Council accepts voluntary annexation petitions by CHRIS BURRITT
OAK RIDGE – Oak Ridge Town Council decided earlier this week to accept 62 voluntary annexation petitions by property owners south of town limits. The council voted unanimously during a special called meeting this past Tuesday, June 29, to adopt an ordinance annexing the property. The annexation became effective Wednesday, June 30. Oak Ridge received 87 voluntary annexation petitions; after review, town staff declared 62 of them to be valid, Town Manager Bill Bruce told the council. No one spoke for or against the annexation petitions during a public hearing.
Newly annexed property owners will pay property taxes to Oak Ridge, with payment of their first tax bill due Dec. 31, Mayor Ann Schneider wrote in a March 26 letter announcing plans to accept voluntary annexations. The state legislature doesn’t allow municipalities to seek involuntary annexations of property, Schneider noted. Newly annexed property owners will be allowed to vote in town elections and run for elected office in Oak Ridge, according to Town Clerk Sandra Smith. They are governed by the town’s planning and zoning regulations, and they will get the same garbage and recycling rates as other residents because the town contracts for those services.
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Candidate filing period begins July 2, closes July 16 by PATTI STOKES
NW GUILFORD – The period for town council candidates to file for Nov. 2 elections in Oak Ridge, Summerfield and Stokesdale will open Friday, July 2, at 12 noon and close Friday, July 16, at 12 noon. The filing fee for candidates in each of the towns is $5. In Oak Ridge, two of five town council seats will be open – those of Ann Schneider, who currently serves as mayor, and of Jim Kinneman. Schneider
and Kinneman have both confirmed they will run for another four-year term. In Oak Ridge, the five council members elect the mayor from among themselves every two years at the December meeting following the municipal election. Stokesdale Town Council has four members who are elected to four-year terms on a staggered schedule and the mayor, who is also elected directly by the citizens and serves a four-year term;
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JULY 1 - 14, 2021
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