The property owners petitioned the commission to place the issue on the Tuesday, Nov. 4, general election ballot but commissioners turned down the request after meeting in executive session Tuesday with attorney Jay Levitch of the Stoller Partnership. The request to create the Village of Three Creeks was made under a controversial law that was passed last year but was repealed effective Thursday, Aug. 28. The property covers approximately 2,500 contiguous acres but does not include Augusta Bottom Road at the extreme southern end of the county. After conferring with Levitch, the commissioners voted 2-1 against placing the measure on the November ballot. Northern District Commissioner Jim Logan and Presiding Commissioner Arden Engelage voted in favor of the motion to deny the request. Southern District Commissioner Randy Lewis voted no. "Our attorney advised us he did not feel the petition was valid and could be contested in the future," said Engelage. "Based on that information, we elected to not put the issue on the ballot." Lewis said he still supported placing the measure on the ballot "because it would have been on there before Aug. 28 and it still would have flown," he explained. Landowners sought to form the village by using the so-called "Jetton Statute," named for former Missouri House Speaker Rod Jetton who pushed the measure through on the final day of the 2007 legislative session. Warrenton attorney Tim Joyce, who is legal counsel for the group of landowners, said he was disappointed with the commission's ruling Tuesday. "Clearly, I don't agree with the county attorney's assessment of the law," Joyce noted. "I don't know what our next step will be on this, but I plan to call my clients tonight to discuss it with them." Joyce said the landowners might want to appeal the decision or they could choose to seek incorporation under the existing village statute which governed the process for other Warren County villages such as Innsbrook and Pendleton. In a hearing held at the commissioners' office on Thursday, Aug. 21, Joyce presented the petition seeking incorporation and spoke on behalf of the landowners. "We're here today to be heard and work with you to get things done," said Joyce last week. "I can assure you we have unanimity." Joyce said the proposed incorporation was unique because none of the existing villages in Warren County, which include Innsbrook and Pendleton, was incorporated under this particular statute. Under the proposal, only the eight affected landowners would be eligible to vote on whether to incorporate into a village. "There could be future litigation on this issue," said Joyce, "but I'm very comfortable with our position because the statute was clearly in force at the time we proposed this incorporation." The affected property adjoins Washington Regional Airport, which is about two miles from the Washington Bridge connecting Warren and Franklin counties. There has been some discussion of future expansion of the airport and city of Washington officials have discussed annexing some of the land to bring the airport into the city limits. Joyce said the "sole purpose of this group is to make sure this property remains farmland. It's in a floodplain," he added. Most of the affected landowners also said their decision to seek incorporation had nothing to do with the issues of airport expansion or annexation. Landowner Charles Schroepfer said the eight landowners are all lifetime farmers. "The whole idea behind this is that we are all farmers who want to keep this property as farm ground," Schroepfer explained. "We want to be able to pass this land down through our families. "It has never been the purpose of this group to bring in commercial businesses," he added. "We don't intend to take money away from the county." "I don't know anything about that (possible annexation)," related landowner Jerome Ley, who lives in Washington. "That was not my purpose in signing the petition." Landowner Gerald Kluesner, however, said blocking a possible annexation effort from Washington "might be a factor" in the decision to seek incorporation. "But this is some of the most productive farmland in the state," Kluesner added. "My dad originally bought this property in the 1940s and it's been in our family for 60 years." "Our job is to make sure we're doing the right thing for the whole county," said Presiding Commissioner Arden Engelage. The petition was signed by Robert and Wanda Diermann.