Marble Falls to use eminent domain in wastewater plant project
Published: Thu, 07/06/23
Marble Falls to use eminent domain in wastewater plant project
The Marble Falls City Council started the process of eminent domain to acquire a utility easement off of Avenue U near the proposed wastewater treatment plant behind Walmart on U.S. 281.
Staff photo by Nathan Bush
DailyTrib.com
Nathan Bush
July 5, 2023
Roughly two acres of land is in the process of becoming city property after the Marble Falls City Council approved a resolution to enforce eminent domain to aid the construction and operation of a new wastewater treatment plant. The decision was made July 3 following the failure of traditional methods of acquisition.
The land is needed as a utility easement.
Mayor Dave Rhodes hopes the action forces the landowners “to the table.”
“We’ve done every possible thing to engage these folks (the Fowler family, which owns the land) to sit down and try to negotiate with them,” he said. “We’ve done the whole smash, and they’ve left us here.”
The city first informally inquired about purchasing the property and then attempted to acquire a license from the owners to use the land to survey the easement to find its true value. Both actions were unsuccessful.
“We’ve sent two letters and multiple emails and phone calls, and they’ve not been responsive,” City Manager Mike Hodge said.
An easement was deemed necessary because of pre-existing infrastructure, including purple pipe, on the property in question. Purple pipe transports reused water.
“It’s important to note, for all intents and purposes, we already have a purple pipe in the ground on that property that extends from the existing wastewater plant all the way to the north side of the property,” Rhodes said. “That’s been in place for almost 30 years.”
The new plant will be built on land behind Walmart off of U.S. 281.
Hodge said the property’s owners plan to contest the plant to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
“In addition to being unresponsive with easement acquisition, they’ve also filed a request for a contested case hearing with TCEQ for the permitting process,” he said.
City Attorney Patty Akers clarified that the resolution passed on Monday does not pertain to the potential TCEQ hearing.
“This resolution is limited to the eminent domain process,” she said.
The decision passed with a unanimous, roll-call vote. Mayor Pro-Tem Dee Haddock and Councilor Craig Magerkurth were absent from the meeting.
DailyTrib.com reached out to the executor of the family trust that owns the property, Robert Fowler, on July 5. Fowler had “no comment at this time” until he could speak with other members of his family.