The Town of High River is looking to annex some land around the area that Foothills County currently owns.

One family spoke up at Town Council Monday, March 25 in opposition of the plans.

A different landowner that lives in the same area, Jeff Langford says everyone else is on board except for them.

"Being that 99% all want to be part of the town. I can see that they want to keep the country lifestyle but I don't see that effected anywhere in town."

Langford says they have no support from the county and are so close to High River that it just makes sense to become part of the town for access to the various services the town provides.

Langford says there are lots of positive benefits of being annexed by the town.

"Being annexed we're only going to deal with one government going forward. So as soon as you're in the town you don't have to deal with the MD for a lot of different, basically anything anymore you don't even have to involve them, you're just involved with the town."

Langford says the family's opposition to the annexation caught him by surprise.

"I didn't get a letter from them, or them coming to us to state that they don't want it, or they're highly against it, or any side of their story, this is the first, it kind of blindsided us. Here we thought we were at the more or less the eleventh hour of this annexation."

Langford says there have been many consultations with the land owners in the area.

"This misconception that we didn't know, or there wasn't time, or they didn't know what was going on, it's just not true. We've had lots of consultations, lots of time to go over this with the town and the M.D.(the M.D. of Foothills is now called Foothills County)"

Langford says the town needs to annex the land because the slip ramp coming into the industrial area of High River needs to be removed and a new road built for easier access to the businesses in that area.

"Because the slip ramp is coming out, it has to come out, it's mandated to come out. The town has been given quite a few extensions on not taking it out, but the province of Alberta says it has to come out because it's a safety issue."

Langford says people have to look at the bigger picture, and that just because one landowner doesn't want to be annexed it shouldn't change all the planning the town has done.

"The M.D. is not going to pay for a road that helps the town, and the town is not going to build a road on M.D. land to access a problem that they have on their end. This isn't even a factor in just us along here, it's for critical access to businesses within that whole business area, and these businesses in town are core to our community... Business is critical for High River to grow."

Landford says if it's possible to exclude the landowner in opposition from being annexed then more power to them.

 

READ MORE: 

Local Landowners Oppose Town's Proposed Annexation

 High River Town Council Closer to Finalizing Annexation Agreement

Town Buys Strip of Land Barely Wide Enough to Walk On

High River Continues Annexation Negotiations on Three Pieces of Land

Town and Landowners to Meet Over Potential Annexation