Second lower court order against Bloomington: ‘[T]he annexation of Areas 1A and 1B shall not take place’

Map of annexation areas. https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1_7o1q_H6CpeK-1gdEzDTxnPk84RZQ_E&usp=sharing

Lawrence county circuit court photo of special judge for Bloomington annexation lawsuit Nathan Nikirk

In the trial on the merits for two big annexation areas west and southwest of Bloomington, a circuit court judge has ruled in favor of remonstrators—that is, against the city of Bloomington.

It was mid-afternoon on Wednesday, when judge Nathan Nikirk, out of Lawrence County, issued his order that says Area 1A and Area 1B can’t be annexed into the city of Bloomington.

In the 47-page order, the line near the end that counted was: “Accordingly, the annexation of Areas 1A and 1B shall not take place.”

Nikirk found that for both areas, the city of Bloomington had failed to demonstrate adequate population density, degree of urbanization, or the city’s need for the land.

In addition, Nikirk found that there would be a significant financial impact on residents in annexed areas, and that annexation would not be in their best interest. Continue reading “Second lower court order against Bloomington: ‘[T]he annexation of Areas 1A and 1B shall not take place’” →

Friday: Final day of Bloomington annexation trial

Eric Reedy’s binder with the annexation fiscal plan. (May 1, 2024)

Map of annexation areas. https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1_7o1q_H6CpeK-1gdEzDTxnPk84RZQ_E&usp=sharing

The trial on the merits of Bloomington’s plan to annex two territories on the west and southwest sides of the city has completed its fourth day. Friday is the final day left on the trial calendar.

It now looks like the trial will be over by the end of the day on Friday.

The proceeding is a judicial review, which was forced by remonstrators, when they achieved the threshold of at least 51 percent of landowner signatures in Area 1A and Area 1B, but fell short of the 65 percent that would have stopped Bloomington’s annexation outright.

By the end of the day on Tuesday, when the pace of testimony from the city’s witnesses appeared to be slower than expected, judge Nathan Nikirk raised the specter of a Saturday session. Continue reading “Friday: Final day of Bloomington annexation trial” →

Bloomington city council OKs annexation on 6-3 votes for all territories, except north area

The outcomes on the remaining annexation votes taken by Bloomington’s city council on Wednesday night unfolded as expected, based on the previous week’s initial session on the topic.

Including Area 1A on the west side of the city, which got an OK last week, seven of the eight proposed areas for annexation were approved, all on 6–3 votes. The three dissenting votes came from Dave Rollo, Susan Sandberg and Ron Smith.

A key argument for the three dissenters was the idea that the city of Bloomington was not in a position to extend some services to the new territory. The specific services causing concern relate to public safety.

The current disparity between the number of sworn officers employed by Bloomington’s department (91) and the number who are authorized (105)—in the context of the 23 to 35 additional officers called for in the fiscal plans—led dissenters to conclude it is unrealistic to think Bloomington could provide public safety services to the new areas.

Those voting in favor cited standard arguments in favor of annexation, including: the idea that annexation is a natural part of the history of cities; that those who own land near municipal boundaries already enjoy several benefits of that proximity, so it’s fair for them to pay city property taxes; and the idea that the remonstrance waivers signed by landowners in exchange for extension of sewer service is a contractual agreement that landowners should expect to fulfill. Continue reading “Bloomington city council OKs annexation on 6-3 votes for all territories, except north area” →

Bloomington preps for annexation restart on May 19, will assume remonstrance waivers voided by state legislature are valid

At a work session held on Friday, Bloomington’s city council got a briefing from mayor John Hamilton’s administration on the restart of an annexation process that was launched in 2017.

Image links to high resolution .pdf file.

The process was stopped that year when the state legislature enacted a law that was found by Indiana’s Supreme Court in late 2020 to be unconstitutional. That cleared the way for Bloomington’s renewed annexation effort.

Friday’s work session provided a couple of newsy bits.

First, based on the work session discussion, Bloomington will be proceeding with the process on the assumption that some remonstrance waivers are still valid, even though they were declared void by a state law enacted by the state legislature in 2019.

The new 2019 law says that a few different categories of annexation waivers are not valid, which means that more property owners would be eligible to remonstrate against a proposed annexation.

At the work session, Bloomington’s corporation counsel Philippa Guthrie said about the remonstrance waivers voided by the state legislature: “They were contracts signed by individuals with the city, in exchange for getting the sewer service. That’s why we provided the service. So we’re proceeding as if they are valid.”

Guthrie confirmed to The Square Beacon, “Yes, we believe all of our waivers are valid.” On Friday, Guthrie did not have a figure for the number of waivers that are involved. Continue reading “Bloomington preps for annexation restart on May 19, will assume remonstrance waivers voided by state legislature are valid” →