annexation effort – The B Square

This past week’s big annexation news was the cancellation of Thursday’s hearing on a cross motion for summary judgment in a constitutional challenge that was filed by Bloomington two years ago.

This graphic contains a table with three columns. Column 1: Label of Annexation Area Column 2: Percentage of remonstrators With 2019 Act Applied Column 3: Percentage of remonstrators without 2019 Act applied 1A 60.94% 37.75% 1B 57.50% 30.91% 1C 71.43% 3.81% 2 71.98% 34.93% 3 66.67% 50.00% 4 70.79% 59.55% 5 66.67% 51.85% — This table, from a recent court filing by the city of Bloomington, sums up the impact of the disputed 2019 law. The left column shows the outcome if the 2019 law is valid and is applied to remonstration signatures: Annexation is stopped outright in five areas (red) and is subject to judicial review in two areas (blue). The right column shows the outcome if the 2019 is unconstitutional: Annexation can proceed forward with no additional steps in five areas (green) and is subject to judicial review in two areas (blue).

But that hearing will be rescheduled. The hearing was canceled, only because the special judge in the case, Kelsey Hanlon out of Owen County, recused herself, due to a potential conflict involving her husband’s recent transfer of employment to Monroe County’s legal department.

At the start of the year, the nonprofit organization County Residents Against Annexation (CRAA) had expressed some hope that Bloomington would withdraw its lawsuit.

The constitutional question concerns a 2019 law, enacted by the state legislature, which voided many of the annexation waivers that Bloomington was relying on for a successful annexation effort. The waivers were supposed to ensure that landowners with such waivers attached to their property would not have their signatures counted for any remonstration against annexation.

CRAA president Margaret Clements is quoted in a Jan. 2 news release saying, “Just as the City of Bloomington unilaterally and involuntarily attempted to annex property in the county, only the City of Bloomington can unilaterally end the dispute.”

But it is now clear that new Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson’s administration will be looking to proceed with the litigation of all of the pending annexation cases.

Responding to an emailed question from The B Square, Bloomington’s new corporation counsel Margie Rice wrote about the subject of Thursday’s hearing: “I can confirm that the City is not planning on withdrawing this particular lawsuit and intends to allow the annexation litigation to proceed as planned.” Continue reading “Bloomington proceeding with annexation court cases, might negotiate timeline for adding territory” →