Over the past several days, the volcano of financial strife between Lake View and Woodstock at Exit 100 has rumbled with signs of a possible eruption once again. Last month, CBLV reported that the Township of Woodstock in nearby Bibb County had received approval for several million dollars in state funds to build a new treatment plant for the update and expansion of their sewer system. This is a concern because the town will no longer have its ability to expand limited by the capacity of the West Blocton sewer system. Earlier this week, it was announced that eastern Bibb County near Woodstock would be the site of the new $40.4 million dollar Moller Tech factory, representing a massive influx of potential revenue into the area, particularly Woodstock. Finally, on October 17, Woodstock posted legal notice in the Tuscaloosa News that announced a meeting to discuss the formation of a Lodgings Incentives Agreement. This final item points toward an expansionist mentality toward Exit 100, a mentality that isn’t good for Lake View.
The history of litigation between Woodstock and Lake View over the land at Exit 100 has been hashed and rehashed in nearly every discussion related to town business over the past several years. Each town has attempted to annex property along the interstate between Exits 100 and 97 and each town has sued the other over those annexations, eventually leading to Judge England throwing out all of the land grabs and for all intents and purposes placing a moratorium on further attempts by either town. When the dust settled, Exit 100 was unincorporated, but paid sales tax to Woodstock as it was in their police jurisdiction. This put Lake View in a precarious situation. The town lacks the funds for a protracted legal battle should Woodstock attempt future expansion and the prospects for growth in any other direction are sparse at best. The only proposed solution that would satisfy both towns and the courts was a cooperative business district agreement where each town would share the sales tax revenue and the service obligations in the district while contractually banning any actual annexations by either town within a mile of the district’s borders. It wouldn’t give Lake View all of the revenue from any of the Exit 100 businesses, but it would put a binding legal hold on any further expansion attempts by Woodstock. Unfortunately, former council members Shannon Phillips and Vivian Bean and former mayor Bruce Wade wouldn’t give up on their losing annexation battles and decided that they would sign it only if the annexation ban only applied to Woodstock. This, in effect, killed the negotiation with Woodstock.
Now Woodstock has a new mayor who has little interest in putting on the kid gloves to play with Lake View. This mayor has a $40 million dollar development and a brand new sewer system to back his renewed claims over an area his town already provides with services, populated by individuals and businesses who have expressed open disdain for Lake View. The question is how can Lake View weather the legal storm should Woodstock go after Exit 100 again? Is this new Incentives Agreement and proposed sewer treatment facility a sign that annexation attempts by Woodstock are inevitable? Did the Council of 2012-2016 put the town in an indefensible position out of greed or simple stupidity? Most importantly, can Lake View do anything to prevent Woodstock from taking control of Exit 100 or are any efforts now too little too late?
Citizens for a Better Lake View 