MISSOURI CITY, Texas – In a preliminary vote, City Council members voted 5 to 2 in favor of annexing Municipal Utility District (MUD) No. 2.
The small unincorporated area in Sienna is made up of about 1,600 homes and residents there are worried about the impact on their community.
“The only voice we have is to ask them through petition to slow down the annexation so that they can consider all of the pieces rather than this mindset that we have time we’ll figure it out later,” said resident Beth Ibara.
Ibara and several other neighbors have collected 578 signatures against the move. She and fellow resident Steve Brown told KPRC they share many of the same concerns about becoming part of the city.
“The police surveillance, the security how fast can we get a police car if we have a problem, amenities, the water flow, the streets, gardening, the things in the area that keep a neighborhood nice. Those are all the responsibilities that our MUD takes care of and then on top of that improvement of the neighborhood,” Brown said.
According to Sandra Denton the General Manager for the Sienna Associations, the problem for many is the speed at which the city is making decisions.
“Most of our residents understood that Sienna utility districts would be annexed into the city of Missouri city at some point, so the biggest issue here is how quickly it happened and (the) communication or information provided in advance of the formal process,” said Denton.
Council members and city officials discussed the possible move Monday night and addressed some of the most frequently asked questions.
“Another item that is out there in the public discussion is Missouri city will acquire the 4 million dollars that the Sienna MUD has assumed, this is not true.” Said a city official during the meeting. “Finally, we heard even tonight about police coverage and response. Staff is confident that the service level that the police department, awarding winning police department has for Missouri city will be able to provide appropriate service levels.”
Missouri City Council hold a second meeting and vote on whether to annex
MUD 2 on August 21st.
If approved the annexation will go into effect on the very next day.