Some Bowie County residents hope last-ditch efforts to delay Texarkana, Texas' annexation of their property will buy the time they need to make doing so without their consent illegal.
Anti-annexation activists met Wednesday at the Pleasant Grove Volunteer Fire Department to discuss how to influence a City Council vote on the matter expected during the council's Aug. 13 meeting. Through letter-writing and phone call campaigns, as well as attending the meeting in large numbers, they hope to persuade the council to vote against annexation or table the issue. If they succeed, the next step would be to use a new provision of Texas law to stop forced annexation in the county.
A year ago, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill that put new municipal annexation rules into effect beginning Dec. 1, 2017. As a result, in Texas' 12 counties with at least 500,000 residents, called Tier 2 counties, cities must get landowner or voter approval for annexations.
In less populous, or Tier 1, counties such as Bowie, property is still subject to forced annexation but residents can opt into the Tier 2 rules through a petition and election process. Residents of Freestone, Johnson, Parker and Wise counties this year have petitioned to put Tier 2 opt-in measures on their ballots for voters to decide in November.
The consensus at Wednesday's meeting was that it is too late to gather the signatures necessary to put such a measure on this year's Bowie County ballot-and the council is voting in less than two weeks, anyway. Ten percent of the county's registered voters, about 6,000 people, would be required to sign the petition.
But if activists can stop the council from approving an annexation ordinance now, they would have time to begin the opt-in petition and election process. Another possible delay tactic brought up Wednesday is attaining a court-ordered injunction if the council votes yes, which might halt implementation of the annexations long enough to take further action against them.
Plans include inundating the council, county government, state representatives and media outlets with messages expressing opposition to annexation.
Charles Moulton reported that city staff had told him they were considering several accommodations for those whose land would be annexed, including waiving required connection to the city sewers if a resident has a working septic system and waiving water connection where a residence is at least 300 feet from a water main. The Gazette was unable to confirm by presstime Wednesday that any such discussions have taken place among city staff.
In May, the council authorized planning to extend city services into seven proposed additions, the first step in the process of annexation. The areas range in size from 17.3 acres to 688.57 acres and total more than 1,780 acres.
In two public hearings in July, residents of the land to be annexed made clear to the council that they are unanimously against the move, saying they do not want city services or to pay increased taxes and incur other new expenses.