GOOD HOPE — The city of Good Hope approved a series of annexations on Monday, July 14, with a combined total of over 150 acres that have the potential to create the framework for future additions.

Members of the Good Hope City Council approved six total annexations near the rest area located on Interstate 65 between Good Hope and Dodge City, including nearly 130 acres owned by local business owner Scotty Hooper.

During a public work session held prior to the meeting on Monday, city planner Corey Harbison told council members that he had been approached by Hooper in March to discuss the possibility of annexing roughly 300 acres of property. However, several additional annexations were required in order to make property boundaries contiguous with Good Hope City limits, including a roughly 20-foot-wide strip of land just West of I-65.

Harbison also discussed a small gap in property boundaries that created some concerns over the annexation of additional parcels of land owned by Hooper. He said he would like to discuss the possibility of annexing a small portion of that area with the property owner before moving forward.

Hooper had previously approached the Dodge City Town Council in February to request a sewer extension to accommodate one of his properties housing around 120,000 square feet of warehouse and commercial office space. During that meeting, Hooper said he had already been approached by several businesses to discuss leasing options and that he believed the project, when completed, would create roughly 150 new jobs. However, those conversations stalled when he was asked about the possibility of annexing the property into Dodge City.

Harbison said Hooper had made him aware of his discussions with Dodge City officials and that Hooper told him he would prefer to incorporate into the city of Good Hope if possible.

Harbison also told The Times that Hooper had listed connecting to the city’s sewer system as a contributing factor into his desire to annex. He said because one of the parcels owned by Hooper shares a property line with the nearby rest area, which is included in Good Hope’s sewer system, all that would be required would be completing a permit from the Alabama Department of Transportation.

However, the council also discussed some inconsistencies as to whether any of Hooper’s properties fall within the Dodge City municipal boundaries. Hooper himself told the Dodge City Council that he had been under the impression that some of his property fell within the Dodge City boundary in February.

Harbison and Good Hope council members all agreed that they would like to schedule a meeting with Dodge City Mayor Jason Burney before taking any further actions to annex additional property owned by Hooper as to clear up any irregularities and to maintain the relationship between the two municipalities.

In other business, the council approved several resolutions to certify that council members Eric Phillips, Greg Brown and Taft Dillashaw were all unopposed candidates in the upcoming municipal election scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 26, and would be reassuming their respective positions on the council in November.