A group of Vincent citizens have filed a petition with the Shelby County Judge of Probate asking that Vincent be annexed into the Town of Harpersville.

That action, said Noble Naugle of the Citizens for One Community in a press release issued this morning, would bring an end to the proposed White Rock Quarry in Vincent.

Vincent Mayor Ray McAllister said 57 Vincent residents signed the petition.

He said once filed, the Judge of Probate notifies each town council. Then, all annexation would take, McAllister said, was the Harpersville Town Council passing an ordinance to accept the annexation request.

“This is one of the beautiful old Alabama laws,” McAllister said. “State law says that 10 percent of the number of people who voted in the last election can petition for annexation. If 500 people voted in the last election, that would mean 50 people could do this petition.”

Shelby County Probate Judge James W. Fuhrmeister said there’s a little more to it.

“Should Harpersville pass what’s call a willingness ordinance, meaning they are willing to annex, then Vincent would hold an election.”

McAllister said he and members of the Vincent Town Council plan to attend the Harpersville Council meeting tonight at 5:30 p.m. at the Harpersville Town Hall.

“This is a small group of people doing this. Vincent has been around for a long time. I don’t feel like a majority of the residents of Vincent want this.”

McAllister said as soon as town officials received the petition, they sent it to Vincent town attorney Corey Moore and asked for his counsel on how to proceed.

In his press release, Naugle said, “This action is a direct result of Vincent city officials who have failed to include the citizens concerning a proposed quarry. By not offering a referendum, which was requested on numerous occasions starting in April of this year, whereby the citizens could decide if a quarry would be placed in the community, voters and local business were all left without a voice.”