St. Albans mayor says resolution to begin Sun Valley annexation will go before council; city service fees to rise 20%

Mayor Scott James said St. Albans will ask the city council to pass a resolution to continue the annexation process for the Sun Valley area and that the city will raise city service fees 20 percent to cover municipal services.

The move matters because annexation would bring property owners in the Sun Valley corridor into St. Albans city services and tax regime. "Tonight, we are we have to pass a resolution to continue," Mayor Scott James said on the city podcast, referring to the council agenda. He said the annexation area runs "up Lakewood Drive to Forest Brook" and will include the storage units across from Lakewood Elementary.

James said the annexation process requires signatures from property owners. "We have to have 50.1% of the property owners. Now if you rent, you don't get to vote," he said. He added that once annexed, residents would receive city services including police, fire and trash pickup.

On fees, James said, "city service fees are gonna go up 20%. That's a $60 increase over a year, $15 a quarter." He described the new fee as $360 a year, or $90 a quarter, and said the last increase was around February 2009. He said the higher fees are meant to pay for personnel, vehicle maintenance and materials needed to sustain services.

Discussion on the podcast stressed that the fee boost supports operations such as fire, police, trash, roads, parks and senior services. James said the increase was intended to be modest but necessary: "We tried to limit it at first," he said.

Because the podcast is a pre-meeting discussion of items on the council agenda, the comments do not by themselves enact annexation. The mayor described the next steps as a council resolution followed by signature gathering of affected property owners; he did not state that council had already voted. The exact timing of any council vote or implementation of fee changes was not specified on the program.

For residents, the distinction between homeowners and renters matters: the mayor repeated that only property owners may sign to approve annexation. He also noted that some of the area already receives city water and sewer service but would gain municipal trash pickup and other services if annexed.

City officials and residents seeking formal details should consult the council agenda, official resolution text and published meeting minutes for any vote or ordinance that follows the podcast discussion.