Soldotna voters will decide the outcome of the city’s long-sought annexation plan this October. That’s after city council members voted Wednesday to put the issue on the next municipal ballot.
At stake are 2.6 square miles of land in Ridgeway, Funny River and Kalifornsky. If the proposition is approved, that land will be annexed into Soldotna city limits. The proposition will be decided by registered city voters and the 136 voters living in the territories proposed for annexation.
Soldotna Vice Mayor Lisa Parker says she’s glad to see the issue heading toward resolution.
“This has been definitely a long process, this annexation process and I'm glad to see that we are going to be finally closing this,” she said. “And what the outcome is, I don't know, but it will be putting it – putting the issue to bed, finally.”
By the time voters fill out their ballots this fall, more than six years will have passed since Soldotna first submitted its annexation plan to Alaska’s Local Boundary Commission. That’s a state group tasked with analyzing proposals to alter municipal boundaries.
In that petition, the city argues annexation will promote self-governance and the city’s long-term economic vitality. And it says the demand for city services from adjacent areas has grown.
But the proposal has faced stiff opposition from residents of the areas proposed for annexation. Some residents and property owners say they chose to live outside city limits to avoid being subject to Soldotna laws.
A year after the city filed the petition, state boundary commissioners amended it to make annexation contingent on voter approval. The move was a first for the commission, which usually forwards petitions to state lawmakers for approval. The city appealed that decision all the way to the Alaska Supreme Court, which ruled against the city last year.
Throughout the appeal process, Soldotna’s lawyers argued that the Local Boundary Commission acted outside its authority and that the ruling was inconsistent with previous decisions. But the state says commissioners acted within their authority and had a reasonable basis for amending the petition.
Soldotna City Manager Janette Bower says sending the issue to voters will honor the commissioner’s initial ruling.
“We are the first ones to move forward in this manner and have a mandate before us,” she said. “That is somewhat – it is unprecedented and really undocumented as far as this mandate. But we've been advised this is the way to close the loop on the process.”
To cast a ballot in Soldotna’s next election, voters must be registered by Sept. 7. Voters who live in the areas proposed for annexation must be registered Alaska voters and have lived in the territory for at least 30 days before the election. Alaskans can register to vote on the Alaska Division of Elections website.
