Annexation talk over for now |
| December 19, 2012 |
|
After a long and often bitter attempt to annex
over 70 parcels into the City of Bonners Ferry,
the attempt ended last night in a tie breaker. The Bonners Ferry City Council approved the Annexation Plan as well as the findings supporting it, but did not adopt the ordinance that would have put the plan into effect. The annexation to incorporate 76 parcels of land into the city was approved in the face of stiff opposition by the owners of the majority of those properties November 11, 2011, but was challenged in court by 73 of them. In October, First District Court Judge Jeff Brudie ruled in favor of the litigants on a technicality, forcing the city council to reopen the process. After listening to public comment at Tuesday evening's city council meeting, much of it rancorous, council members Rick Alonzo and Mike Klaus voted "no," and members Connie Wells and Tom Mayo voted "yes," putting the decision into the hands of Bonners Ferry Mayor Dave Anderson, who ended the process, for now, by voting "no." |