Houston County Residents “Satisfied” After Council Votes Not to Annex Homes into City

WARNER ROBINS, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A Warner Robins man says he’s satisfied after city council voted 4-2 Monday night to keep his home outside the city limits.

41NBC’s Jasmine Williams first brought you Ken Ford’s story Monday night at 6.

He owns one of four homes in the Carter Woods West Subdivision in Houston County that were on the verge of being taken over by the city for the second year in a row.

Ford and the four council members who voted not to annex the properties said the homes’ locations in the very back of a large subdivision would make it hard for emergency vehicles to respond if the residents needed them. 

Councilman Mike Davis said he thought it was unfair that the residents had to be fighting to stay outside the city again after the council voted not to annex their homes just last year.

Council members Carolyn Robbins and Paul Shealy both voted in favor of annexing the properties, saying the houses already get city services, so they should be annexed into the city.

“From a fire service standpoint, it might not mean as much,” says councilman Mike Daley, who voted to keep the homes outside the city.  “But say for police protection, because the county’s already patrolling those areas and then those four people would be patrolled by the city police.  The county’s already there, so from an economic side it just didn’t make a lot of sense for us to annex those properties and we’d already addressed that issue last year.”

Another home on the southeast edge of the city that was up for annexation will also remain in the county.

It’s still possible the city could take the five properties sometime in the future, but the homeowners say for now, they’re happy with the council’s decision.