Homeowners living on city-owned lakefront property are facing a deadline: pay $25,000 or risk losing their leases. The catch? They must also agree to have the land annexed into the City of Council Grove. Currently, the lake remains part of Morris County and has not been incorporated into the city.
The issue stems from a lease redrawn around 2012, which saw more expensive homes built on the lake's shores. Resident Ryan McDonald notes that annexation has been discussed for decades, but gained momentum in recent years with Mayor Debi Schwedtfeger's re-election to her third term.
