The issue of extraterritorial jurisdiction appears to be no closer to being resolved than it was last month.
The Elgin City Council met last week and members again kicked around the idea of what, if anything, they can do. The answer may involve finding, of all things – a map.
City Clerk Kristin Childers said she reached out to officials at the county courthouse and they replied they do not have a map with the boundaries identified with a legal description.
She also contacted Advanced Consulting Engineering Services (ACES) and they said they had a map but it was not 100 percent accurate.
“We need a map with boundaries defined to establish a one mile radius,” she said, adding if they hire an abstractor to do the necessary work it will be expensive and time consuming.
Council President Mike Dvorak asked if the city pursues annexation sometime in the future, would they need a legal description map?
Childers said the council could proceed with the matter, but at the current time the only useful purpose would be to enforce following existing building codes because the city has no zoning codes. At the present time, any business wanting to locate outside the city limits would only be required to meet existing county-wide zoning.
For more city council action, see this week’s Elgin Review.
