City Council moves forward with using eminent domain to purchase hotel by the falls

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - At the Wichita Falls Aug 1, city council meeting officials discussed the process and decided to go forward with claiming eminent domain of the hotel off Central Freeway.

After a closed executive session to consult with attorneys about how purchasing this hotel would work, city councilors voted to move forward with claiming the 12 acre property by the falls and turn it into a public park.

“We purchased the tract recently, the city did, abject to the RV park kind of between these two tracts, and so this kind of fills out and completes the land acquisition for this larger park project,” Wichita Falls assistant city manager, Paul Menzies said.

Some people in the community have been asking why a park, and according to Menzies it’s because the property sits on a flood plane so options for what to build are limited.

The owners of the property still have around two months to negotiate a price or agreement with city officials.

“Eminent domain is the last resort, and so today is not the last resort. It would authorize that if we need to, but procedurally after today if this were to be approved there’s a window of about 45 or 60 days for us to continue to negotiate with the property owners,” Menzies said while addressing the council.

Menzies told councilors he’s been trying to work with the hotel’s current owners for the past year, but their “level of responsiveness” is what caused this motion to be considered.

He hopes this will bring everyone to the table so discussions can move forward.

Councilor Michael Smith was the first councilor to forward the motion and wanted to assure the public of the reason for renovating the area into a park.

“This piece of property would be used for public purposes, but we’re talking trails, bike riding areas, mountain bikes, which would add to some activities that already go on on that side of the river,” Councilor Smith said.

Should no deal be reached, this would only be the second time the city has enacted eminent domain. The owners of the hotel would still receive compensation, but how much would be left up to the city.