Pittsburgh City Council voted Tuesday against annexing neighboring Wilkinsburg, but council members will continue investigating the possibility of doing so in the future.

The proposed annexation was voted down 7-2, with Councilmen Anthony Coghill and Corey O’Connor voting in favor of it.

“I feel this is a necessity for Wilkinsburg and an opportunity for Pittsburgh,” Coghill said.

Still, Coghill said he felt he didn’t have “all the information that I need at this point.”

Council members have said they need more information about what the annexation would mean for Pittsburgh. They said they would like to see the financial ramifications of merging school districts, what debt the city would be inheriting from the neighboring borough and how much vacant land is in Wilkinsburg.

A report provided by proponents of the annexation suggested Pittsburgh Public Schools would benefit financially from an annexation.

The proposed annexation has generated controversy among local leaders and residents. Members of Pittsburgh City Council have voiced concerns with the process, as a judge ordered them to make a decision by April, though council members were still trying to gather more public input and information.

“It was a judge’s orders shoved down our throats, no opportunity for communication with our residents,” Council President Theresa Kail-Smith said.

Several council members have said they anticipate that process will lead to an eventual annexation of Wilkinsburg.

“I hope and very much anticipate about one year from now voting yes” on annexing the borough, said Councilman Ricky Burgess, whose district neighbors Wilkinsburg and would likely represent its residents if the borough became Pittsburgh’s 91st neighborhood.

Separate legislation approved by council Tuesday will form a committee to further investigate potential annexations or mergers with Wilkinsburg or other neighboring municipalities.

That measure will allow City Council to create a committee that will outline the parameters for annexations or mergers, first examining the potential of annexing Wilkinsburg in greater detail. Several council members said they would like to annex the neighboring borough eventually, but needed a more thorough, council-led investigation into the matter before they could support it.

Council President Theresa Kail-Smith said the committee will be led by council’s finance chair, Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle. Council members Ricky Burgess, Anthony Coghill and Deb Gross also will work on the committee, though Kail-Smith said she’d like to see all members involved in the investigation.

While the committee initially will focus on Wilkinsburg, the legislation paves the way for investigations into mergers and annexations with any other neighboring municipality.

Several neighboring municipalities have said they’re not interested in merging with Pittsburgh.

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