Buffalo City Council votes to proceed with annexation process

The Buffalo City Council passed a unanimous resolution to proceed with the process to annex the land on IH-45 and bring city services to the area. The Council and was told by Mayor Royce Dawkins that Waukesha- Pearce Industries had agreed to fund $120,000 of the cost and that the City expected the Buffalo Economic Development Council (BEDC) to come up with about $60,000 of the estimated $240,000 cost. BEDC Director Ken Jones told the Council that the BEDC would be able to help after the annexation was done. Councilman John Maneval asked several times for a “cash flow benefit analysis” before proceeding. During that discussion the council was told that preliminary estimates were that resulting taxes would range from $17,000 to $32,000 per year. That figure does not include the possibility that other businesses will develop in the area provided with utilities. Maneval later succeeded in amending Councilwoman Dianne Ryder’s motion to proceed with the steps toward annexation to include that analysis.

City Attorney Gayle Wilson Ray told the Council that the procedure of annexation would be, “Not easy, not quick and not cheap.” Ray pointed out that the City had to have a legal map of the city before it could even begin to determine how much land it could annex in one year. A General Law city is limited to 10% of its total area and annexation must be requested. Ray was told by Mayor Dawkins that the City expected to be able to produce a map within two weeks and the Council later approved $2,800 for that mapping expense.

The Council approved increases in the renter and business deposits for utilities and an increase in reconnect fees. They approved $6,500 in Hotel-Motel tax funds for Crossfire, the weekend gospel concert to be held again in the Brookshire’s parking lot.

A request to close Boyd Street and allow the property to return to the adjacent property owners was approved. Tim Ezell who is one of the affected property owners abstained from voting. This is part of a continuing saga of streets that were plotted but never developed.

Anderson Bullock presented a request for annexation to the council, his property being a part of what is necessary to complete the Waukesha-Pearce Industries project.