Waverly council seeks tighter road-maintenance terms in planned annexation talks with Woodland Township

Waverly Mayor Connie Holmes told the council the city will meet Woodland Township supervisors June 29 to discuss changes to the city’s 2004 Orderly Annexation Agreement, focusing on how road maintenance obligations transfer when parcels are annexed. The council identified the language in Sections 4(b) and 4(c) as the principal concern and directed Attorney Rhonda Pagel to prepare replacement language.

Attorney Rhonda Pagel recommended the revised agreement "replace Sections 4(b) and (c) with a provision requiring the city and township to enter into a separate road maintenance agreement at the time of each annexation," unless the city agrees to assume full responsibility. Council members said they would prefer case-by-case negotiations that consider frontage, expected tax revenue, traffic impacts, and development-related road improvements rather than blanket obligations. The council also agreed future annexation requests should go to the Planning & Zoning Commission for review and asked staff to return a draft internal annexation policy for council consideration at the next regular meeting.

Council members also raised the township’s current billing practice as a negotiating point, noting invoices commonly arrive with minimal notice and no itemization. Members asked that the city seek improved billing procedures (advance notice, itemized quotes) and that invoices for road work be submitted by Aug. 1 to allow inclusion in the city’s budget process. Pagel observed the per-acre annexation fee in the 2004 agreement is outdated and could be offered as a concession in return for more robust road-language changes.