By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

A 34-house Saginaw neighborhood is asking the Alabaster City Council to annex the subdivision into the city, residents told the council during a Nov. 8 work session.

During the work session, which was the first since new Alabaster Mayor Marty Handlon and the new City Council were sworn in, residents of the South Forty neighborhood presented the council with a petition requesting the subdivision be annexed into Alabaster.

Of the 34 homes in the subdivision, which is off Shelby County 339 and near the intersection of U.S. 31 and Shelby County 26, 32 signed the petition.

“The other two said they would not oppose it, and one even wished us well,” South Forty resident Doug Marshall told the council.

Marshall said the neighborhood residents would like to be in the city to have access to city services such as the police and fire departments, and to be in the Alabaster School System when the city finalizes its split with the Shelby County School System.

“It’s a quality of life issue. It makes sense for us,” Marshall said. “We are very excited about Alabaster city schools. We want to be a part of that.”

The South Forty neighborhood currently is not contiguous to Alabaster’s city limits, meaning a nearby property owner would have to grant an easement to the city to connect the neighborhood with Alabaster’s city limits before the council could vote to annex the subdivision.

South Forty could also be annexed by an act of the Alabama Legislature, even if it is not contiguous to the city limits.

“We have identified that area as a growth area. We’ve annexed out there before,” City Council President Scott Brakefield said.

The council will vote on a resolution supporting the annexation of the neighborhood during its Nov. 19 meeting. If the resolution passes, the council will send the resolution of support to the Alabama Legislature.