JACKSON READIES FOR FEB. 5 ANNEXATION VOTE

JACKSON -- City officials say the future growth of Jackson will be determined Feb. 5, when voters go to the polls to vote on the annexation of more than 300 acres of land northeast of the current city limits.

"It is the culmination of three years worth of work," said City Attorney David Beeson. "Without it (annexation) we cannot grow like we have during the past 10 years."

City Administrator Carl Talley said the city has gone through every legal step required to get to the Feb. 5 election, and urged the citizens of Jackson to show their confidence in the city's plans for the future by voting for the issue.

Talley said the area is needed for the proper planning and growth of Jackson. "The council has made plans that run down the road 30 years. The only way to get there is to have the election be successful," he said.

A two-thirds majority is required in the city and the area to be annexed for the issue to pass. Last December, the issue passed in Jackson, but a majority of property owners in the area to be annexed voted it down. This time, the votes in both areas will be counted together.

Talley said there are about 6,000 registered voters in the city, and 30 in the proposed area to be annexed.

Officials said plans for the annexation began in early 1988. The original annexation plan called for more than 2,400 acres to be brought into the city, but that was cut back to 909 acres. Of the 909 acres, 565 acres were later annexed under friendly annexation when property owners petitioned to be brought into the city. The city will attempt to bring the remaining 345 acres of land into the city under the provisions of the Sawyer Act, which allows cities to annex land after following certain legal procedures.

In July 1990, Circuit Judge Michael Bullerdieck of Perry County approved Jackson's request to hold an annexation election in November that year, and a second election on Feb. 5, if the issue did not pass the first time.

In the November election the issue passed, 1,945 to 502 in the city, but was soundly defeated, 17 to 1 in the proposed area.