SHELLEY - City Councilman Steven Cederberg said residents angry over a proposal to annex a subdivision outside city limits have become anywhere from unruly to near violent.

"There's been threats made, which I don't really appreciate, and (nasty) phone calls to my house," Cederberg said.

The Shelley City Council has proposed to annex the Kelly Acres subdivision, an approximately 20-home neighborhood located southeast of Shelley. Council members will vote on the proposal at the end of next month, but the decision has faced strong opposition from Kelly Acres residents who don't wish to be placed on the city's tax rolls.

Discussions have also been had about annexing the nearby Hallmark Estates subdivision. Subdivision resident Christine Warner said Shelley officials showed interest in annexing both neighborhoods because they would give the city direct access to a planned elementary school in the neighborhood.

Warner said Hallmark Estates is located near a canal which separates her neighborhood from the proposed school's grounds and Kelly Acres. She said Shelley officials are planning to build a bridge that will provide direct access to the school. She fears it will create safety issues due to increased traffic.

"We don't have any problems with the school being there," Warner said. "They can put the school in without having anything to do with us, (but) they want that access road and they want our taxes."

If the Kelly Acres subdivision is annexed, residents will pay an additional $6.58 per every $1,000 of assessed value. The subdivision will pay a total of nearly $18 per $1,000 assessed value when Bingham County taxes are figured in.

Cederberg notes that Kelly Acres has been using Shelley's water system for about 15 years. He said the city charges the subdivision's residents about $20 for the first 10,000 gallons of water and about $5 for every additional 5,000 gallons.

"It's kind of aggravating," he said. "(The annexation) should have been done when they were put on city waters."

Cederberg said rumors of the city adding new curbs and initiating additional road construction as a result of an annexation are not true. But the time has come for Kelly Acres to become part of Shelley.

"If you're not growing, you're dying," he said "It's time to just be annexed into the city and have the whole thing become part of the town."

By Yann Ranaivo

yranaivo@journalnet.com