Alabaster welcomes Fogle Lake into the city

Published 12:59 pm Tuesday, August 11, 2015

The Alabaster City Council voted on annexing the Fogle Lake subdivision during an Aug. 10 meeting. (File)

The Alabaster City Council voted on annexing the Fogle Lake subdivision during an Aug. 10 meeting. (File)

By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Amid applause from about 12 residents of the Fogle Lake subdivision, the Alabaster City Council voted unanimously to annex the 22 lots into the city during an Aug. 10 meeting.

The vote came three days before the first day of classes for the Alabaster City School System, meaning all children who live in the Fogle Lake subdivision will continue to attend Alabaster schools.

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.

Fogle Lake resident Krys Geissler said she has four children, and said two of them would have remained in Alabaster and two would have attended Columbiana schools had the subdivision not been annexed.

“I wanted to thank you for considering our annexation. There are a lot of families out there that have children,” Geissler told the council members. “I didn’t want two kids going to Columbiana and two staying at home. I appreciate it very much.”

During a brief public hearing before the council’s vote, Fogle Lake Homeowners Association President J.D. King said all homes surrounding the lake signed a petition requesting annexation into Alabaster from unincorporated Shelby County.

“I’d like to thank you for your consideration of taking us into your great city,” King said.

During the meeting, the City Council first voted to annex a 10-foot strip of property between the Fogle Lake subdivision and the Saddle Lake Farms subdivision into the city. The connecting piece of land made the Fogle Lake subdivision contiguous to Alabaster’s city limits, allowing the council to annex Fogle Lake without requiring an act of the Alabama Legislature.

Following the annexation of the 10-foot easement, the council voted unanimously to annex the 22 lots into the city.

Alabaster City Manager George Henry said public safety services, such as police and fire protection, began immediately for the residents, and said services such as trash collection will begin within the next few weeks.

“We don’t go out and try to take over areas. We truly want people in the city who want to be here,” said Ward 5 Councilman Russell Bedsole. “We want to ensure those (new) residents get the same quality of services that our residents have always gotten.”