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As was reported in the September 12, 2007, edition
of the Meramec Journal, Jefferson
County Commissioners reject both incorporation proposals submitted as of
August 21, 2007. The petitions rejected were those submitted by the Citizens
for the Future of High Ridge and the group Sugar Creek Hills Working to be a
City Committee.
Both petitions contained similar deficiencies in
the boundary descriptions and failed to meet the requirements as set
forth in the Missouri
State Statutes.
The Sugar Creek Hills boundary did not close,
leaving a gap of approximately 400 feet. As stated in the Jefferson County
Commission
meeting minutes, the description of the boundary language for the
Sugar Creek Hills petition "is confusing, does not close and cannot be
reconciled with other language within the same description."
Mr. David Harding, of the Sugar Creek Hills group,
stated that the deficiency was a "technical error" which resulted in 400 feet
of one lot's boundary being omitted from the legal description, thus leaving a
gap in the boundary. Furthermore, he
stated that the commission had the authority to correct the error but chose
not to.
According to Presiding Commissioner, Chuck Banks,
fixing the error would change the
shape of the city and would therefore represent a different
boundary than what the petition said at the time of signature. "It's a
big deal and it's not our place to fix
it," added Commissioner Banks.
Regarding the High Ridge 63049 petition, two
deficiencies were stated. In the first instance, language in the boundary
description included a small section of an existing city, Byrnes Mill. The
second included the entire village of
Parkdale, another incorporated municipality.
Brian Haskins, of the Citizens for the Future of
High Ridge, said "I thought we had all our T's crossed and our I's dotted. I
don't think we had part of Parkdale and Byrnes Mill on our map. We checked
with the surveyor and county mapping department and they didn't think they
were included."
According to Mr. Haskins, "There's nothing more
to pursue." Although Mr. Haskins told the Journal that he has resigned as
president of the Citizens for the Future of High Ridge and dissolved the
group, the final paragraph in the Journal mentions he will be meeting with his
group to discuss how it will proceed after receiving official notice of
rejection.
Mr. Harding, of the Sugar Creek Hills group, was
uncertain whether his group would make a second attempt at incorporation.
As of the end of August 2007, a new law went into
effect requiring 15% of all
registered voters in the proposed area to sign
petitions being submitted for incorporation.
This represents a change from the previous
requirement of only 15% of those who voted in the last gubernatorial
election.
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