MORGANTOWN — Concerned about what it considers to be a lack of information regarding the City of Morgantown’s annexation plan, a group calling itself F.A.I.R., or Forced Annexation Isn’t Right has planned a town hall meeting for Monday.
The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn, on Suncrest Towne Centre Drive.
The city is looking to annex 3.8 square miles of additional property, including areas like Suncrest Towne Centre and the Mileground, through minor boundary adjustment. If ultimately approved by the Monongalia County Commission, the annexation would grow the city’s 10.5 square-mile footprint by about 36%.
The city is accepting public feedback through June 30.
Jim Manilla, a former Morgantown mayor and city council member, owns property in one of the areas targeted for annexation. He said the goal of Monday’s meeting is simply to get the information out.
“You’ve got 367 business owners. You’ve got 12,830 residential property owners. You’ve got 6,800 employees in this area,” Manilla said. “The right thing for the city to do would have been to send every single business and property owner in these areas a letter. But it seems like the city is wanting to rush this through without public hearings. They already have their schedule in place.”
According to that schedule, the city is aiming to get its annexation application to the county commission in August.
But before that happens, Morgantown Communication Manager Andrew Stacy said, the city does plan to hold four public meetings specific to annexation. Those dates, times and locations will be included in the agenda for the June 18 city council meeting, which will be posted on the city’s website on June 13.
Either way, Manilla said he’s spoken to a number of people, including several business owners, who were not aware that the city planned to bring them inside its boundaries.
“We just want the information out there — pro and con,” Manilla said. “We want people to be aware.”
The annexation plan and related information is available online at bit.ly/mgwannex. Hard copies can be picked up at Morgantown City Hall (city manager or city clerk offices), the Morgantown Public Library on Spruce Street and the Monongalia County Senior Center, located in the Mountaineer Mall.
Comments can be submitted via email to info@morgantownwv.gov. Written comments can be mailed to Morgantown City Hall, 389 Spruce St., Room 16. If mailed, mark the envelope ATTN: Communications Office. Tweet @DominionPostWV.
