Aberdeen officials are still struggling to reach an agreement over what the developer of the Wetlands Golf Course will give the city if voters approve the referendum to annex the 500-acre property into the city.
After some disagreement about developer Sam Smedley?s draft of the Annexation Agreement ? which lays out what the developer contributes to the city in exchange for annexation ? Council President Ron Kupferman said the city is near a consensus with Smedley. He predicts that everything could be formalized by early next week.
“We?ve both agreed upon 99 percent of the agreement, and the other 1 percent just has to be checked over by each of our lawyers,” Kupferman said.
Yet nearly the same phrase was used to describe the agreement during a council meeting in July, when the city drafted its version and sent it to the developers for their approval.
To the city?s chagrin, City Manager Doug Miller said the agreement had been completely rewritten by the developer as of last week, but Kupferman said they had brought it back to a point both parties could agree upon.
“That 1 percent is the most important part of the document,” said Mayor Fred Simmons. “That?s the one really important paragraph that?s telling everybody what we get and when we get it. … This isn?t legalese, this is about what amount of money gets paid to the city, when it?s paid, and who is going to pay it.”
The annexation agreement is key to the city?s plan to sell the project to the residents leading up to a Dec. 5 referendum, since it lays out everything the city will get in return for extending its borders to include 524 acres around the Wetlands Golf Course. The money being negotiated will not only pay for extra city services required by the area once it?s built out, but also the added planning and paperwork necessary for the annexation before the first ground is broken, Simmons said.
Two votes ? one by all the city?s registered voters and one by the voters living in the area to be annexed ? most both pass for the annexation to stand.
“I don?t even believe we should be negotiating. We should say what we want, and if we don?t get it, then forget the annexation,” said Councilwoman Ruth Elliott, who has gone from a supporter of the annexation to one of its biggest skeptics in the months since its approval.
“I?m hopeful,” Simmons said. “But if in the end we don?t get what we want, we won?t be supporting the annexation.”
