Council rejects agreement with St. Martins

After months of discussions and debates, the annexation boundary agreement with St. Martins was voted down by the City Council.

At the council meeting Monday, members voted down the agreement by a 7-2 vote, with 2nd Ward Councilman Shawn Schulte and 4th Ward Councilman Bill Luebbert providing the sole affirmative votes. 1st Ward Councilman Mike Harvey was not present at Monday's meeting.

The agreement had laid out the boundary line as limits of annexation, with exception to areas St. Martins had already annexed east of the line and to a portion of Binder Park that laid west of the line. It was placed on the informal calendar in early February when city officials said the negotiations were ongoing and the issue had to be tabled because St. Martins officials had yet to sign the document.

But Monday, many council members said they were not convinced the agreement was in the city's best interest. In exchange for agreeing to leave Binder Park to Jefferson City, the city would continue to give St. Martins residents the sewer rates promised to them in an agreement from 1989. That agreement gave a portion of the St. Martins sewer system to Jefferson City, requiring the city to maintain the system and give St. Martins residents the same sewer rate as Jefferson City residents.