Village eyes annexation

Only a few months after becoming an incorporated village, Pierpont is on the verge of expanding.

Voters on Tuesday will decide whether to annex an area north and east of the newly established village. If passed, the proposition would extend the village’s northern border to Rock Bridge Memorial State Park.

“We just want to get this all together and keep our community as a whole,” said Justin John, chairman of the Pierpont Board of Trustees.

The area targeted for annexation was originally included in the petition to incorporate Pierpont last April. Columbia city staff, however, found that proposal to be in conflict with a state statue that said villages must be no closer than two miles from an existing municipality’s city limits.

Pierpont petitioners revised their proposal and on Oct. 8 submitted a petition to incorporate a smaller area. They intended all along to seek the annexation of the area up for a vote on Tuesday.

Village attorney Pat Cronan said about 90 percent of those who live on the targeted land signed the petition last year supporting the initial incorporation of Pierpont.

“People said they wanted to have a village,” Cronan said. “I’ll be surprised if they changed their mind.”

Pierpont sits at the intersection of Highway 163 and Route N. Around the end of 2003, some residents of the area became concerned that it might be swallowed up by the city of Columbia after the state sought voluntary annexation of a portion of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park as part of an arrangement that would have provided city sewer service to the park. That deal eventually fell through.

Pierpont residents nevertheless took their request for incorporation to the Boone County Commission. Forty-six residents signed the petition, which met the county’s requirement that two-thirds of the area’s landowners sign on. The commission approved the revised version of the proposal last fall.

The annexation issue will appear on ballots both in Pierpont and the area targeted for annexation. To pass, it must be approved by a majority of voters both inside and outside the village. There are 52 registered voters in the targeted area and 24 within the current boundaries of the village.

Liz Smith owns some of the property Pierpont officials want to annex, but she’s not convinced there’s any merit to the proposal.

“There is nothing they can offer,” Smith said. “They just want more members to pay their legal bills.”

John said village leaders have no plans for further annexations.

“We will just leave them like that,” he said. “That was the purpose of incorporating.”

Pierpont trustees have been exercising their authority since the village was incorporated. They’re responsible for voting on proposed ordinances, setting zoning regulations, maintaining roads and enforcing building codes. During their second meeting in January, they appointed a clerk and adopted provisions of the state sunshine open records and meetings law.

Boone County Southern District Commissioner Karen Miller said it’s been a learning experience for the trustees.

“They are just adopting all regulations the county has,” Miller said. “And they are doing very well.”

Miller said the village won’t be a bad precedent of unplanned incorporation in the County.

“It’s a unique community surrounded by the state park,” Miller said. “The annexation is just to include the original people who signed the petition and honor their original commitment.”