This map shows as gray shaded area 591 acres of land on both sides of Highway U Bristol officials say Pleasant Prairie is proposing be added to land that will eventually be annexed into Pleasant Prairie. (Click for larger view)
The Bristol Village Board approved petitioning for another annexation referendum Monday, apparently undaunted by last week’s setback in circuit court.
The vote to approve a resolution stating the village’s intention to pursue another referendum on the annexation of the town of Bristol passed unanimously with no discussion. The petition must be filed with the circuit court, where a judge will set a date.
The village had its last bid for a referendum rejected by a circuit court judge last week for discrepancies in its legal description. At that court hearing, attorneys representing neighboring municipality Pleasant Prairie and Uline, a company building a world headquarters and distribution center in Pleasant Prairie adjacent to the town of Bristol, objected to holding a referendum.
Talks are ongoing with Pleasant Prairie over that village’s objections to the plan to annex the town of Bristol en masse into the village of Bristol, said Bristol’s attorney William White at a special joint Bristol town/village meeting held before the separate village and town meetings.
White also shared with the boards a map showing a Pleasant Prairie proposal to add 591 acres of land to areas that would eventually be annexed into Pleasant Prairie under a cooperative agreement Pleasant Prairie is proposing.
Bristol has had the map for a while, but considered it part of confidential negotiations until the court hearing, during which Uline was given the map. If one property owner was given the map, Bristol felt it should be made public to all, White said.
Uline is seeking to have a power line that runs through its property moved to run along Highway U.
White declined to say how Bristol might benefit if it were to accept Pleasant Prairie’s map proposal, saying such a strategic discussion was not appropriate for a public meeting right now.
“What’s in it for Bristol?” White said. “”We’re not prepared to discuss it at this time.”
Pleasant Prairie also has filed with the court a notice of default regarding a 1997 cooperative agreement between Bristol and Pleasant Prairie regarding future boundaries, White said.
The Bristol Village Board also approved a resolution stating it is bound by the boundary agreements the town of Bristol made with surrounding municipalities.
Michael Pollocoff, Pleasant Prairie’s village administrator, attended the joint meeting, the Bristol Town Board meeting and part of the Bristol Village Board meeting that followed. Nothing in Bristol’s actions Wednesday gave him cause to see a change in his village’s position.
“It’s a rerun,” Pollocoff said. The village of Bristol attempting to annex the whole town “was contrary to what out agreement stated.”
