Annexation again on Palmer City Council agenda

Oct. 24, 2006

By LEILA KHEIRY

Frontiersman

Annexation is on the agenda again for the Palmer City Council's meeting tonight, with an action memorandum asking the council to approve potential expansion boundaries for a petition the city would send to the state in March.

A second memorandum would hire a consultant to help prepare the petition.

According to the first memo, the recommended boundaries for the expanded city limits are &#8220north to Cedar Hills on the west and including the enclave on Bailey Hill, south up to Crimson View, taking in the property west of the fairgrounds, … and west up to and including Equestrian Acres.”

The east boundary would remain as is, according to the memo.

The action memorandum, approved by City Manager Tom Healy, argues that the city has spent about $23,000 for an annexation study, in addition to &#8220thousands and thousands of dollars” in staff time.

&#8220If we wait until 2008 to begin this process again, we will have to start over and lose our investment in this project we have already made,” the memo states. &#8220Additionally, by taking the final steps by accepting the recommendation of Northern Economics and funding a petition expert, we will be in position for a submission to the (Local) Boundary Commission.

&#8220This does not mean we have to submit the petition, but will be ready to do so.”

The council in September rejected moving forward with annexation, citing concern over the rising cost of the state-mandated public employee retirement system.

The memo argues that several statewide plans are being considered to alleviate the PERS problem &#8220with a goal of stabilizing employee contributions to a flat 15 percent per year.”

The Palmer City Council will meet at 7 p.m. tonight at Palmer City Hall, 231 W. Evergreen Ave. in Palmer.

A time for public comment is scheduled.

For a full agenda, visit the city's Web site at www.cityofpalmer.org.

Contact Leila Kheiry at

352-2270 or at leila.kheiry@

frontiersman.com