[Amended 9-18-2012 by Ord. No. 1654]
Except for those tracts of land designated under state law as
industrial areas and subject to this section, the Mayor and City Council
may, by ordinance, at any time include within the corporate limits
of the City any contiguous or adjacent lands, lots, tracts, streets,
or highways as are urban or suburban in character and in such direction
as may be deemed proper. Such grant of power shall not be construed
as conferring power upon the Mayor and City Council to extend the
limits of the City over any agricultural lands which are rural in
character.
A. The
invalidity of the annexation of any tract of land in one ordinance
shall not affect the validity of the remaining tracts of land which
are annexed by the ordinance and which otherwise conform to state
law.
B. Any
owner of property contiguous or adjacent to the City may by petition
request that such property be included within the corporate limits
of the City.
C. Notwithstanding
the requirements of this section, the Mayor and City Council are not
required to approve any petition requesting annexation or any resolution
or ordinance proposing to annex land pursuant to this section.
D. The
City shall provide written notice of a proposed annexation to the
owners of property within the area proposed for annexation in the
manner set out in this section.
(1) Initial notice of the proposed annexation shall be sent to the owners
of property within the area proposed for annexation by regular United
States mail, postage prepaid, to the address of each owner of such
property as it appears in the records of the office of the Register
of Deeds or as the address is determined from another official source,
postmarked at least 10 working days prior to the Planning Commission's
public hearing on the proposed change, with a certified letter to
the clerk of any sanitary and improvement district if the annexation
includes property located within the boundaries of such district.
Such notice shall describe the area proposed for annexation, including
a map showing the boundaries of the area proposed for annexation,
and shall contain the date, time, and location of the Planning Commission's
hearing and how further information regarding the annexation can be
obtained, including the telephone number of the City official and
an electronic mail or internet address if available.
(2) A second notice of the proposed annexation shall be sent to the same owners of property who were provided with notice under Subsection
D(1) of this section. Such notice shall be sent by regular United States mail, postage prepaid, to the owner's address as it appears in the records of the office of the Register of Deeds or as the address is determined from another official source, postmarked at least 10 working days prior to the public hearing of the City Council or village board on the annexation. Such notice shall describe the area proposed for annexation, including a map showing the boundaries of the area proposed for annexation, and shall contain the date, time, and location of the hearing and how further information regarding the annexation can be obtained, including the telephone number of the pertinent City official and an electronic mail or Internet address if available.
E. Not later than 14 days prior to the public hearing before the Planning Commission on a proposed annexation by the City, the City Clerk shall send notice of the proposed annexation by certified mail, return receipt requested, to any of the following entities serving customers in the City or in the area proposed for annexation: any natural gas public utility as defined in Subsection
L of this section; any natural gas utility owned or operated by the City; any metropolitan utilities district; any public power district; any public power and irrigation district; any municipality; any electric cooperative; and any other governmental entity providing electric service. Such notice shall include a copy of the proposed annexation ordinance, the date, time, and place of the public hearing before the Planning Commission on the proposed annexation ordinance, and a map showing the boundaries of the area proposed for annexation.
F. Prior to the final adoption of the annexation ordinance, the minutes of the City Council meeting at which such final adoption was considered shall reflect formal compliance with the provisions of Subsection
E of this section.
G. No additional or further notice beyond that required by Subsections
D and
E of this section shall be necessary in the event that the scheduled City Council public hearing on the proposed annexation is adjourned, continued, or postponed until a later date, or that subsequent to providing such notice, the ordinance regarding such proposed annexation was amended, changed, or rejected by action of the City Council prior to formal passage of the annexation ordinance.
H. Except
for a willful or deliberate failure to cause notice to be given, no
annexation decision made by the City either to accept or reject a
proposed annexation, either in whole or in part, shall be void, invalidated,
or affected in any way because of any irregularity, defect, error,
or failure on the part of the City or its employees to cause notice
to be given as required by this section if a reasonable attempt to
comply with this section was made.
I. Except
for a willful or deliberate failure to cause notice to be given, the
City and its employees shall not be liable for any damage to any person
resulting from any failure to cause notice to be given as required
by this section when a reasonable attempt was made to provide such
notice. No action for damages resulting from the failure to cause
notice to be provided as required by this section shall be filed more
than one year following the date of the formal acceptance or rejection
of the proposed annexation, either in whole or in part, by the City
Council.
J. No
action to challenge the validity of the acceptance or rejection of
a proposed annexation on the basis of this section shall be filed
more than one year following the date of the formal acceptance or
rejection of the annexation by the City Council.
K. For
purposes of this section, "owner" means the owner of a piece of property
as indicated on the records of the office of the Register of Deeds
as provided to or made available to the City no earlier than the last
business day before the 25th day preceding the public hearing by the
Planning Commission on the annexation proposed for the subject property.
L. For
purposes of this section, "natural gas public utility" means any corporation,
company, individual, or association of persons or their trustees,
lessees, or receivers that owns, controls, operates, or manages, except
for private use, any equipment, plant, or machinery, or any part thereof,
for the conveyance of natural gas through pipelines in or through
any part of this state. "Natural gas public utility" does not mean
a natural gas utility owned or operated by a City or a metropolitan
utilities district. "Natural gas public utility" does not include
any activity of an otherwise jurisdictional corporation, company,
individual, or association of persons or their trustees, lessees,
or receivers as to the marketing or sale of compressed natural gas
for end use as motor vehicle fuel. "Natural gas public utility" does
not include any gas gathering system or interstate pipeline.
The inhabitants of territories annexed to the
city shall receive substantially the services of other inhabitants
of the city as soon as practicable. Adequate plans and necessary City
Council action to furnish such services shall be adopted not later
than one year after the date of annexation, and such inhabitants shall
be subject to the ordinances and regulations of the city, except that
the one-year period shall be told pending final court decision in
any court action to contest such annexation.
Lands, lots, tracts, streets or highways shall
be deemed contiguous although a stream, embankment, strip or parcel
of land not more than 200 feet wide lies between the same and the
corporate limits.
Any extraterritorial property use regulations
imposed upon any annexed lands by the city before such annexation
shall continue in full force and effect until otherwise changed.
Any person who violates any of the prohibitions
or provisions of section of this chapter shall be deemed guilty of
a misdemeanor. Unless otherwise specified in the particular section
for which the person stands convicted of violating, the penalty for
such violation shall be in an amount not to exceed $1,000 or imprisonment
for any length of time not to exceed one year, or both such fine and
imprisonment at the discretion of the court.