The crowd was large and emotional. The politicians who sat before them were somewhat nervous, and generally not successful at soothing the crowd’s fears.

In the end, not much was actually accomplished at a meeting called Tuesday night by opponents of an effort to annex portions of the unincorporated Mt. Olive community into Gardendale, as the officials had few solid answers to the crowd’s questions.

More than a hundred residents packed the meeting room of the Mt. Olive Community Center, where they quizzed their state legislators, Gardendale city officials and a member of the Jefferson County Board of Education about the proposal to annex the part of the community whose students currently attend Bragg Middle and Gardendale High schools – both of which will soon become part of the city’s new breakaway school system.

By state law, the only guarantee that those students could stay in those schools is to make their homes a part of Gardendale, and by extension the new system. That’s what pro-annexation residents want, but only that portion of Mt. Olive currently zoned for Gardendale schools – the so-called “red box” drawn on supporters’ maps. That’s a move that annexation opponents claimed would tear the community apart.

Those opposed to the annexation had a chance to pose questions to State Sen. Scott Beason (R-Gardendale); State Rep. Allen Farley (R-McCalla), who currently represents Mt. Olive but whose district boundaries will change in the next election; Rep. Alan Treadaway (R-Morris), who represents much of the rest of northern Jefferson County with Mt. Olive added to his district in the next vote; Gardendale council president Stan Hogeland and council member Blake Guinn; and Oscar Mann, a member of the Jefferson County Board of Education, the system which Gardendale schools will break away from.

Gardendale mayor Othell Phillips also made a brief appearance at the beginning of the meeting; ironically, he had to leave for another meeting involving those who have applied for seats on the new system’s board.

Residents voiced their concerns in a free-wheeling, often vocal discussion. Much of the questioning concerned whether there was a way for Mt. Olive students currently zoned for Gardendale schools to be grandfathered into the system without annexation.

“In the past, when Trussville and Leeds formed their own systems, it’s my understanding they grandfathered some students [from outside the cities] in at first,” Mann told the crowd.

Hogeland and Phillips, however, said that such a decision would be up to the new school board, which hasn’t been appointed yet.

“Once the new board is in place, we [the council] have nothing to do with it,” Hogeland said.

The state legislators told the crowd that they would not favor any sort of annexation method that did not involve a vote of the people involved. Beason admitted, though, that dealing with such a large area to be annexed was uncharted territory for them.

“We’ve never had a whole community that’s proposed for annexation like this,” he said. “We’re just trying to facilitate a way for as many people as possible to get what they want… We have to figure out how to navigate something that is a very emotional, very difficult situation.”

The anti-annexation group isn’t formally organized and doesn’t even have a name, though a sheet handed out beforehand had on its heading, “MO Says NO” – a not-so-subtle take on “MO Matters,” the name used by annexation proponents. 

Organizers set up the meeting as a private event – a basket at the entrance collected contributions to pay for the hall rental – and those attending had to present identification and sign a petition opposing the annexation if they had not already. About half a dozen people, some of whom had publicly expressed support for annexation, were turned away at the door.

As the meeting progressed, numerous residents made it clear that the issue of annexation goes beyond schools. Several mentioned their dislike of Gardendale’s zoning ordinances, which are much more restrictive than those in the county. Others simply were upset about the annexation proposal, which would not include residents whose children are in the Corner or Mortimer Jordan feeder systems.

Still others voiced concerns over fire protection and the fate of the Mt. Olive Fire District should most of its territory be annexed away – a matter addressed by board member Dwight Sloan, who said that annexation would leave the fire district in a precarious position, with three-fourths of the dues-paying properties moving to Gardendale.

“We’ve done our own feasibility study, and it will not work,” Sloan said.

Annexation supporters and Gardendale city officials have discussed contracting with the district to continue to provide protection, with the city paying the district roughly the same amount as it would otherwise collect in dues. But Hogeland admitted that the city wasn’t sure such an arrangement is allowed by law, particular since the Gardendale Fire Department falls under the merit system of staffing.

After more than two hours of give and take, it became apparent that the only thing everyone could agree on is that it’s too soon for either side to do anything, since no Gardendale school board is in place yet, no separation agreement has been negotiated between the new board and the county school system, and no formal annexation proposal has been presented to the city.