The Bristol information meeting on the annexation process and referendum had good attendance, with about 50 people there. Village/town attorney William White gave an overview of the topic and related issues and answered questions.
The northwest portion of the town was incorporated Dec. 1, 2009. The village has published its intent to ask for an annexation referendum that if approved would reunite the town as one municipality. Between April 2 and 16 the village can apply for a court hearing to set a referendum date. The referendum would ask town residents if they would like to be annexed into the village. A simple majority of votes cast that day would decide the issue.
Here’s some video of what I felt were some of the more interesting parts of Wednesday’s meeting.
The chief reason for the meeting, officials had said, was to update citizens on the annexation referendum process. Here, White talks about that process:
Here, White explains the status of relations between Bristol and Pleasant Prairie, which contends the village of Bristol’s bid to annex all of the remaining town is a violation of a contract between the municipalities:
Here, White explains some of the differences between being a village and a town. Included is discussion of the unique to Bristol aspect that boundary stability is not one of the chief reasons to make the switch.
White reviews the history of the Bristol efforts to stabilize its borders and eventually seek incorporation:
