AHOSKIE – At their meeting here last week, members of the Ahoskie Town Council approved requests from four property owners for voluntary annexation.

According to Ahoskie Town Manager Tony Hammond, the annexation of the four properties will close holes in the town limits that were created during previous annexations as well as provide a smooth town border on Ahoskie’s northern edge along US 13 (Academy Street) and Hertford County High School Road.

The requests received were from the State Employees Credit Union, whose property borders both Academy Street and the High School Road, along with Roanoke-Chowan Hospital (Northside Behavioral Health Services and the ViQuest Center, both on the High School Road), property belonging to Joe Spicer (an industrial building located on the High School Road between ViQuest and Bearfield Primary School) and two parcels of Hertford County Public Schools property on both sides of the High School Road (Bearfield Primary School and a wooded area across the road).

With their approval last week, resolutions were thus adopted that direct the town clerk to investigate the sufficiency of the requests and report back to Council during their August meeting. If the sufficiency is substantiated, the August meeting will require Council to establish a time and date for a public hearing, so required to receive input concerning the annexation.

Voluntary annexation by petition is allowed under North Carolina General Statute 160A-31. According to the wording of that Statute, the governing board of any municipality may annex by ordinance any area contiguous to its boundaries upon presentation to the governing board of a petition signed by the owners of all the real property located within such area.

Upon a finding that the petition meets certain requirements, the governing board shall have authority to pass an ordinance annexing the territory described in the petition.

The governing board shall have authority to make the annexing ordinance effective immediately or on any specified date within six months from the date of passage of the ordinance.