Fort Madison, IA – It's been about a year since Fort Madison started looking to its options when it comes to annexation.
After initially working with a consultant, the city commissioned a study to determine its best opportunities.
City Manager Byron Smith says West Des Moines-based Veenstra & Kimm, Inc. considered several criteria in preparing its report, including the cost of extending city services and the state's annexation requirements.
He says the study identifies four potential sites.
They are the Highway 2 interchange, the Burlington Hill interchange, the Denmark interchange, and the West Point interchange, in that order.
Smith says while businesses are expected to locate all along the new bypass, the land around the Highway 2 interchange appears to be the best option for the city.
"There is already a lot of development there," says Smith, "and that will likely continue. We also have a lot of services in that area, so that is another factor because it will not cost us as much to provide service in that area."
Smith says the Fort Madison City Council has simply reviewed the results.
He says it could be a while before the issue of annexation is even discussed by the panel, let alone voted on.
This week's city council meeting brought out many residents with questions and concerns, in particular about the possible annexation of rural subdivisions.
Smith says those are pretty rare, unless the property owners request city services.
He also says the idea of Fort Madison annexing everything south of the new bypass is not an option due to the extremely high price tag.