Madison annexes more land

By Sonny Turner
sonny@athensnews-courier.com

March 25, 2008 08:56 pm

— While the Limestone County annexation bill appears stalled and dead in Montgomery, officials in the City of Madison continue to gobble up property on the county’s east side.
The latest Madison annexation came Monday night when the Madison City Council voted to take in another 172 acres in Limestone County.
The acreage includes 154 acres owned by Nancy Barnett. The land is within a half mile of Huntsville-Brownsferry, Segars, Powell, Burgreen and Hardiman roads.
The annexations follow action by the Limestone County Commission and Athens City Council asking local legislators to give county residents the opportunity to vote on whether to restrict further annexations.
The bill is supported by State Sen. Tom Butler, D-Madison, and Rep. Henry White, D-Athens, but it now sits idle in the Local Government Committee awaiting signatures from three other legislators, Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur; Rep. Micky Hammon, R-Decatur; and Rep. Mac McCutcheon, R-Capshaw.
If voters were to approve the restrictions, any annexation made on or after Feb. 12 would be negated and future annexation requests would require county commission approval.
If commissioners refused the request, the annexation could go before county voters.
Since the bill was proposed in February, Madison has annexed more than 1,500 acres into its city limits.
Limestone County Commission Chairman David Seibert and District 3 Commissioner Bill Latimer were in Montgomery Tuesday lobbying for the bill. Seibert said if the bill fails this legislative session, the county would be left with no further options to stop the annexation of the county’s land.