Daniel Caldwell and Willa Mae McAnally spoke during the Auburn City Council meeting Tuesday, March 4, regarding an annexation of 1635 Lee Road 052, commonly known as Talhiem Street.
An annexation means the Council brings a parcel of land into the Auburn city limits.
Caldwell, a current renter in Auburn, said he plans to move to the approximate 1.6 acres at that address, but he and his family's move is incumbent on it being part of Auburn.
Caldwell said this reading was the Council's second reading of the ordinance, and, at first it passed with unanimous consent.
Caldwell also said when he spoke to the Auburn Planning Department, they deemed the annexation a logical fill-in.
Auburn city limits surround Talhiem Street on three sides, and the city already provides services such as police, fire and waste management to the area, according to City Manager Charlie Duggan.
All Councilmembers voted yes, except for Ward 5 Councilmember Robin Kelley, who expressed concerns about further annexation in the face of Auburn City School's eventual overcrowding.
"It's potentially adding more kids to the school system," Duggan said. "I think the Council is trying to be sensitive to that issue."
Ward 8 Councilmember Bob Norman, whose ward includes Talhiem Street, began the discussion, and said it would be an undue burden not to allow this annexation.
"This one seems to be almost a no-brainer," Norman said.
Ward 7 Councilmember Gene Dulaney said he admitted he began looking at annexations differently after the community voted against the September 2013 property tax.
That tax was originally to be dedicated to building another high school.
Dulaney said he feels he needs to be tougher on annexations, but this case was an exception due to its proximity to the City of Auburn.
Kelley said he thought the Council might have a hard time with this issue in the future and compared it to opening Pandora's Box.
Duggan said the issue is grave and the Council will need to be careful in its decision-making until a solution to the growing school-population issue is found.
Duggan said all solutions discussed at the Feb. 24 and 25 meetings regarding school overcrowding were more than $100 million.
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