(Des Moines)– The City Development Board has approved the voluntary annexation of the Pioneer Beach area on the northeast side of East Lake Okoboji into the city of Orleans. The board voted unanimously in favor of the proposal at their meeting Wednesday.
Steve McCann of the City Development Board says the ruling will now be issued in writing. McCann says anyone wishing to appeal the action in district court will be able to do so within 30 days of the ruling being issued. If nothing is filed, McCann says they’ll file documents with the Secretary of State’s Office and the County Recorder officially making the Pioneer Beach area a part of the city of Orleans.
McCann says no one expressed opposition to the annexation proposal at Wednesday’s meeting.
The city of Spirit Lake tried unsuccessfully to involuntarily annex the same area about 20 years ago.
A majority of residents in the Pioneer Beach Area had requested to become a part of Orleans saying they wanted better maintenance of a road in that area, among other things. They were concerned the city of Spirit Lake might try again in the future to involuntarily annex that area, even though Spirit Lake officials had indicated they had no desire of doing that anytime soon.
With one abstention, the Dickinson county board of supervisors voted four-to-nothing last January to support the annexation proposal.
