(Spirit Lake)– The Dickinson county board of supervisors Tuesday deferred action to January 13th on a proposal by Orleans to voluntarily annex the Pioneer Beach area into its city limits.
Supervisors have until January 13th under state law to make a decision. That decision will then be forwarded to the City Development Board in Des Moines which has the final say over the matter. The supervisors can either approve the proposal; deny it; or not take a position on it.
Spirit Lake city officials were on hand again at Tuesday’s meeting. City Administrator Pete Hegeman said he recently polled the city council, and it was unanimous they’d vote in favor a 10-year-moratorium on any involuntary annexation of that area, saying that was never Spirit Lake’s intent.
Residets of the affected area spoke out against any moratorium, saying they want to be annexed into the city of Orleans NOW and that they don’t want to have to wait another 10 years.
A similar moratorium was insituted after Spirit Lake tried to involuntarily annex the same area 19 years ago. That moratorium expired about 10 years ago.
Residents in the Pioneer Beach area again today echoed their desire to be annexed into Orleans, again siting concern over two complex issues–road maintenance and water service. The city of Spirit Lake currently provides water to Orleans through a contractual agreement that expires in 2007. Residents of the affected area and Orleans officials say they’ll be able to negotiate a new contract with a different provider, such as Clay Regional Water, once that contract expires. The city of Spirit Lake differs, saying they have a service territory agreement in place with Clay Regional Water giving it (the city) exclusive rights to serve that area.
Another issue is funding for the Spirit Lake Fire Department and bond payments the township is making on the fire station. A question that supervisors want answered prior to the January 11th meeting is whether that responsibility would be transferred to the city of Orleans if the annexation is allowed.
