Confusion on annexation

Someone from the Fruitland area presented a petition to the city of Jackson asking to be annexed into the city. The property location -- center of the Interstate 55 and U.S. 61 Interchange -- was in the city's future anyway. After asking Jackson to annex some of the Fruitland area, they then said they did not really want to be annexed.

At the public hearing Nov. 7, a couple from Fruitland said they love the area and do not want a city telling them what they can do on their property. However, they also said they did not want property owners next to them to operate a quarry and also asked Jackson not to annex that property.

One person spoke up saying he moved out of Jackson to live in an area where property owners could do as they please and not be taxed or zoned by the city. But he was against another property owner, Heartland Quarry, asking to be annexed by Jackson.

A former teacher from St. Paul School said Jackson would never allow zoned industry to be close to a school with that truck traffic. However, Jackson High School is separated by a five-lane highway from one of the largest zoned industrial areas in the city, which includes a brick plant, and they have had good neighbors for 100 years.

Also, the last speaker said he had signed a paper that afternoon asking Jackson to annex Saxony Lutheran High School.

DON KUNTZE, Jackson