Photo from Indian Ford Fire District website
The battle between Hoover and Helena to annex part or all of the Indian Ford Fire District took another turn this week with a new court filing by the city of Helena.
Helena this week filed a notice in Jefferson County Circuit Court that Helena plans to delay the Aug. 8 election in which residents of the Indian Ford Fire District would decide if they want properties in the district annexed into Helena.
The Fire District contains about 2,000 residents who live in southwestern Jefferson County in unincorporated areas along South Shades Crest Road, Helena Mayor Brian Puckett said.
According to Helena’s court filing, a new election date has yet to be determined but would be set by a future order of the Jefferson County Probate Court.
The city of Hoover also has an interest in the matter because Hoover was attempting to begin the process to annex portions of the Fire District when Helena intervened to block Hoover’s efforts.
Helena on July 14 asked Jefferson County Circuit Judge David Hobdy to issue a restraining order, blocking Hoover from moving forward with its annexation efforts because Helena already had an annexation election set for the entire Fire District.
Helena argued that Hoover was trying to cherrypick properties likely to generate commercial revenue and that, if Hoover proceeded with that, it could undermine the financial feasibility for Helena to annex the entire Fire District.
Helena also claimed that Hoover was violating a law that prohibits one municipality from starting an annexation process if another municipality already has done so, as well as a law that prohibits public officials and employees from using public money to advocate for or against a local ballot measure, such as Helena’s annexation election.
Hoover argued that the state statute Helena used to call for an annexation election had been declared void by the Alabama Supreme Court and attorney general and that Helena did not follow all the guidelines set up under a more general law regarding municipal annexations.
Hobdy on July 18 agreed to temporarily block Hoover from moving forward with annexation efforts to give Helena time to get its annexation paperwork in order “in the interest of justice and to allow the citizens of the entire Indian Ford Fire District to have their voices heard.”
Hoover appealed Hobdy’s order to the Alabama Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court had not taken action as of Thursday. Meanwhile, now that Helena has indicated it plans to delay the Aug. 8 election, Hoover filed a new motion Thursday, asking the Supreme Court to dismiss its appeal and direct the circuit court to dismiss the entire case.
Hoover maintains that the issue is moot now that Helena has said it intends to delay the Aug. 8 election and that the 10-business day time period in the restraining order is now over. Hoover also still maintains the circuit court has no jurisdiction over this matter because there was never an official pleading filed in circuit court, and Hoover claims Helena has no “standing” to assert authority over individual property owners within the Fire District who asked Hoover to annex their property.
The board of directors of the Indian Ford Fire District asked Helena to annex their district, and residents in the district signed petitions seeking annexation as well. However, some property owners in the district were offered tax breaks and other financial incentives by the city of Hoover if they would come into the city of Hoover instead and petitioned Hoover to annex their land.
The case remains in the hands of the Alabama Supreme Court for now.
