Council asked to clear the way for condemnation on a sewer easement serving The Landing, and to raise builder meter fees it put off in October

Van Alstyne could move toward taking a strip of private land for a sewer line if purchase talks with the owner break down, under a resolution the City Council takes up Monday night.

The item is one of several on the agenda for the council's meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, at City Hall, 152 N. Main Drive. The packet was posted ahead of the meeting on the city's online portal.

Sewer line for The Landing

The resolution would declare a public necessity for the city to acquire a 30-foot sanitary sewer easement covering about 0.783 acres, or 34,127 square feet, plus a temporary construction easement, from land owned by US75VA Investments, LLC. Survey exhibits place the strip in the William Blundell Survey. The easement is for what the agenda calls The Landing at Van Alstyne Offsite Sanitary Sewer Line project.

As drafted, the city manager would be authorized to hire appraisers and other experts, make written offers and set the compensation. If the city manager concludes no agreement can be reached, the city attorney would be directed to file eminent domain proceedings. The packet does not say whether negotiations have started, and it contains no statement from the landowner.

The council approved rezoning for The Landing, a roughly 69.2-acre tract at the northwest corner of U.S. 75 and FM 121 planned for commercial and multifamily development, on a 6-0 vote Oct. 13, according to draft minutes in the packet.

Meter fees return

Also back is a rewrite of the utility section of the city fee schedule, which the council postponed to November at that Oct. 13 meeting. A staff memo stresses these are not water rates.

It says the cost of meters and parts has climbed, and the new figures cover materials plus a trip charge for labor, mileage and administration, mostly paid by builders and construction crews.

The memo says the tamper fee was raised because more builders have been tampering with meter registers, which throws off readings, and that a temporary-service charge already in use, such as turning water on for a home inspection, is now listed.

Other items

• A public hearing on rewriting the Planning and Zoning Commission rules: the two alternate seats would become regular seats, members could live in the city or anywhere in Van Alstyne ISD instead of the extraterritorial jurisdiction, and a quorum would rise from three to four. Appointments follow.
• Removal of a Community Development Corporation board member. Staff wrote that the CDC office sent the member 14 emails and two texts and called four times without a reply.
• Ratifying a library application for a state Family Place grant, which would reimburse up to $8,000 for a learning space for children up to age 3 and their caregivers, with no local match but a three-year staffing commitment.
• New library charges for printing on a large-format printer and on two 3D printers.

The city manager's report is titled "Why Doesn't Van Alstyne Have a Grocery Store?" The packet includes no text for that section.

Sources

cityofvanalstyne.civicweb.net

cityofvanalstyne.civicweb.net