Backbone MUD dispute may be near settlement
AUSTIN — A dispute between two parties over the proposed Backbone municipal utility district near Fairland may be resolved soon.
“They have announced a tentative agreement,” said Terry Sullivan, an attorney with the State Office of Administrative Hearings.
Neither party disclosed details of the prospective agreement.
Last June, Cactus Canyon Quarries Inc. and landowners Sandra L. Carl, Richard Hoepfner and Kathy McDonald asked the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to approve the proposed Backbone MUD.
It would cover about 103 acres on four tracts in Burnet County along the railroad tracks west of U.S. 281 and north of CR 120.
The proposed MUD will provide “non-potable water” for several purposes, including irrigation for agriculture, according to a petition submitted to TCEQ by Andy Carson, the Cactus Canyon president and a Marble Falls attorney.
However, the Timber Ridge Property Owners Association filed a protest against the MUD, citing concerns about eminent domain and annexation.
Also, the association requested an engineering study to determine if the MUD will affect area groundwater.
State Administrative Law Judge Kerrie Jo Qualtrough conducted a preliminary hearing on the matter earlier this month in Austin.
Qualtrough denied a motion by Carson to dismiss the protest by the Timber Ridge POA.
The hearing continued while the parties went into settlement discussions.
If the tentative settlement is not approved, the parties may have to hold a hearing, according to court documents.
A status report on the agreement is due at the state office June 4, Sullivan said.