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Photo by Blake Wheeler
More than a dozen residents of Bowersville, including two town council members and the mayor of Bowersville, filed petitions to annex out of town limits.
This came during a regular meeting held on May 18 at the Bowersville Community Center. Fourteen petitions were given a first read before the council and the public.
“You have received a number of petitions seeking de-annexation,” attorney John Dickerson said to the council. “By law, you are required to deal with [these] petitions. A prerequisite to your dealing with [these] petitions is that the county approve, by resolution, that it would accept de-annexed properties back into the county. That has been done.”
The Hart County Board of Commissioners (BOC) moved to accept the soon-to-be, de-annexed properties during their regular meeting on March 14.
Twenty-four parcels of approximately 600 acres are involved in the de-annexation. BOC Chairman Marshall Sayer moved to approve the application of the residents to de-annex. He was seconded by Commissioner Jeff Brown. The Hart County BOC carried the motion 5-0.
“There are a number of [petitions that are not from elected officials]. We will take those up first,” Dickerson said. “Then, we will take up those from elected officials with the understanding that the elected officials have to recuse themselves, [that means they will] not participate in the discussion, in the vote or in anything that pertains at all to their particular petition.”
The council voted to approve the requests of 11 petitioners on a first read. The town charter of Bowersville requires that all ordinances have a second read, which will be carried out in the coming months.
Town council members Christie Simpson and Ted Yeargin had both filed requests to de-annex from Bowersville and recused themselves from the discussion and vote.
Mayor of Bowersville, Pruitt Manley, also abstained from the discussion and voted on his own request to de-annex out of Bowersville.
Upon the second reading of the petitions, if approved, the de-annexation would become effective the month following the second read.
This move comes after an ordinance, approved by a previous town council in 2016, made it unlawful for any person within the incorporated town limits of Bowersville, to erect or maintain any poultry facilities, including all phases of poultry operations (chicken houses, yards, farms, or factories).
The 2016 ordinance allowed established poultry facilities to maintain operation within the town limits of Bowersville, but if the land were to ever be sold, future owners would not be able to erect new structures or maintain existing structures on the property.
A date has not been set for a second read of the petitions.