Annexation of six areas scattered around the periphery of the City of Kimball south of the UPRR tracks was discussed at the Kimball Planning Commission’s public hearing at their meeting of April 29. Twenty two properties and the property owners  are involved. kimball County and the State of Nebraska are two of the property owners. All parties had been notified of the hearing by mail and were supplied a rough map and list of property owners.Twenty three interested citizens came to the hearing. None of them wanted to be annexed into the city.The theme “We like rural living. We don’t want to live in the city,” was voiced by John Thacker, Steve Diemoz, Joyce White, Rick Perry and Brandon Marshall. The comment “It’s just to take in more tax money” was heard several times. The question “Why are you doing this?” was asked repeatedly. The answer was several fold. Mayor Greg Dinges said it was part of his election platform to take into the city any properties using city utilities in one form or another. City Administrator Harold Farrar said the annexation followed legal divisions such as quarter section lines wherever possible.City Attorney Darrel Huenergardt said state statutes permitted annexation of areas that are “urban in nature” and that connection to city utilities is not a requirement for annexation.The comment was made that the city should reduce the number of its employees rather than annex.Farrar said the city tax levy has been steadily cut from about 72 cents in 2001-02 to 50 cents in 2008-09.As in the public hearing for Phase I annexation, the question of who pays for any new connection to city utilities came up. The answer again was, the Board of Public Works will determine that.It was clear to the Planning Commission that the citizens present were opposed to  the annexation.After about one hour of public hearing and no new comment arising, Chairman John Morrison closed the public hearing.In discussion between commission members, Bob Jenner asked how any utility extensions would be paid for.Farrar answered that bonds would be issued and then paid off by fees paid for consumption of utilities.Mark Brown moved the proposal to annex be recommended favorably to City Council for council’s consideration. Jenner seconded.The motion passed 2-1 with Brown and Morrison voting Aye and Jenner voting Nay.Commission members Gary Randles and John Kinney were absent.The proposal will now move on City Council at their May 6 meeting and three readings will likely be necessary for passage. The City also plans to designate a portion of  the city as substandard/blighted so that Tax Increment Financing (TIF) can be brought into play as a financial aid for private development. TIF benefits are already in use in enabling Pamida to enter the community.  The statutes defining substandard and blighted areas give five optinons whereby areas can be qualified as substandard/blighted.One option is that 40 percent of the buildings in the proposed area must be forty years of age or older. In the area proposed by  the city, 86.9 percent of the privately owned buildings are more than 40 years of age. The average construction date was 1940, some 69 years ago.Jenner moved to approve the enabling Resolution 2009-01, Brown seconded and the motion passed 3-0.With that, the meeting adjourned at 7:19 p.m.