The addition of more police officers has resulted in renewed calls for the Village of Turkey Creek to annex the areas around Pine Street, Earl Deville, and Melissa Lane.
During the council meeting held Tuesday, May 19, Mayor Phillip Cavins said, “We’ve had people in those areas reach out to us who want to be annexed into the village which would provide them with several different benefits.”
Chief of Police Shawn Eckhart stated his department is “receiving numerous messages through social media as well as by phone conversations.” He added, “A lot of these things that are taking place are just right outside of our jurisdiction. We can see them, but we can’t touch them.”
As the chief explained, the village’s police department is bound by the jurisdiction.
Chief Eckhart went on to say the residents are “voicing their concerns with us. If we were to have that in our jurisdiction, we would be able to respond a lot quicker than the sheriff’s department.”
Mayor Cavins then said, “Even though a lot of that drug activity is happening outside of our village limits, it does affect us tremendously because that activity is still driving through our village, and, a lot of times, we don’t have the probable cause to just pull over a vehicle.”
The proposed annexation would incorporate the property 200-feet on both sides of Earl Deville and Pine Loop as well as 200-feet past Melissa Lane.
Because the matter has to be decided by the people, Mayor Cavins will be going door-to-door to collect signatures for the required petition and will have a print out of how much the taxes will be upon incorporation of those residences.
“It’s up to the people,” said Councilman Joey Ducote. “They have to sign the petition. We discussed that in 2012, and I don’t think it was favorable, but things may have changed.”
Councilman Neal King said, “We have to talk to the people and get their opinions. They’re the ones involved. Then we’ll know more after that.”
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Tony Marks
Editor