Wisconsin Supreme Court Rejects Annexation For Sand Mine

The state Supreme Court has rejected the city of Whitehall’s attempt to annex land for a sand mine.

The city council in 2015 approved annexing about 1,250 acres from the Town of Lincoln. Whitehall Sand and Rail LLC had selected the land for a sand mine.

The town challenged the petition for annexation that led to the council’s decision. The town argued such petitions must include the signature of all landowners in the annexation territory and the petition lacked the signature of Fox Valley and Western LTD, which owned a strip of railroad land in the territory.

The Supreme Court sided with the town Wednesday, ruling 7-0 that the city conceded during oral arguments that the petition was not unanimous.

Ryan Steffes, the city’s attorney, didn’t immediately return a message.