The citizens have spoken and members of the Town Board of Trustees have listened.
There will be no annexation of eight square miles into Meeker’s town limits, at least as long as the current Board of Trustees are concerned.
The Trustees officially nixed the annexation issue during their March 21 meeting when they voted unanimously to no longer pursue it.
That vote came on the heels of a public meeting held at the Meeker First Baptist Church attended by an estimated 90 to 100 persons. Ostensibly, they were the property owners impacted by the proposal.
They showed up seeking answers to their questions and all who spoke that night voiced their opposition. It was obvious from the beginning of the meeting they had their minds already made up and were absolutely against the proposal.
About 40 minutes into the meeting, Town Administrator Jeff Wilbourn inquired if anyone in attendance was in favor of the annexation and if so to raise his or her hand. Not a single hand went up.
Wilbourn had indicated on more than one occasion this public meeting should have been held long ago. Even when he was serving as mayor before stepping down to accept his present position he had mentioned that.
This issue isn’t one that just popped up suddenly or recently. It had been discussed a number of times for the past four or five years.
Vice Mayor Aaron Head has been on the town board for a number of years. He was serving as mayor in November of 2018 when Trustees voted to set the boundaries of the annexation. They previously had approved proceeding with it.
He’s the only member from that board who is currently serving as a Trustee.
In April of 2019, Trustees again voted unanimously to continue the process of annexing that area into the town limits.
Former Town Administrator Dickie Walton had explained several times, “the purpose is to protect the town’s interests and the Quapaw 15 Project more commonly known as the Lake Project.”
Walton insisted that April Burns, an economist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, recommended the guidelines for the borders of the proposed annexation due to the lake project.
Whether scrapping the annexation has any impact on the Quapaw 15 Project may remain to be seen. Current Trustees have indicated that it will not. Let’s hope they are right.
Because while it’s commendable that Trustees listened to those outside the Town limits and voted against pursuing it further, it would be a shame if it were to cost them the project.