By Gerri Miller
Elmore Autauga News Staff Writer
The public is invited to participate in a meeting Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the Marbury High School cafeteria which is expected to be a standing room only crowd. The meeting has been called to answer questions about the possibility of incorporating the Pine Level area of Autauga County as a municipality.
The Central Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission (CARPDC) will lead the meeting with a presentation on incorporation and what it would mean for Pine Level. There will be a question-and-answer forum at the end of the meeting.
Pine Level is growing rapidly and incorporation is necessary so that the area is not annexed by a neighboring city, according to the two organizers of the drive.
Larry Deavers and Ken Hollon grew up in the Pine Level community and say they now see subdivisions and business being constructed throughout the area.
“Why do we need incorporation?” Deavers asked. “The growth of our community has been steady. We have Landmark Signs coming in to manufacture signs, Ace Hardware, Ellianos Coffee, Piggly Wiggly and many more. Our area is growing so fast and we have subdivisions everywhere.”
A large tract of land north of I-65 has been sold for construction of new housing. The County is also extending sewer lines down to I-65 including going under the interstate which will make the area a prime choice for commercial development. Schools in the area are expanding, with Pine Level Elementary School alone serving more than 950 students.
“Annexation is much easier than incorporation,” Hollon said. “Prattville is already looking at the general area around the 31/65 Interchange. If that happens, it will be a big loss for the county.”
An incorporated place is a geographic area with legally defined municipal boundaries under Alabama laws. Incorporated places are established to provide governmental functions for a population typically with elected officials and the means to provide local municipal services such as water, sanitation, schools and police departments.
Annexation is the legal process that transfers property from an unincorporated unit of government to an incorporated one. It is how territory in a town is transferred to a contiguous city or village.
Hollon said incorporation is a lengthy process and there must be at least 300 people in the area to be incorporated. “We want the citizens who live in the area to draw the lines,” he said.
He said that after 300 names are recorded, 60 percent of all the people who live in the incorporated area must sign a petition that will be sent to the Probate Judge. The judge will then schedule a vote of the people.
Hollon said after a town is established, different areas can request to be included through the process of annexation. For example, the Town of Pike Road incorporated with a population of 300 people and now has 16,000 residents
Deavers said no lines have been drawn yet and the purpose of the Tuesday night meeting is to educate people on what could happen and what the area’s residents should do going forward.
“We want people to come with an open mind, listen carefully and then make up their minds,” Deavers said. “Come to the meeting regardless of how you feel and listen to what CARPDC has to say and the responsibilities we would have as a community.”
Hollon said there is no hidden agenda. “The people involved have lived in this community for many years. Most graduated from Marbury High School, their kids graduated from Marbury, and they now have grandchildren at one of the three schools,” he said.
A Facebook page has been created that answers some of the questions about the incorporation issue. The address is www.facebook.com/groups/284447790458288/ You can also call Deavers at (334) 320-7436 or Hollon at (334) 595-2038.
