Vote on Wellborn this week
After months of debate, College Station is expected to make a decision this week on whether to annex the community of Wellborn.
But even that might not end the controversy that has consumed city politics this year. Opponents of annexation said they will continue their fight if the city decides to expand its border.
"I think [the city] is under the assumption that if they annex, this issue is put to bed," said Timothy Delasandro, founder of SaveWellborn.org. "The only way to put this to bed is to do what is right" and allow Wellborn residents to vote on their future, he said.
The City Council is scheduled to vote on the issue at its regular meeting on Thursday. The decision will mark the end of a process initiated in November that has included two public hearings and extensive review by city staff.
Some Wellborn and College Station residents have fought the possible annexation for years. They have submitted numerous petitions asking to allow Wellborn to incorporate into a city of its own. And they organized a recall campaign targeting Mayor Nancy Berry and council members Dave Ruesink and Katy-Marie Lyles.
Most recently, their hope has been staked in a bill filed by State Rep. Fred Brown, R-Bryan, that would have required the city to get voter approval before annexing. That bill was unanimously approved by a House committee last month, but hasn't made it to the floor for a vote by the full House.
To affect Wellborn, the bill would need to be passed by a two-thirds margin by both chambers of the Legislature and signed by the governor before the council vote, which is unlikely. House calendars have been set through Friday, and they list no plan to bring Brown's bill to the floor.
Delasandro said his group, which is made up of College Station residents, has shifted its focus to the recall election. The goal, he said, is to remove the members who support annexation and replace them with people who would work to reverse the action.
Jane Cohen, president of a group of Wellborn residents called Citizens for Wellborn, declined to comment on how they would respond to annexation.
"Wellborn continues to consider their options," she said.
Wellborn, which city staff has said has 84 homes in the proposed annexation area, has been an established community since 1867, but residents have rebuffed past attempts to incorporate into a city of its own.
City staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission have recommended annexation, saying that it would help the city manage its southward growth. The council has expressed openness to the idea of zoning the area to allow residents to maintain their rural lifestyle.
If annexation is approved, the community will immediately become a part of College Station. Residents will be eligible to vote in the upcoming May elections and use city sanitation services.
College Station's police and fire departments have already begun preparations to provide service to the area Thursday night, the chiefs of the departments said.
