May 17, 2023 – At Monday’s Council meeting, the Clovis City Council voted to approve the attempt at annexation of a parcel of land east of Willow Avenue and north of Shepherd Avenue.
This parcel of land was discussed at length due to the inclusion of the Clovis Hills Church and water use that may or may not come from the Garfield Water District.
The Clovis Hills Church which sits just above the land that the city intends to annex, has had its water come from the Garfield Water District for a number of years.
However, with the annexation it is currently unresolved as to what the Garfield Water District will decide, being whether or not they send water to the parcel of land.
It was stated at a meeting that occurred in 2020 the Garfield Water District did not sign a water contract with the city, although city staff claimed that it was always “expected and assumed” that the Garfield Water District would come into business by the time of annexation.
The city says ultimately it is up to the decision of the Garfield Water District whether or not they will continue to provide water connections for the city, and in essence provide water to the Clovis Hills Church.
As of the day of the City Council meeting, once the city fully annexes the land, Garfield Water District will disconnect their lines to the land and stop providing water.
The Clovis Hills Church would then have to come to a further agreement with the city in order to continue receiving water connections which the church claims they have been doing so since 2020.
At first, the Clovis Hills Church was included in a possible developer based annexation that was attempting to be processed before the city decided to annex the territory.
They are not included in the city’s annexation because “no housing units are included in the housing element”, which the city hinted at using the land for.
In terms of a protest of the annexation, a protest can occur, if more than 50% of registered voters protest.
If this occurs annexation can be terminated. If more than 25% of voters or more than 25% of owners owning more than 25% of total land value protest, an election can be called on whether or not to annex the territory.
If neither protest occurs annexation is approved. The City Council voted to approve an application for the annexation of the approximately 500 acres of land that sits east of Willow Avenue.