said.

"We are in the middle of the holiday season and many new residents may have difficulty trying to find workers or materials to help them comply with all code requirements," he said.

"Consequently, your City Council and staff feel that it would only be fair, reasonable and prudent to offer a grace period for all city code enforcement that will run through the end of December 2007. This grace period only applies to newly annexed areas. Effective Jan. 1, 2008, the city will begin enforcing all applicable code regulations in the newly annexed areas."

The slowest service to arrive in newly annexed areas will be water and sewer.

Although the city of El Campo plans to start service designs immediately, it will likely be two to three years before pipes are linked to Sandy Corner homes.

Once the service lines are in the ground, residents will have up to one year to tap in. Any wells in the area can continue to be used for non-domestic purposes.

To soften the financial blow to senior and disabled households, the city approved $2,000 in rebates when links are made.