Marble Falls approves annexation of U.S. 281 corridor near new medical center
MARBLE FALLS — Businessman Grant Dean could barely control his anger after the City Council voted 5-1 Nov. 6 to annex 475 acres south of the city limits along U.S. 281, which includes his property.
Other property owners in the area get up to a five-year reprieve before the city annexes them, according to city documents.
“Why?” Dean said. “They (city officials) get a little extra taxes and we don’t get anything. It just doesn’t make sense.”
City officials said they want to control the corridor along 281 at Texas 71 to better manage the area around the future Wayne & Eileen Hurd Regional Medical Center, a $150 million clinic and hospital under construction by Scott & White Healthcare.
Councilman John Packer voted against annexation and Councilman Richard Lewis recused himself. Lewis is a Huber Corp. employee, which has property in the annexed area.
Following several comments from property owners in affected area, council members went into executive session for a several minutes before returning to hold the vote.
Dean, who owns Cactus Companies in the 3000 block of U.S. 281, is one of a handful of property owners in the city’s newly annexed area.
The measure originally called for annexing 1,141 acres that ran along the highway to the intersection with 71.
But the city approved a series of development agreements with several property owners in the remaining area during the same meeting.
The agreements basically delay their annexation for five years or until the property owners develop their land — whichever comes first, according to city documents.
Several property owners previously had asked the council to hold off on the annexation.
“I know we’re going to get annexed — there’s nothing I can do about it,” said veterinarian Tim Thompson, owner of Hope Animal Clinic in the 4000 block of 281. “(I) would like five years like the other people (provided development agreements) to think about what we’re going to do.”
Dean, who has spoken at two previous meetings involving annexation, said he is frustrated because it could cost him more than $300,000 to connect to the city’s water and sewage lines if he decides to develop the property.
The sewage line, he said, will run south of Marble Falls along 281 until it comes to Flatrock Creek, where it then turns west and follows the creek bed before turning south to the planned Scott and White medical center.
Dean estimates it would require him to cut 3,500 feet of pipe at his own expense to connect to the city’s sewer line at a cost of $75-$150 per foot.
City officials said property owners will also get other services including fire and police protection.