A request to deannex a 20-acre parcel of land on U.S. 72 died at Monday’s City Council meeting after no Council member was willing to take it up.

Dirt for Sale LLC requested the City deannex 19.85 acres of land on the south side of U.S. 72 southwest of the intersection with McCulley Mill Road.

According to City Planner Matt Davidson, the company made the request because the property is not within the City’s utility service boundary area, and the City has not run sewer lines to the area.

He said the City has no immediate plans to run sewer to the location, and the deannexation would allow the City of Huntsville to annex the land and provide sewer use. Davidson said Huntsville purchased Limestone County’s sewer lines to the south, and Huntsville would not service the property without deannexation.

Davidson said the Planning Commission voted to approve the deannexation, with Mayor Ronnie Marks adding the group determined there was no future revenue benefit from the land and it was not critical to the City.

Council member Harold Wales voiced his displeasure at the notion of deannexing land on U.S. 72 and said he would not want to do anything that would give Huntsville “a leg up” in acquiring the property.

“I went out today and looked at this land, on Highway 72 and Highway 31, and I can’t see any reason for this Council to vote to deannex any property,” Wales said. “I would say on Highway 72, east and west, and on Highway 31, anywhere north or south, we need to hold all the property we can get for future growth.”

Council member Frank Travis asked Davidson if a sewer connection was really why the company wanted to have the property deannexed by Athens. Council member Chris Seibert verified with Davidson that the Planning Commission recommended approving the measure because there was no perceived economic benefit to running sewer to the property.

Wales said the property belongs to the City of Athens, “it’s not hurting anything, and it’s not going anywhere.”

“Why would I want to deannex it?” he said. “I can’t think of one reason. So, I will not be in favor of any deannexation on Highway 72 or on our main corridor on Highway 31. It is ours. It belongs to us. Guys, let’s hold on to it. You never know. The way our city is growing, you just never know.”

Seibert also asked Council member Dana Henry, who represents the Council on the Planning Commission, if there was anything else about the request the Council had yet to hear, to which she said no.

When it came time to vote on the deannexation request, the potential ordinance died for lack of support, as none of the Council members were willing to give it a first.