Town studies growth

BROWNSTOWN - The annexation of a 13-lot subdivision south of the county seat moved closer to completion during a council meeting at town hall Monday night.

That's when an ordinance allowing the annexation of the 7.185-acre site was introduced as well as a second ordinance allowing annexation of a 3.57-acre site being developed for housing for people 55 and older.

Both projects are being developed by Lonn and Cheryl Stuckwish, Vallonia, and Joe and Mary Richart, Brownstown.

Joe Markel, an attorney representing the developers, said annexing the properties fills a hole in the town limits because the property is surrounded on three sides by the town.

"It eliminates a dead-end road and gives two entrances in and out of Poplar Cove subdivision, an adjacent subdivision also developed by the Stuckwishes and Richarts," Markel said.

At the present time, residents of Poplar Cove must enter and leave the area on Ashland Street, but a road through the new subdivision will connect with First Street in the Wayman Addition to the west.

Markel added the annexation would also enlarge the town's tax base.

No one spoke in favor of or against the annexation requests during a public hearing before introduction of the ordinances.

Town attorney John Rothring said the next step in the annexation process is the completion of a fiscal study to determine the costs to the town to provide fire and police protection to the area to be annexed.

Once that study is complete, council members can vote the proposal up or down, Rothring said.

Marvin Huffman of Farrow & Huffman Land Surveying, Seymour, said county commissioners still have to sign off on the final plat for the project. Because the subdivision and the 55-and-older housing project still lie in the county, county officials have jurisdiction over infrastructure improvements.

Construction of the housing for those 55 and older has already begun while Lonn Stuckwish told council members the developers hope to begin construction of the roads for the 13-lot subdivision in the near future so they can be open by late fall or early winter.