By Heather Ruenz
Editor
Adding a new twist to the nearly two-year issue of Standard Process, Inc. wanting to bring its entire operation into the Village of Palmyra, the state Department of Administration recently issued an opinion that the annexation is in the public interest, a flip from the opinion it issued in January 2013.
In a letter dated Dec. 2, obtained by The Enterprise last week, Erich Schmidtke, of the DOA’s municipal boundary review, said additional detailed information provided by Standard Process, Inc. and the Village of Palmyra regarding service needs led to the recent opinion in favor of the annexation.
Schmidtke said the department’s review examined the shape of the annexation and its homogeneity with the annexing village and whether services to the territory could be better supplied by the Town of Palmyra or some other contiguous municipality.
“Our farm is in the Town of Palmyra and our manufacturing facility is in the Village of Palmyra. We continue to expand our processes at our farm to improve our products, and we anticipate an increasing need for services at our farm that only the village can provide,” Karren Jeske, Standard Process corporate communication manager said previously.
The letter also addresses the town’s contention of gerrymandering the boundaries of the annexation territory by “excluding potential electors who likely would not support the annexation, were a referendum vote to occur… these exclusions do not negatively impact the shape of the territory.”
The annexation petition was received by the village clerk’s office Nov. 12, the same day it was submitted to, and received by the DOA, per the recent opinion issued.
On Monday night, the Village Board is expected to vote whether to accept or reject the petition for annexation, according to Village Clerk Laurie Mueller.
“This is not the village accepting the annexation, but if the board votes to accept the petition, they are saying they will entertain an ordinance within 120 days of the date it was filed,” Mueller said.
In light of the favorable opinion from the DOA, village president Dave Turner said nothing has changed from when the process began.
“Standard Process is a growing company that plans to expand and will need services only the village can provide to do so. As far as the other land involved, nothing will change,” Turner said.
In December 2013, through a stipulated agreement to end a civil lawsuit filed by the Town of Palmyra and three town landowners –Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer L. Weston agreed to vacate the village’s annexation ordinance based on the procedural error. Weston ruled that Standard Process failed to properly notify all of the impacted landowners.
In March, Standard Process issued an “intent to file” but a petition did not follow, Mueller said.
At that time, Town Chairman Larry Kau referred to January 2013 letter from the Wisconsin Department of Administration Municipal Boundary Review Division that deemed the proposed annexation was against the public interest.
According to the University of Wisconsin-Extension’s Local Government Center, while the DOA may advise that an annexation is in favor or, against public interest, the annexing municipality – in this case the Village of Palmyra – is required only to review the recommendation before a vote is taken and is not required to side with the DOA’s finding.
Because the letter from the DOA was received on deadline for this week’s issue, not all officials could be reached for comment. A story including the Village Board’s decision Monday night (Dec. 15) and comments from town officials, assuming they can be reached, will appear in this week’s edition.
