Beginning in the new year, the redistricted Town Council Ward boundaries took effect. I am sad to lose the northern portion of Precinct 3 including Independence Hill 3rd Edition, Heritage North, Chapel Hill Farms, and Waterford neighborhoods, as well as Precinct 2 (Independence Hill north of Route 30) after serving these residents for the past three years. I will miss you all and our close contact but know that I am always here for you to assist whenever I can. Councilwoman Margaret A. Uzelac will be taking over these areas as they become part of the 4th Ward instead of Ward 5. Mrs. Uzelac is a seasoned member of the council and will represent these new areas to Ward 4 well.
Remaining in Ward 5 will be the southern portion of Precinct 3 (Morningside, Bridgewood, and Teal Crossings) as well as Prairie Point Apartment Homes, The Reserve at Prairie Point, Brickshire Apartment Homes, and all of Precinct 13, 33, and 34.
The changes are necessary as our Ward 5 has grown up to over 8300 in population over the past 10 years while other areas in town have not seen that growth rate staying at around 5200 in population on average. It is not fair or equitable to have one member of the town council representing so many more than other members. It is all about fairness and proper representation of our population which is now at approximately 36,400.
I wanted to share with you the new map of Ward 5 as well as the other town council wards. The new maps allowed us to adjust our population deviation from about 78% down to 4.99%, meaning that all Wards now only differ by just under 5% making them as even as possible for fair and equitable representation. The redistricting must be done each 10-year period following the census. The map below indicates just how even the population will be with the redistricting adjustment. The whole process is never popular, but I believe that we did it as fairly as possible keeping everyone involved in local politics in mind.
Below are Ward maps 1 through 7. You will notice that wards 5 and 6 remain the largest land mass wards, but the population is now more equal. It makes sense that Ward 5 grew so much due to the available land space and various newer apartment complexes which increase populations in a smaller land area.
