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The Grant County Commission approved a request October 15, from certain county residents on the west side of Ulysses who are requesting to be annexed into the City of Ulysses in order to tap into city services. At first, commissioner Darrin Figgins asked if this was related to the city’s formation of a Reinvestment Housing Incentive District (RHID), but commissioner John Martin said it was not.
“These are properties where people are wanting their property annexed into the city, probably to hook onto water or sewer, some reason for that,” Martin said.
County clerk said when the city tried to file it with the Register of Deeds, it was rejected.
“The city went and did everything and then tried to file it in the Register of Deeds office and she wouldn’t file it,” Brown said. “Well, then they backed up and they got their city attorney involved and he said ‘Let’s back up and let’s do this appropriately, we’ve missed a couple of steps, and let’s redo this.’
“This stuff has already been in play for over a year.”
McGaughey asked what would happen if the county didn’t agree to it and Brown said the county would need a valid reason why. Then the city could file what amounts to a grievance to ask the county to allow it.
Martin asked what would be a reason not to allow the city to annex somebody and Brown replied “Nothing. We’ve never had a reason not to annex somebody.”
“It doesn’t change the tax base for the county at all?” Martin asked, to which Brown said no.
“There’d be no benefit to us (to not allow it),” McGaughey said.
“We still are going to get our share (of tax money) because they’re each levied differently,” Brown said. “The city is the one who gains by bringing on a taxing person into it.”
Martin said the city can’t just annex someone, there has to be consent of the property owners which, in this case, there is. Brown said the property owners made the initial request.
“I’ve never known us to deny one,” Brown added.
The commission approved the item 3-0.
In Other business:
νThe commissioners approved a petition by Rocking H feedlot to vacate a portion of Road 4.
“They did close the road on Road 4 coming from the feed yard to the Highway (State Highway 25), they closed it as a county toad years ago because of the truck traffic,” McGaughey said. “They have a lot of trouble where they pull out on the highway because of the hill right there so they mainly use the road coming in from the east side into the feedyard, they use it heavily.”
Rocking H has been maintaining the road coming in from the east off Road K, and the county wants to close a half-mile stretch of Road K into the feedyard. It will be used strictly for feedlot-related truck traffic and maintained by the feedyard.
The county will still maintain Road K from the feedyard north.
Public hearings are still required.
•The commission approved a request from Ofelia Guzman from Southwest Miracles to waive fees for use of the Grant County Civic Center for their second annual Shindig event November 2. The Shindig, a Grant County Gives event, begins at 6 p.m., November 2 and features a steak dinner, and includes live music by Lendon James, who many may remember from the KSN Summer Celebration Tour. Also that night there will be a drawing for a 1987 Jeep.
•The commission also approved the new Safety Committee bylaws written by EMS Director Jeff Baier.
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