COUPLAND—Voters on the east side of Taylor’s Extraterritorial Jurisdiction will soon be deciding at the ballot box whether they want to stick with the Avery Pickett Volunteer Fire Department, the city’s volunteer group, or become a part of the county’s service area.
At the Feb. 14 meeting, the Williamson County Emergency Services District No. 10 board of commissioners voted unanimously to approve the annexation vote next May.
“This deserves a little bit of information,” said Bob Avant, board president. “We could basically annex the whole area of Taylor Volunteer Fire Department, but the city of Taylor has requested that we not do that and only annex areas to the east of their ETJ because of the Samsung Plant … and other entities that Taylor is going to have on the west side of their service area … that will be subject for the annexation vote in May.”
This has been the city’s only involvement in the discussion. The city will not be annexing any land due to the ballot item.
“The ESD approached the city to tell us they were considering this annexation, and we told them that we would prefer for them not to annex areas within the city’s Extra Territorial Jurisdiction,” said Stacey Osborne.
Prior to the vote, commissioners heard from ESD No. 10 firefighter and volunteer Chaplain Jeff Sciarretta, who said he and the commissioners were the subject of personal online video attacks from Avery Pickett, as well as legal threats.
“We have to push back against all the hypocrisy of Avery Pickett,” Sciarretta said. “I would like you all to defend your characters. I would like you all to push back on the other side legally in the same way and give them some of the same medicine that they are giving us that we don’t deserve but the other side does.”
Jennifer Walters also said in the public comment period she had also received online harassment when she voiced a different point of view than “juvenile bashing” of Avery Pickett on a Facebook page promoting the annexation.
“You’ve all been busy posting your opinions, your second and thirdhand hearsay and halftruths, along with images of AP trucks and calling them trash,” Walters said.
Walters shared comparisons she received from Williamson County comparing the two entities that she said showed a longer response time for ESD 10 versus Avery Pickett and a higher number of missed responses, which are figures Sciarretta disputes.
“I challenge the residents of Avery Pickett district to perform your due diligence in the coming months before this is presented to the voters,” she said.
After the meeting, Avant said the board had no choice but to move forward with the annexation vote.
“When there is a hundred people from the community that petition us, it’s hard to ignore that request and that was very influential for the commissioners who had over a 100 people in a very small area who were very, very concerned about the fire service they were receiving.”
