Council moves forward on new annexation process

Havre City Council moved to the halfway point in its latest annexation process in a hearing at 6:30 p. m. Monday, just before the regular council meeting.

The council waited for about 15 minutes for anyone to show up and ask a question or share a concern, before closing the meeting and moving on.

The next step for the 26 properties being brought into the city is another hearing and then a final resolution for the council to approve.

Most of the properties are small residential lots on the peripheries to the south and west boundaries of town.

Some larger properties — including Blue Pony Stadium, Boot Hill Plaza and the Havre Ice Dome — are also included in the latest bundle.

All of these properties are being brought into the city by the same process that has been used since a lawsuit filed a few years ago held up the annexation of several properties to this day. All of the property owners in the current annexation process have signed a petition as a part of their agreements to accept city services — water, sewer, trash-collecting — that allows the annexation to go smoothly.

The council agreed that the addition of these properties into the city will help the city, like the city has already been helping the property owners.

"They're already getting our services, " Council member Brian Barrows said "So they've already agreed to it. "