Last night, the Blue Ridge City Council opened up the floor to discuss annexation publicly, and allowed the citizens of Fannin County to voice their thoughts, opinions, and concerns to the council directly.
Mayor Whitener began the meeting by explaining the annexation only annexes in the state roads and the state right of way, but if someone wanted to annex their property, they would have to do it using an application process through the council.
The running theme of the evening was citizens felt the city rushed annexation and overall a bad idea for Blue Ridge. However, many speakers relayed that they weren’t opposed to annexation, just to how it’s been handled.
Resident John Suave says, “I’m not against or for annexation.” He added that it “could be good” for Fannin. He also proposed that the developers pay for the sewer and not the taxpayers.
Mary Taylor’s concern laid with the future of Blue Ridge after annexation. She stressed the city needs to be weary of overgrowth.
Everyone supported growth, but it must be controlled and executed the right way. This annexation occurred the wrong way.
Paul Miguire declared, “back up and do it right.”
The speakers pushed for inclusion of city residents in annexation discussions. The Hwy 5 and Hwy 515 annexation took place without any public input until this town hall.
Additionally, residents of Blue Ridge and Fannin wanted to know how and who would be paying for extending sewer services, transportation, and security associated with this annexation.
According to Mayor Donna Whitener, the city will pay through grants. Currently, the city doesn’t have these grants. The city would apply for them after the annexation.
When asked by speaker Kirk Williams if the city could secure these intended grants, Whitener said, “Nothing is for sure.”
Williams continued, “Annexation is almost always a poor investment” and asked the council to not “Burn the taxpayers.”
Rene Sylo was anxious about the devaluation of her property and the thought of people living right on top of her. She didn’t support the “stack ‘em and pack ‘em” method of some developers.
Councilwoman Haight agreed with a lot of the speakers as she listened to their concerns. Many residents were concerned that with annexation the taxpayers would have to pay for the sewer, transportation, and security costs, if the city wasn’t able to get the grants.
Haight assured, “I will not as a city council member increase taxes to give sewer to private business.”
Nearing the end of the meeting, Council Member Mike Panter discusses his thoughts on the issue. Panter states that he’s for controlled growth.
Panter finishes by saying, “If you go five years from now and want to put sewer and water all the way out to Mercier’s; what’s the cost of that five years from now digging up the new highway versus doing it now? That’s something you’ve gotta think about.”
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Look at what has happened downtown... It isn't charming any more... It's money in someone's pocket and if this goes thru it will be more money in that same pocket... No guarantees on grants so if they don't go thru taxpayers will be paying... It just gives more property to build..... Blue Ridge will become a ghost town and it doesn't matter to the one who's pockets are getting filled BUT it will matter to the small business owners and residents... This IS going to be a huge mistake in the near future...