The City of Baldwin has joined other Georgia cities in adopting a resolution to support their city’s current annexation processes, a response to District 10 Representative Victor Anderson’s Annexation & Cityhood Study Committee.
The resolution states that there are already ways for counties to address annexation concerns with annexation petitions and that an annexation dispute process already exists in Georgia law.
“While improvements to annexation dispute resolution process and timeframes could be helpful for both city and county governments, overly-burdensome changes to the annexation law will not help local governments avoid disputes or meet citizen’s demands,” the resolution states.
The resolution was headed by the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA), and Baldwin’s resolution is one of many Anderson expects to receive.
“I know that there’s a concerted push, and that sort of thing, to limit the changes that are made,” Anderson said. “I’m actually in the process of drafting what will be the main bill to come out of our study committee, and I’ll tell you, like I’ve told GMA and anybody else in ACCG, which is the county commission group, or anybody that’s asked me, about 60 percent or more of the bill that I’m drafting, there will be mutual agreement that, ‘Hey, this is a good improvement that needs to be made on both sides.'”
Baldwin Mayor Joe Elam says the resolution gives the city a chance to share their side of the annexation discussions the committee has had, which will weigh heavily in drafting Anderson’s annexation bill.
“The GMA has given the cities the opportunity to speak out on our side, our standpoint, which is basically an acknowledgment that says even though there’s a lot of information that came forth through that study group and committee, there are also some things to consider that would protect the city’s posture and position,” Elam said during Baldwin’s Monday night meeting.
Victor says that these resolutions are part of the process of moving forward with creating legislation and addressing the needs of municipalities in Georgia.
“There will be some things in there that the cities and GMA will have issues with,” Anderson said. “But it at least prompts the discussion, and that’s part of the process, really.”
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Anderson says with over 500 cities in the state, he expects to receive 400 resolutions similar to Baldwin’s.
“I agree with most of what’s said and stated in the resolution,” Anderson says. “The purpose of our study committee, and the purpose that I have in preparing legislation out of that study committee’s findings, are not to make fundamental changes that would affect a good, smart, legitimate growth.”
Anderson says he is in contact with GMA and Habersham cities, and he doesn’t want to undermine a city’s ability to annex. Rather, he just wants the process to be a more communicative one.
“Every time there’s an annexation that is disputed, if there are good, clear, open channels of communication and ways that people can be heard that the bill impacted or are impacted by the process, it keeps the negative feelings in the community at a minimum,” Anderson says. “And [it] helps the county, the city and the developer through the process without anybody getting a black eye or feeling like they’ve been railroaded.”
