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Collinsville,
Oklahoma September 11, 2009 Letter To The Editor |
Phil
Ostrander Concerned With Proposed City Annexation of Highway 169 Corridor
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Ted,
Thank you for your comments and coverage of the recent Chamber meeting where I spoke regarding the local political involvement of the business community. Your editorial comments after the article were well stated. The citizens of the area need to be more involved in issues that affect our quality of life and ability to protect and provide for our families. Along that train of thought, there is another major issue that is progressing and seems to be flying under the radar at city hall. The Collinsville PD has asked the commission to pass an ordinance to annex hwy 169 from 126th to 176th. This would make Collinsville PD the primary law enforcement agency on that stretch of highway. They are citing the need to do this as a safety issue. Many believe it is more of a speed trap than a safety issue. The annexation would bring huge additional financial responsibilities. Under state law, if a city annexes a state highway, the city then becomes responsible for mowing the hundreds of acres of right of way and performing maintenance on everything except the road surface. The question becomes... how do we pay the massive potential expenses? There is no potential sales tax on a divided highway right of way. There is no property tax base. Some have talked about revenues from a big drug bust and the PD getting to keep the money. The odds of that happening are like hitting the lottery. Yes... someone does occasionally win... but out of the million or so traffic stops that take place in Oklahoma each year, you rarely hear of a "winner." The only way to come out ahead would appear to be writing thousands of tickets on the highway. I believe this issue is of community wide importance and should warrant a public meeting with citizen input and discussion along with an opportunity for the city to explain their reasoning and answer questions as to the "hows and whys." I am currently working on a location and date for the forum. I will notify you as soon as it is set. Sincerely, Phil Ostrander (September 11, 2009) |
Related
Coverage: |
April
20, 2009 Initial City Approval Took Mayor Tie-Break |
September
3, 2009 Chamber Meet |
