Removal finalized

Wise County Messenger
BY AUSTIN JACKSON
ajackson@wcmessenger.com

The disannexation of the Falcon Ridge subdivision from the City of New Fairview is official after council members canvassed the results of the Nov. 8 election Monday night.

New Fairview voters approved the proposition for the neighborhood in Denton County to leave the city by a margin of 91 votes, according to official results in Wise and Denton County.

“The immediate impact is the loss of council members and the loss of great people in our community,” said New Fairview Mayor John Taylor. “I think of people first before anything else. We lost 150 homes, and those people brought many different things to the city.”

Nearly 90 percent of New Fairview voters in Denton County supported disannexation at the polls. New Fairview residents in Wise County voted against disannexation by a margin of 198 to 147.

With the disannexation, New Fairview will lose a significant portion of its tax base. Falcon Ridge represents 22 percent of the city’s tax revenue, according to preliminary values. The financial impact will not be reflected until the next fiscal year.

The disannexation has also resulted in a shakeup to the city council, with Falcon Ridge residents no longer eligible to serve.

Taylor issued a pair of proclamations to two outgoing council members who lived or currently reside in Falcon Ridge Monday night. Place 5 council member

Jimmy Royston resigned just before the election, announcing his plans to move. Place 2 council member and Falcon Ridge resident John Fissette’s term on the council ended after the results of the election were finalized.

The council appointed Richard Greene, former editor of the Messenger, to serve on Place 5 at the meeting Monday. Greene and Scott Johnson applied for the vacant seat, and after meeting in closed session, the council approved Green’s appointment. Place 5 and Place 2 are unexpired terms that will be up for election in May 2023. Taylor said the council is seeking applications for the Place 2 seat vacated by Fissette. The city will look to fill that position at its next meeting in December.

“We’re openly looking for people to apply,” Taylor said.