JONESBORO, Ark. – The Jonesboro City Council decided to annex an area of land into the city this week but not without opposition.
A 20 acre section of land situated south of Macedonia Road and north of Sage Meadows in Jonesboro was annexed at Tuesday night’s council meeting, passing with an 8-2 vote. The land will be part of Sage Meadows, following the annexation.
Fire Chief Kevin Miller told the council in a letter his department would not have any issues with providing coverage to the area, however, his said the fire department was not in favor of any annexations. He said added land will only require additional resources in the future to maintain the ISO rating for the city’s public safety.
Aldermen Bobby Long and Todd Burton voted no to annex the land.
Long said he tried explaining in the meeting that rounding off borders would not be a good reason because, among other things, he thought JETS had indicated problems with density reduction coming out of added annexations.
“It’s my opinion that we have already annexed almost more land than we can handle at this time,” Long said to NEA Report on Thursday. “I feel annexation without a clear and substantial net positive impact on the city is not a good thing to do, especially when it could possibly increase the strain on an already thin police and fire department. A little here and a little there adds up. I just didn’t think this was the right time.”
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