At the May 26, 2026 City Council workshop, staff presented a proposal to transition to use of a Declaration of Annexation Covenant for all new water service customers. A recent policy review found that existing annexation petitions expire upon property transfer, so the new approach would record an annexation covenant with the deed at the Berkeley County Register of Deeds, binding subsequent owners and allowing the city to pursue annexation once parcels become contiguous. While permissible under current ordinances, staff noted that using the covenant requires a Council resolution, which is scheduled for the June 9, 2026 regular meeting.This policy change creates downstream work for legal document drafting, process automation, deed and covenant tracking, and potentially customer communication tools, making it relevant for municipal legal, software, and records management vendors.

The covenant will be recorded with Berkeley County Register of Deeds and apply to all new water service customers, indicating a high-volume, ongoing administrative process once adopted.