By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Alabaster has seen a spike in annexation requests over the past few weeks, as several unincorporated Shelby County residents said they are looking to keep their children in the Alabaster City School System.

During its June 22 meeting, the Alabaster City Council will hold public hearings on annexation requests for three properties: 641 Norris Lane, 6999 Alabama 119 and 140 Canter Way.

The June 22 meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at Alabaster City Hall. During the public hearings, council members will hear from those speaking in favor of and against the proposed annexations, and likely will vote on the matters the same night.

Ward 1 Councilwoman Sophie Martin said all three annexation requests came as a result of residents wishing to remain in the Alabaster City School System.

Through a separation agreement between the Shelby County School System and the Alabaster City School System, students zoned for Alabaster schools who do not live in the city limits are being phased out of Alabaster schools over the next few years.

The three annexation requests being considered by the City Council during its June 22 meeting represent a small portion of the total annexation requests pending before the council, Alabaster City Manager George Henry said.

As of June 8, the city had received about 20 total annexation requests – the majority of which came from the area surrounding Fogle Lake, which is slightly east of the recently annexed Saddle Lake Farms subdivision off Shelby County 339.

During a June 4 work session, Henry shared information on the Fogle Lake annexation requests, and said the city may soon be contiguous to those properties. Once city limits are contiguous to a property, a city council can vote to annex the adjacent property into the city.

As of June 9, the Alabaster City Council did not have any pending annexation public hearings for the Fogle Lake properties.