MORGANTOWN — Morgantown City Manager Paul Brake has said he expects a contentious response as the city attempts to annex thousands of residents and hundreds of businesses.
Judging by Monday’s overflow crowd — with an estimated 300 people packed into the Hilton Garden Inn — Brake’s assessment may end up being an understatement.
The citizen group F.A.I.R., standing for Forced Annexation Isn’t Right, called the meeting to spread information and generate public involvement around the city’s plan to annex a total of 3.8 square miles, 367 business and 12,830 residents. That land is broken into pockets all around Morgantown and includes retail-heavy areas like the Suncrest Towne Centre and the Mileground.
As the name would suggest, F.A.I.R opposes the city’s chosen method — minor boundary adjustment — through which the city could grow its footprint by 36 percent with two votes — one by city council in support of the annexation plan, and one by the Monongalia County Commission, which will have the final say in the matter, barring appeal.
And while F.A.I.R. leadership, which includes former Morgantown mayor Jim Manilla, urged those in attendance to make their opinions known to the city council, it’s not lost on the group that the county commission is the body that will cast the up or down vote.
Andy Fusco, an attorney with Bowles Rice, was among those on the panel for Monday’s meeting.
He explained that a 1976 West Virginia Supreme Court case involving Morgantown determined what the county commission must consider when weighing such annexation requests. One of those considerations is the desires of those to be annexed, explaining the plan “must have almost unanimous support.”
“We believe, at F.A.I.R., that there is strong opposition and we’re trying to mobilize that opposition so we can demonstrate that to the county commission if it goes that far,” Fusco said. “Frankly, I would hope the City of Morgantown takes note and says, ‘Whoa, wait a minute. Maybe this isn’t a good idea.’ ”
Instead of using an annexation method that would allow those impacted to vote on the matter, Fusco explained, the city is using forced annexation to prop up its budget while giving “lip service to public participation.”
The crowd heard from Meg Baughman, who shared her research on how becoming a city resident will impact homeowners — from city fire fees, to increased property taxes to city laws, regulations and permits.
She went after one of the city’s major selling points for annexation — which states the increased protection from the Morgantown Fire Department would reduce homeowner insurance rates due to the MFD’s good standing with the Insurance Service Organization.
“According to the state insurance commissioner … the three major insurers, State Farm, Nationwide and All State, do not use the ISO rating,” Baughman said.
She asked, as other speakers did, why the city did not notify those it intended to annex, instead leaving concerned citizens like herself to spread the word — which she intends to do.
“That’s what neighbors do in West Virginia. We help each other,” she said.
Manilla expected a large crowd but was surprised at the sizable turnout, which doubled the 150 chairs set out for the event.
Morgantown City Councilor Ron Dulaney, who appeared to be the only city representative at the meeting, said he was impressed by the contingent.
“I think it’s always great for people to have positions and stand up for those positions and let their voices be heard, and that’s what this is,” Dulaney said. “The city is planning some of these events. They’re coming along slower than they should, frankly, but I think that these folks decided not to wait around and took the initiative.”
Panelist Michael Callen, whose comments focused on annexation’s impact on business, ultimately summed up the group’s position.
“We oppose forced annexation. We want to vote,” he said.
