Restraints put on annexation by the Indiana General Assembly on Wednesday, followed by an overwhelming number of residents that live in the proposed territories voicing their opposition Thursday led Mayor Wayne Seybold to announce he is withdrawing his annexation ordinance proposal.
"There wasn't one person from the business community in Marion or the public in Marion or from the Marion Community Schools or from the county system that said, 'Hey, a stronger Marion makes us stronger,'" Seybold said.
The mayor first announced his decision Thursday night on his Facebook page after a heated public meeting held by the City Council in the Marion High School auditorium.
The Council scheduled meetings Tuesday and Thursday at the high school auditorium in an effort to hear how the public felt about the ambitious 15-parcel proposal by Seybold and to hear from experts on the potential service costs for the City and residents.
Seybold presented his ordinance proposal to the Council in December with the intent to improve the city's demographics to attract businesses. Council President Joselyn Whitticker assigned the proposal to the development committee chaired by Don Batchelor (D-Ward 5).
Yet to be pulled from committee for a first reading, the proposal will in all probability die in committee.
Seybold posted that he intends to present a letter to the Council requesting the withdrawal of his proposal.
Councilman Jim Brunner (R-Ward 3) said the General Assembly passing Senate Bill 330 prompted Seybold first and foremost to stop his pursuit of annexation.
The bill applies to annexation ordinances adopted after June 30 and states if at least 65 percent of owners of non-tax exempt land or the owners of 80 percent of the assessed value of non-tax exempt land in territory to be annexed sign a remonstrance, the annexation ordinance is voided. The bill further states that remonstrance may be appealed to a court, if a petition for remonstrance is signed by at least 51 percent of the owners of land or the owners of 60 percent of the assessed value land in the territory, excluding tax-exempt land on both accounts.
To complicate matters further for Seybold, the new bill requires a municipality to conduct a minimum of six public information meetings, no earlier than six months before introducing an annexation ordinance.
"I think after what happened at the Legislature, it changed all of the rules," Brunner said.
The pursuit of annexation took up a significant amount of time for Seybold, in this the final year of his unprecedented three consecutive terms.
"It would've helped with our infrastructure and our Census outlook, but there was a loud and clear, 'No' we don't want to do this," said Seybold, who decided against seeking re-election in January. "... It's disappointing."
Thursday marked potentially the final public forum on annexation for the foreseeable future.
All seven mayoral candidates expressed concerns about pursuing annexation.
If Thursday was indeed the final chapter, it concluded in memorable fashion.
A man in the crowd shouted about his opposition to annexation and paced up and down the aisles before Batchelor called for security to remove him 80 minutes into the meeting. Marion Police offers stayed back at the doors though, as the man carried on before Batchelor halted the meeting with individuals lined up at the microphone waiting their turn to speak.
"Tuesday was really a cordial meeting and I think a lot of people got a lot of good information," Seybold said. "... Thursday was just different. There were people in that audience who weren't part of areas to be annexed. I think a lot of it was staged."