Jackson aldermen to hold public hearing Tuesday on MoDOT highway rights of way

A public hearing on the voluntary annexation on highway rights of way owned by the Missouri Department of Transportation highlights the Jackson Board of Aldermen regular meeting Tuesday.

The meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. at Jackson City Hall, 101 Court St.

Rights of way in the annexation include U.S. 61 starting at Route Y and extending north to the intersection with Interstate 55 at exit 105 near Fruitland. Also to be annexed would be I-55 rights of way from the same point south to the current city limit at the north end of the Bent Creek subdivision.

No private property is included in the proposed annexation.

Jackson public works director Rodney Bollinger was unavailable for comment, but planning and engineering director Janet Sanders said the purpose of the annexation will be to provide boundaries for future annexations within the triangle of land bordered by I-55, U.S. 61 and Route Y.

Property owners within the boundary will have the opportunity to have their property annexed as they become contiguous to existing city limits, Sanders said.

The annexation proposal was approved by the aldermen at the Jan. 6 meeting, and the public hearing date was set.

Aldermen also will act on a proposal to participate in the Show Me Green sales tax holiday. If approved, purchases of up to $1,500 of Energy Star-rated appliances from Jackson merchants from April 19 to 25 would be exempt from state sales tax.