All riled up
Ryall Acres residents want no part of city
By JIMMY GALVAN Managing Editor

Even though it appears the annexation of Ryall Acres is a dying issue, Tom Webb just wants the residents of the community to be aware of the situation with the city.

Webb, who grew up in Ryall Acres and just moved back there in 2006, has been organizing resident meetings since the city attempted to begin the process to annex the area during last month's council meeting.

"The citizens of Ryall Acres can get up and voice our opinion but no matter what the city can annex Ryall Acres," Webb said. "What I am trying to do is make the residents of Ryall Acres understand what they are going to get and not get for the city tax dollars that they will end up paying if annexed."

Jasper City Manager Alan Grindstaff said he didn't know if the issue would come up again before council.

Grindstaff said that the city already provides services to this area and that was the main reason it considered annexing it.

"They would gain police and fire protection from the city as well," Grindstaff said, who added that the area's fire insurance would go down as a result of a better fire rating.

Webb said the issue comes down to having to pay city taxes for services he is already receiving from the city. Ryall Acres already pays for city sewer and electricity. Their roads are maintained by Jasper County Precinct 1.

"Our roads are not going to be improved by the city if annexed," Webb said. "Your city sewer, city water and city electricity will not be improved. We have all these services right now but we pay for it like any other individual in the city limits does right now."

Webb said he made a choice when he moved back to Jasper to live in the county and away from the city and its jurisdictions.

"I chose for me and my family to live outside the city limits because I didn't want to pay city taxes," Webb said. "The only way we would benefit from being annexed would be in the leash law and the city's animal control officer would have to spend a month and a half in Ryall Acres out there.

"We all made a choice to live out there because we wanted to be outside of the city limits," Webb said.

Webb also said that if annexed, the area would have to comply with new city ordinances that previously didn't apply to the area.

Ordinances that ban outdoor burning and livestock on city property strike a nerve with Webb and his Ryall Acres neighbors.

"We have people with horses and show goats living in Ryall Acres so it would affect those people as well," Webb said.

"When this first started, we were just trying to get a feel for what they were offering, what would be done and what improvements were planned - we were unsure," Webb said. "I don't want people to be misled by fancy words in a service plan."

Webb said he has been in contact with more than 10 families in the neighborhood who have expressed to him the desire not to be annexed by the city.

Webb said that during the Oct. 9 council meeting, six residents showed up to voice their displeasure over the proposed action but were not allowed to speak.

"When the public comments period came about, Mayor David Barber asked to compile our thoughts and have one person speak," Webb said.

Webb said the whole action caught many in Ryall Acres by surprise.

"We were totally unaware that they were going to hold a vote on it on that day," Webb said. "This has been in the works for a while unbeknownst to anyone in Ryall Acres."

Webb credited Jasper city councilwoman Gloria Monzingo for standing up and proposing the city not annex the area.

"I think she realizes the city has some serious problems that they can't fix on their own now," Webb said. "They have issues and promises in their service plan to provide to us yet they can't even provide them to their own people in the city limits now.

"They have problems they can't fix now - why would they want to go out and reach out and annex something else," Webb said.

He said that if the city was to annex the area, Webb doesn't know if he would stay there or not.

Webb said the community has questioned the reason why the city is choosing to annex Ryall Acres.

According to comments made by Jasper Mayor David Barber made in the Oct. 17 issue of The Jasper Newsboy, Barber has talked about annexing Ryall Acres for years because "it just makes sense to annex the area."

Webb just believes the city has its sights set on other areas and needs to clear the path by taking in Ryall Acres first.

"What is next? Rolling Woods Estates? Holmwood? Where does it end?" Webb said. "The only benefit to the city of Jasper would be in the tax revenue. The citizens of Ryall Acres wouldn't get anything.

"It won't cost the city much to annex Ryall Acres but it will cost the citizens of Ryall Acres a lot," Webb said.