"Time Is (Was) of the Essence."

It's not that I want to dredge up discord.  Much of the water is under the bridge.  And whether it is or it isn't, what's past is past, and we can't have the time and opportunity back.  Having said that, we have problems we're trying to solve, and those problems were different problems, solution-wise, in the past than they are now.

Various BP residents have considered for several or many years the idea of our annexing some neighboring tract.  The idea was not given serious consideration, however, until about the past year and a half.  We were offered the opportunity to apply to annex territory east of the railroad tracks, and our County Commissioner, Sally Heyman, has been encouraging to the point of practically insisting we apply.  Our prior Manager thought we should annex, and every candidate to replace her agreed annexation was an important and valuable opportunity for a municipality like ours.  The majority of the immediately past Commission was very skeptical, or resistant for some other reason, however, and the idea of applying was voted down.  During the Candidates' Forum this past November, one of the candidates, an incumbent, was essentially mocking one of his colleagues, who was also one of his competitors in the election, for suggesting that "time was of the essence" regarding annexation.

What was or is the big rush, he seemed to demean her?  A matter like annexation is so controversial to some Village residents that it deserves every available caution and deliberation.  Even abundant delay is not unreasonable, so that every possible question can be asked and answered before even the decision to apply is made.  And it's worth noting, though it's nothing unknown to the past Commissioners, that application does not bind us to anything.  It costs us a little money, and it gets us answers we could not fully get any other way.  It also gets our foot in the door, in case we decide we're interested, and in case it matters who's there, and who came first.

I have just learned two things regarding annexation and the area we are considering.  First, in general, the County Commission has just passed its first reading of an Ordinance which will allow property owners, whether or not they are residents, in tracts which are available for annexation to vote on whether they would like to be annexed.  Second, specifically, when we first considered annexing the tract in question, one of the two apartment buildings there was not yet open.  Now, both buildings are open, both are well-populated, and there are now 283 "electors" (people registered to vote) living in this area.  The County's rule regarding annexation is that if an area to be annexed has less than 250 electors living in it, then those residents have no say regarding annexation.  If there are 250 or more electors, then residents of the tract in question are allowed to vote on whether they would like to be annexed.  Last year, the choice was ours.  This year, the choice is theirs.  And to find out what those electors think, the Village would now have to spend $3300 to hold an election for the unincorporated residents.

So was time of the essence?  You bet it was.  Either the majority of the last Commission couldn't bring themselves to accept what they were being told, by everyone, or they wanted only to obstruct and prevent, and they didn't care that they were squandering an opportunity.  In fact, they probably hoped very much that they were.  If their concern was how much money the process of exploring annexation would cost the Village, as they sometimes asserted, they succeeded in making it more expensive than it would otherwise have been.  And to add abundant insult to considerable injury, they left no viable or even sensible alternative.