RACINE COUNTY - Officials from Racine County and the Town of Norway filed suit in Racine County Circuit Court on Tuesday to stop a proposed annexation of more than 3,100 parcels of land in western Racine County into a drainage district near Wind Lake.

Officials have asked the court to issue an injunction to prevent the Racine County Board of Drainage Commissioners from meeting and taking action on the proposed annexation at a scheduled Aug. 12 meeting.

The drainage board wants to annex the parcels, most of which lie within the Town of Norway, into the Norway-Dover Drainage District. The drainage board plan also includes levying $1.4 million on the properties in the drainage district, one of five in Racine County. The expanded district would include 4,977 parcels totaling 33,306 acres of land.

Officials have a number of concerns about the proposed annexation including how affected residents were notified and how the project was filed with the state, said Jean Jacobson, Norway town

chairman.

"Time is so short. We can clearly see that so much needs to be addressed by the 12th. This is so unfair to us," Jacobson said. "This is so overwhelming. If something like this is going to be put upon us, it needs to be done correctly."

County and town officials, in filing the suit, argue that the drainage board failed to notify them that they had hired an engineering firm to study the drainage district, which led to the recommended annexation of land that contributes water run-off into the Wind Lake drainage canal.

They also allege that the drainage board did not properly notify them that the engineer's report had been completed. The board

received an engineer's report in early February 2009, but did not notify anyone affected by the proposed annexation until five months later in mid-July.

Also named in the suit is John Ingersoll Jr., a resident who petitioned the drainage board to annex the lands into the drainage district. In order for a drainage board to annex lands, state law requires that a landowner in the current drainage district petition the board.

Alan Jasperson, one of three members on the drainage board, said he had not seen the court documents, but had heard the county was considering such a move. He said he thought it would be a waste of taxpayers' money to go to court to try to stop the annexation and did not believe that it was necessary to postpone the plan.

"I don't know what waiting will accomplish. I don't think waiting is going to help anyone. I think going ahead is the right thing," Jasperson said.

Jasperson said the drainage board would consider any objections from residents or officials to the proposed annexations. He said he expected the board would decide whether to go ahead with the proposal at the Aug. 12 meeting, which includes a public hearing where residents will be aloud to voice their objections.

Racine County

Executive William McReynolds on Tuesday said he hopes to at least postpone the hearing in order to answer the questions raised by residents and officials in the communities affected by the proposed annexation.

"We felt that we haven't been able to do our due diligence with the information we've been given," McReynolds said. "We are aware that there are drainage issues, but we feel all the parties should come to the table."