MANCHESTER, Mo. – A plan by the City of Manchester to take over an area of unincorporated St. Louis County will soon be in the hands of voters. This comes just days after lawsuits were filed to prevent the annex.
The 25 members of the Growing Manchester Facilitation Group want to reach as many of the 6,500 people living in the unincorporated area as possible before the November vote.
The group said they are not trying to sway votes one way or the other; they are strictly trying to inform people about the annexation process and what it will mean if it passes.
Dr. Craig Larson, the chairman of the group, said they have held four open houses during the last several months to get information out to the voting public.
“Our encouragement to the city is to go into each neighborhood and talk to them, so that the neighborhood can understand, because it’s actually different,” he said. “You know, some of the neighborhoods have different streets, so having the city take over their streets could be a concern or it could be a great benefit.”
Not everyone agrees with the annexation plans. Last week, a resident living in the proposed annex area filed a lawsuit against the City of Manchester. St. Louis County also filed a lawsuit, theirs is against the county’s boundary commission after the 11 commissioners approved the next steps for the city to get the annexation on the November ballot.
St. Louis County said they will hold an open house on Sept. 7 for more information about the annexation.