Good borders make towns good neighbors

After years of legal back-and-forth, two annexation disputes in southern Weld County came to an end in June.

Attempts by Longmont and Erie to stop the annexation of properties west of Interstate 25 by Firestone and Frederick, respectively, went all the way to the Colorado Court of Appeals. One case was resolved by the parties before the court ruled, while the other upheld the decision of the Weld County District Court. In both situations, the annexing municipalities prevailed – at least for now.

The Longmont-Firestone dispute dates back to late 2007 when a group of Longmont residents gathered signatures…