Annexation of the Meadow Glen Road neighborhood has been discussed for a decade, but there is a problem — residents in the neighborhood don’t want to be part of Ames.

“Everyone out here is very opposed to it,” said Craig Holden, 2912 Meadow Glen Rd. “We’re all kind of worried about it.”

In the past, the city has used voluntary annexation to expand its limits, which meant Holden’s neighborhood, located south of Highway 30 off State Avenue, could decline annexation. At last Tuesday’s Ames City Council meeting, however, city staff recommended the council consider a more aggressive, involuntary annexation policy so Ames could continue to grow.

Councilman Riad Mahayni, professor of community and regional planning, said staff told the council Ames will have problems in the future annexing land, so the council may find it necessary to pursue involuntary annexation.

“Every city has limited boundaries,” Mahayni said. “When a city is full it has no room to grow, so it has to annex land.”

At Tuesday’s council meeting, city staff presented a map that showed areas where potential annexation problems could occur in the future.

Meadow Glen Road is one of the highlighted areas.

Holden said there have been rumors about Ames wanting to annex the area for years.

Herb Harmison, 2692 Meadow Glen Rd., said he has been assured by the city in the last several years that there is no particular effort to annex the Meadow Glen area. Harmison is the president of the Meadow Glen Road Association.

Harmison said cities don’t like using involuntary annexation because it can result in high legal costs for the city.

“It’s a pretty messy situation,” he said.

Mahayni said the city can also incur costs for extending sewers and water utilities.

Many of the areas depend on a rural water system, Mahayni said. In this case, the city has to buy the rural utility.

The quality of those infrastructures also has to be brought up to standard, Mahayni said.

Mayor Ted Tedesco said the city is required by law to provide services to annexed areas within a specific number of years.

Holden said the Meadow Glen neighborhood currently runs on septic tanks and wells. The neighborhood would have to hook up to city sewer and water and pay those costs if annexed into the city, he said.

“What we understand with their policy is they don’t help with that financing at all,” he said.

Recently, Ames has considered helping share the financial burden, but the city is not required to do so, Holden said.

Harmison said some Meadow Glen residents may not be able to afford annexation into the city.

There are no exact numbers, but Harmison estimated the overall cost for residents to be annexed could be $30,000 to $50,000.

“[Annexation] would drive several people off the land because of the cost,” Harmison said.

Residents of cities also tend to have to pay higher taxes, he added.

Tedesco said some areas may want to voluntarily annex because of sewer or water problems, or they may want fire and police protection.

When a city annexes an area, it extend roads, water and sewer, said Steve Schainker, city manager. Police and fire protection is also provided to the area, he said.

Stuart Huntington, associate professor of community and regional planning, said voluntary annexation can be misleading.

Annexing voluntarily is based on 80 percent of the land to be annexed, not 80 percent of the population.

“There can be some people in there objecting to annexation, but it still comes in as voluntary annexation,” Huntington said. “It’s not one person, one vote.”

Another reason city staff has suggested involuntary annexation is to prevent islands of non-annexed areas, Mahayni said.

When a property is surrounded by incorporated land, it creates an island, which is illegal under Iowa law, Mahayni said.

Holden said the Meadow Glen area is in a unique situation because of the island law.

If the areas south and east of the neighborhood want to annex, it will create an island, he said. If an island is created “we will be forced by law to annex,” Holden said.

Huntington said for involuntary annexation to take place, a city must present a petition to the city development board and have an election of the city and possible annexation-area residents, according to the Iowa Code.

Steve McCann, city development board administrator for the Iowa Department of Economic Development, said the petition to the board has to include what the city plans to do, why and what effect it will have.

Huntington said cities have to provide reasons for annexing the land.

“A city can’t just say it wants to triple its size,” Huntington said. “There has to be a reason.”

McCann said if the board does not approve the petition, it dies at that stage. If it is approved, it has to be voted on by city residents and residents of the potential annexation area. It needs a majority of the votes to pass.

Involuntary annexation is not a sure thing, McCann said.

“[Within the last decade] there has been about half [of the petitions] either rejected by the board or lost at the election stage,” McCann said.

Schainker said the new policy could be before the Ames City Council as soon as December.

Harmison said the process is going to take a long time.

“It will be a very long, drawn-out issue because people out here don’t want to do it,” he said.