Jackson to hold public hearing on quarry annexation Tuesday

Jackson residents will have the opportunity Tuesday night to hear the pros and cons of annexing a quarry into the city to prepare them to vote on the issue Feb. 7.

Owners of a tract of about 240 acres north of Jackson containing Heartland Materials' quarry applied to join the city in October and city officials approved a resolution to annex the area Oct. 17. Mayor Barbara Lohr said in November that bringing more businesses into the city was a priority, and quarry officials cited Jackson's pro-business attitude as a draw.

However, a petition against the annexation signed by more than 5 percent of city voters blocked the resolution, forcing the matter to the ballot, and some Jackson residents want the city to share specific details on how the deal would affect them before they weigh in at the polls.

Fritz Sander lives and works in Jackson and helped gather petition signatures. Sander said Friday that Jackson has presented the annexation as an "all-benefit, no-responsibility situation" and that he is curious what the city will have to provide at taxpayer expense, such as fire and police protection, water and sewer services.

"That feels to me like something for nothing," Sander said.

Ginny Leimbach also lives in Jackson and helped collect signatures for the petition. She said Friday she knows the quarry "is not going to go away." She wants to hear how its operations will affect the health of people in the area and the Hubble Creek watershed. She also wants to know about costs.

"We question the expense and whether our taxes are going to be raised in the future over this," she said.

Lohr said by email Friday that Jackson residents should not expect any tax increase.

"It is understood that there is no expectation by the applicants that the city will fund, construct, nor extend additional municipal utilities to the area under the regulations of an involuntary annexation," Lohr said. "However, if additional development occurs in that area, there are always possibilities for grants or developer-driven infrastructure improvements that would pay for the cost of the infrastructure improvements."

Danny Dumey of Heartland Materials said Friday that the quarry is not asking for city services that would increase expenses for Jackson residents.

"We are not anticipating or expecting any type of services at this point," Dumey said.

Dumey said it would be lucrative for the city to one day provide the quarry's electricity, currently supplied by Citizens Electric Corp. of Ste. Genevieve, Mo., because the quarry's power bills average $10,000 to $12,000 per month. He said the quarry joining the city is a "win-win" for Jackson.

"Revenue benefits to the citizens of Jackson include revenue from the rock that the quarry will sell: general sales tax, transportation sales tax, fire protection sales tax," Lohr said. "In addition, the city will receive revenue from the real estate and personal property taxes from the area."

Leimbach said that Fruitland, which has been attempting to incorporate as a village in an effort to control the quarry and other industry proposed for the area, is a more appropriate entity than Jackson to regulate quarry operations. She said she is concerned about how quickly decisions have been made by the city.

"Everything with this quarry has been rush, rush, rush. We just don't understand it," Leimbach said.

An issue that several people feel was rushed was the scheduling of the election to decide the matter. The cost to the city of the vote Feb. 7 is estimated to be $12,279. Lohr said in November that the issue was put on the ballot along with the presidential primary to spare the expense of a special election.

"My only concern with this is that the taxpayers of the city of Jackson will have to pay the expensive cost for having this election," Lohr said of the annexation vote Nov. 15 in the Cash-Book Journal.

The city has included a memo on its utility bills reporting the election cost and saying the annexation would allow Jackson "to continue its growth on the north side."

However, the Cape Girardeau County clerk's office confirmed Friday that if the city had waited until the general municipal election April 3, no significant expense would have been incurred.

"There would have been minimal, if any, additional cost to placing the proposition on the April ballot because they will have already been paying their proportional cost for the alderman election," said Joey Keys, elections director.

Lohr said Friday the city chose to have the election Feb. 7 "because it was the first available date and we wanted to have the election in a timely manner so that we would not be accused again of delaying this issue."

The city was criticized last year by Fruitland residents for taking 11 months to respond to a different petition for annexation, the first step required in Fruitland's attempt to incorporate.

If the vote Feb. 7 goes in favor of annexing the quarry, it will pave the way for annexation of three more heavy industrial interests in Fruitland. Land containing a quarry operated by Strack Excavating, a parcel owned by Hoffmeister Real Estate and Hoffmeister Stake and Handle Co. and a tract owned by Walter and Harriet Drusch and William J. Penrod Revocable Living Trust made applications that depend on the success of the Heartland annexation, due to rules that annexed areas must adjoin existing city limits.

Heartland and Strack have applied to the city for heavy industrial zoning and mining permits to continue quarry operations. Hoffmeister wants heavy industrial zoning for a recycling operation and sawmill. The Penrod property is for sale and its owners want heavy industrial zoning to accommodate future industry. In a meeting with the county in November, William Penrod said he'd like to see a "big-box" store built there.

The hearing is at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Jackson City Hall.

salderman@semissourian.com

388-3648

Pertinent address:

101 Court St., Jackson, MO