If an effort by Waynesville and St. Robert to annex Fort Leonard Wood's population is successful, the cities’ populations — and potential for economic development — will grow exponentially.
St. Robert City Administrator Alan Clark and Waynesville Mayor Pro-tem Luge Hardman made the announcement at the Waynesville-St. Robert Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon Wednesday.
Work began on the project, which focuses solely on population, in late March.
“We do not want any taxation at all,” Clark said after the luncheon. “This annexation is simply for the population.”
Economic benefits
The question “Why don’t we have (fill in the name of your favorite retailer or restaurant)” can be mostly answered in a few words— the population figures aren’t there. The 2000 Census shows Waynesville's population is 3,507, while St. Robert's is 2,760. Those numbers don’t measure up for large retailers who look at the numbers and say, “Nope, too small.”
“Typically, they’ll look at our area and see that we’re a very small city, and we might not fit their demographics,” Waynesville City Administrator Bruce Harrill shared, noting there have been instances where businesses have decided not to locate to the area because of the reported population.
It’s not necessarily a fair assessment, though. With the permanent party, family member and trainee populations at Fort Leonard Wood, the number of people in St. Robert and Waynesville on a given day can reach upward of 35,000.
“The population in our area is, a lot of the time, not reflected on the census,” Harrill said.
Clark understands the problems not having an accurate picture of the bodies physically in the county on a daily basis.
“They (companies) do that research on the Internet,” Clark said, adding that unless company representatives make a trip out here, they don’t see what the installation means to the communities’ economy.
“This is really, really, really going to help the cities economically when it comes to growth,” he said. “With those numbers coming up, it attracts those family businesses, those retail businesses.”
Population only
Annexation of military installations is not uncommon. Fort Bragg, N.C., Camp Lejeune, N.C., and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., have all had populations annexed into surrounding communities.
The cities will not take over any services on Fort Leonard Wood and no taxes will be collected. The annexation is about population only.
“This has no impact, zero impact, on their (military personnel) home of record. I cannot emphasize that enough,” Clark said.
The population will be divided evenly between the two cities and the annexation does not include the PX or Commissary area to avoid a tax situation.
