BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE AUTAUGA NEWS
In June of last year, all residents of Rodgers View Court neighborhood off Airport Road signed a petition asking to be annexed into Millbrook City limits.
Their wish came one step closer to reality this morning in a special called meeting of the Millbrook City Council. In that meeting, council members unanimously approved a resolution seeking to annex the neighborhood. The Council wrote a letter to the Alabama Legislature requesting a vote to allow the city to annex the multiple properties at one time, rather than individually.
In their reasoning for wanting to annex into the city, the residents wrote Millbrook a letter. It reads, “As you may be aware, the recent dissolution of Coosada’s police/fire jurisdiction funding for our area has created an urgent situation for many residents and businesses who fall between the town of Coosada and the City of Millbrook. However, it has also created a much-welcomed opportunity for annexation into Millbrook, which we would like to pursue immediately.”
City officials began looking into the possibility of annexing the neighborhood, covering all legalities. Coosada officials are against the annexation and shared their concerns with legislators as well. That letter can be seen in its entirety in the graphics below.
However, Millbrook officials said they corrected several of Coosada’s points, which were in error.
Millbrook officials penned a letter to area legislators including Senator Barfoot, Senator Chambliss, Rep. Ingram, Rep. Starnes and Rep. Stubbs.
In that letter, they first noted that the area is not a “spot” nor is it an “island” annexation. They pointed out that two of the lots in question are contiguous with the city limits of Millbrook, while two others are already located inside the Millbrook Police jurisdiction.
The letter also cited Ala. Code which states, “In the event any incorporated municipality’s police jurisdiction overlaps with the police jurisdiction of one or more other incorporated municipalities, the governing body of any one of the incorporated municipalities may exercise the authority of this article, in the overlapping portions of their police jurisdiction, to a boundary which is equidistant from the respective corporate limits of each of the incorporated municipalities which have overlapping police jurisdictions.”
The lines between areas of Millbrook and Coosada can get confusing at times, when it comes to what property is where.
This was also noted in the city’s letter. The City of Millbrook currently has to pass through Coosada’s Town Limits in order to access McAdams Road, Walker Way and Kennedy Avenue, all located within the Corporate Limits of Millbrook.
Finally, the letter cites ACT 2021-297 which terminated a municipality’s right to collect fees in its Police Jurisdiction if the municipality did not comply with the ACT requirements. The Town of Coosada did not comply and has lost their rights to collect taxes and/or fees in their Police Jurisdiction.
The letter reads, “Therefore, our proposed Legislative Act does not cause any monetary harm to the Town of Coosada.”
Council President Michael Gay thanked the residents this morning from Rodgers View Court for attending the special meeting and gave them a lot of the credit.
“These residents worked very hard on this to be annexed into the city, and their paperwork was fantastic. They definitely did their research and hopefully soon we can welcome them into our city officially,” President Gay said. “Their professionalism has been outstanding.”
There are seven legislative days left in the session. President Gay said to get the bill for the total annexation could take three legislative days before it comes to a vote in the legislature.
It is important to note, that Coosada Mayor James Houston does not agree with the Legislature approving the annexation, and wrote a letter to Senator Chambliss, Representative Starnes and Representative Stubbs. In the letter, he expressed his strong opposition to the proposed legislative annexation.
However, Millbrook officials are confident that there is no legal reason why the vote will not be in Millbrook’s favor.
That letter, along with Millbrook’s letter, can be seen within the photos below.
