Wednesday, May 15, 2024
The city of Granbury will be paying more legal fees in its quest to build a second wastewater treatment plant.
The city had hoped to break ground on the new facility in 2019.
The Granbury City Council voted unanimously last week to hire a lawyer to act as an “intervener” in the continuing battle over the WWTP’s planned location of 3121 Old Granbury Road. Much of the city’s growth is in that area, in the eastern part of town.
Opponents have appealed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s decision to issue the permit.
Although the matter is between the opponents and the TCEQ, Granbury city officials decided to enlist a lawyer to ensure that the city’s interests are represented in the legal process.
At the council’s regular meeting on Feb. 7, Mayor Jim Jarratt made a motion to allow City Manager Chris Coffman to execute a contract for the legal services. Councilman Bruce Wadley seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
The agreement will be with Jason Hill, who represented the city throughout the permit process. That process included a contested case hearing before two administrative law judges at the State Office of Administrative Hearings. The parties presented evidence and witness testimony pertaining to 13 raised issues.
The administrative law judges determined that the city met its burden of proof and recommended that TCEQ issue the permit. The agency’s commissioners did so, voting unanimously in favor of the permit at their monthly meeting last October.
On Nov. 18, opponents filed a motion for a rehearing. Last month, they filed an appeal in Travis County district court to repeal the permit.
Granbury Communications Manager Jeff Newpher emailed a statement to the Hood County News in response to the newspaper’s request for additional information about the council’s vote to hire an “intervener.”
His message stated, “Progress on expanding needed City infrastructure has again been slowed by Granbury Fresh, Victoria Calder, Stacey and James Rist, and Bennett’s Camping Center and RV Ranch, who — after having been denied at multiple levels — are now taking legal action by filing an appeal in court against the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to halt a much-needed increase in Granbury’s wastewater treatment capacity.”
As for the city enlisting Hill again, Newpher wrote: “Hill has successfully represented the City throughout the permit process. His knowledge and assistance to the state Attorney General’s office will be advantageous to expediting the process as it reviews and fights Granbury Fresh on behalf of the TCEQ.”
The fight, which has spanned several years, has resulted in a citywide development moratorium that includes part of the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction. According to the city, an estimated $250 million in projects are on hold because of the building ban.
Newpher stated that delays in building the WWTP have cost city taxpayers an estimated $15 million in construction fees as well as about $735,000 in legal fees and expert witness fees.
Construction and labor costs significantly increased after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Newpher wrote that according to testimony provided by Ray Perryman, president and CEO of The Perryman Group, annual job loss associated with the inadequate wastewater capacity is 1,029, with almost half of the jobs lost being in the retail trade industry and about one-quarter being in the health services industry.
