After an hour-long meeting Wednesday, the City of Clearwater and Clearwater Twp. may be one step away from finally reaching a consensus on an Orderly Annexation Agreement (OAA).
An OAA governs how land will be annexed from the township to the city within a predetermined area.
It was the second special Wednesday joint meeting in the past month. Last week, the township board reviewed the latest draft agreement during their monthly meeting. They approved some recommendations from their attorney Mike Couri, as well as a map and legal descriptions.
Wednesday, members of the city council had no issues with any of the revisions, although they wanted their attorney, Jay Squires, to do a final review of the legal descriptions and map to make sure everything was in order.
Wednesday’s discussion focused on a few items. Township Supervisor Scott Miller said he was concerned about the notification process regarding the 14-day window for a property owner to rescind a request for a zoning change or else have the property annexed.
But that issue might be resolved. Township Clerk Jean Just said their attorney is recommending the parties form a Joint Planning Board for the sole purpose of developing a special ordinance for the OAA. Under that ordinance, if anyone goes to the county with a request for a zoning change or any modification of land in the OAA, the county wouldn’t act on the request.
Instead, it would be forwarded to the city. That way there would be no time lapse for the property owner. Both parties agreed a Joint Planning Board was a good idea.
Another issue was the list of conditions for annexation. Under the current language, a commercial or industrial property with a failing septic system or failing well can be annexed if city sewer and water is available. The sale of a property in the OAA is also a condition for annexation.
Miller asked whether a transfer of property within a family would be considered a sale. No one was sure of the answer, so a complete definition of what constitutes a sale is another item for the attorneys to review.
The parties also discussed a time frame for requiring existing businesses to be annexed and connect to city sewer and water. The consensus was 20 years - once water and sewer is available. Exactly how property owners will pay for the utilities is still under discussion.
Another issue was farmland. No one had a clear answer on whether farms should be required to annex into the city in the 20-year time frame.
That will require some research into what other cities have done in their agreements.
Both parties felt good progress was made Wednesday. With only a few items to run by their attorneys, they are hoping to have a public hearing June 24. If there are no other issues to resolve then, the city and township might decide to sign an agreement that evening or soon after.
