Palmetto has become the first South Fulton County city to publicly discuss facets of its annexation plans. Those plans were discussed at the April 27 council work session. Plans call for more than doubling the size of the city, a transition, said Mayor Clark Boddie, that can be accomplished without raising taxes or borrowing money while immediately providing fire, police and trash pick up services to those annexed.

A result of recent state legislation giving residents of unincorporated South Fulton County the opportunity in June 2007 to choose to become cities or remain unincorporated, existing South Fulton cities were given the chance to annex new areas prior to an Oct. 30 deadline. Annexation requires the approval of 60 percent of owners of affected land and 60 percent of registered voters. The April 27 discussion did not include potential annexation into Coweta County.

Fulton County Commission Blue Ribbon Panel member, South Fulton Concerned Citizens Coordinator and South Fulton business owner Rex Renfrow said the Concerned Citizens were interested in working with the council. Renfrow said the group was interested in having accurate and timely information provided to citizens about annexation plans.

“Some of your annexation plans, quite frankly, we support, provided the citizens around you want to do this. We support you in wanting to round out your boundaries. We support you in doing the things you think you need to do to take care of Palmetto,” he said. “But there are some things, quite frankly, that we don’t understand. With your maps, not counting the part you want to go to in Coweta, you’re looking at some 4,800 acres. Quite frankly, I would be looking at who is going to pay for this.”

Renfrow referenced issues such as the city’s current population density and sewer usage and how services would be expanded to accommodate new residents that enter the city through annexation now and in the near-term future. Renfrow referenced the requirement to provide equivalent services within a one-year period. Boddie responded, saying that a provision of House Bill 489 gives cities the flexibility to re-negotiate service provision between cities and the county on who can provide those services at the cheapest price. Boddie gave the example of a residence on county water continuing to receive those services rather than switching to city water services.

Renfrow said he agreed that services could be contracted to other providers, just as the new cities might likely need to do, adding that a city must inform residents how they will be affected. He said the citizens to be annexed need to know how the city will pay for it, what it is going to cost and what services will be provided. In order to be able to choose what to do, he said, residents will need that information.

“The people will be given the opportunity. If they elect to go into a city that has nothing established, and no one knows the cost of services or where they are coming from, they have that choice,” Boddie said in response. “They have that choice or they can come into a city that is already here and already has basic services provided in the area. We’re going to work with these folks to make the transition into the city reasonable. The thing is, we’ve been pushed into a situation that whatever annexation we do has to be done right now. By the end of October that window is closed. We’ll be providing each individual with enough information that they can make a sensible and reasonable decision on their own, whether to come in or not to come in.”

Boddie did not elaborate on the proposed annexation’s information process or how it might be tracked along the way.

During the discussion and in response to questions by Chattahoochee Hills Conservancy President Stacy Patton and conservancy board member Steve Nygren, Boddie said the current population density in the targeted annexation area was sparse, adding that it would be many years before some residents would need some of the services provided by the city. With that, Boddie said, those who do come into the city during the annexation period will receive police, fire and trash pick up services overnight. As for unincorporated residents that live on the fringe areas of the proposed annexation plan, those residents do not have to come into the city as long as they are not positioned between the city and a larger group that wants to come into Palmetto, Boddie said.

In a statement after the meeting that was directly related to Renfrow’s question about how the city would initially pay for services to an increased number of annexed residents, Boddie said the city would not raise taxes and would not borrow money. He did not say if the city had enough reserve money to cover the additional expense, though he had emphasized earlier that those areas were not densely populated.

One of the few citizens at the meeting was Wayne Straddling, a resident of unincorporated South Fulton. He expressed concern over the methodology being used at the outset of the annexation attempt.

“We’ve been blindsided by the City of Palmetto. No one ever contacted me, no one ever did a thing. The question is why are we keeping this a secret?” Straddling asked.

Boddie said there were no secrets being kept. He said the fast track approach to annexation was the only option given to South Fulton cities by the legislature. There were no plans until the cities were permitted by the legislature to begin annexations only a few weeks ago. Boddie said someone from the city will be contacting residents to ask them what they want to do. Boddie added that the city might not see its full annexation plans realized because some may choose to remain outside the city.

“I understand that,” Straddling said. ”I’m saying don’t bite off more than you can chew. Just let us know what you’re going to do and what we should expect.”

Also addressing the council was six-year Palmetto resident Kimberly Adams, who suggested that the city not forget to focus on improving the currently existing areas within the city.

Renfrow said another area of interest to the Concerned Citizens and residents of unincorporated South Fulton was working with all players in South Fulton County regarding the 2007 legislation that would put an undue tax burden on all of South Fulton County if North Fulton were successful in splitting off the forming its own county.

“The issue of annexation is probably not as important as the issues that will be coming before us in the next of years,” Renfrow said. “It’s very clear that Milton and John’s Creek intend to form another county. It’s very clear at that point that they intend to try to walk away from Grady and MARTA and it is very clear that they intend for us on the south side of Atlanta to take over those taxes. We want to work closely with you in the coming years to make sure we protect our citizens.”

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