PENDLETON — Pendleton Town Council conducted public hearings recently on three voluntary annexations, and then adopted fiscal plans for the areas, setting the stage for final approval later this month.

The annexations involve an area of about 33 acres: more than 14 acres in Foster Branch Woods East and more than 5 acres in Foster Branch Woods West, both residential areas west of Interstate 69; and more than 12 acres along and near West Mercer Lane on the eastern edge of town.

According to the fiscal plans, the areas will generate thousands more in tax dollars per year for the town than it will cost the town to provide services to those areas.

In the case of the Foster Branch Woods areas — where there’s a total of 15 homes — fiscal plans show a net cost to the town of more than $2,000 in the first year but a net gain of more than $15,000 per year after that.

During a special meeting Thursday, Oct. 25, town attorney Alex Intermill said annexations such as these have a positive impact on the town, helping pay for things such as the proposed 3 percent raise for town employees in 2019.

In other news, the town council unanimously adopted a resolution opposing the legalization of non-medically prescribed marijuana.

The town has been working with Drug Free South Madison Community Coalition, a group started in 2017 that has 28 members, including representatives from law enforcement, South Madison Community Schools, and Intersect, a non-profit agency that seeks to reduce tobacco, alcohol and other drug use.

Prior to the council vote on the resolution, coalition co-chairman Bill Hutton, who is also on the South Madison school board, said he hoped the town would lead the way in the county by passing the resolution; he said he hoped to rally the rest of the county against any effort by the state legislature to approve marijuana for recreational use.

“We’ve got to draw a line in the sand,” Hutton said.

The resolution states Pendleton — acting within its responsibility to care for local public health, safety and welfare — opposes the sale and distribution of marijuana for non-medical use based on its research and findings that:

• Marijuana is a controlled substance under federal law and has a negative impact on health and safety

• Studies demonstrate marijuana use has a detrimental effect on individual learning and brain development

• National pro-marijuana organizations have invested millions of dollars to push drug legalization in America

• Marijuana legalization efforts in other states have resulted in social, economic and legal chaos

• Increased marijuana use will impact public education, productivity in the workplace and escalate the number of impaired drivers on public roads.