Brownwood City Council approved a development agreement with Duckhorn Developers for four single family homes at Southgate and 4th Street which will add over $1,000,000 in properties to Brownwood’s tax rolls.
Phase 1 of Duckhorn Town Ranch will feature homes with a value from $225,000 to $280,000, and will be built within two years, according to City Manager Emily Crawford.
Through the agreement, the city will design and build a 16-foot alley and construct an extension to the existing sewer main (approximately 400 feet in length) at an approximate cost of $9300 for materials. The city will also install four sewer taps and four water taps which will be paid for by the developer upon completion of the sewer main extension.
This extension of the sewer main will be performed depending on the availability of employees and equipment and at the discretion of the city manager.
The agreement will expire on September 30th, 2016 without any further action by the city, according to Crawford.
12 additional acres are available for development of homes in the Duckhorn Town Ranch Addition, according to city officials.In other matters on Tuesday’s agenda:
*Brownwood City Council passed a resolution on Tuesday authorizing the publication of a notice of intention to issue Certificates of Obligation (COs) in an amount not to exceed $3,055,000 to fund costs of improvements to streets, parks and city facilities in Brownwood and to cover the cost of the issuance of the COs.
*Council authorized the purchase of a 370E 37-ton John Deere Articulated dump truck from Yellowhouse Machinery, exceeding the cost of the originally budgeted purchase of a 30-ton dump truck (which was not available for purchase) by $23, 267 after the buyback of the current dump truck. Amortized over 5 years, the annual impact will be an extra $5,964 per year.
*Council approved a resolution declaring 31 properties as surplus property and authorized the disposition and sale of these properties. According to City Manager Emily Crawford, these properties are of no use to the city and are a cost to maintain. If sold, they would also be an addition to the city’s tax rolls.
*Council approved a resolution requiring Oncor to show cause why its transmission and distribution rates should not be reduced. According to City Attorney Pat Chesser, recent Public Utility Commission of Texas proceedings related to the approval of conversion of Oncor into a Real Estate Investment Trust resulted in the Commissioners’ desire to share $200-250 million in annual federal income tax savings with Oncor ratepayers. Since the proceedings involved a change of ownership and control of Oncor was not a rate case, the Commission had no jurisdiction to order a reduction in rates. The current owners of Oncor indicate an intent to file a rate case in mid-2017 to become effective in 2018; however, believing that 2 years was too long to wait to factor FIT savings into rates, the Steering Committee of Cities Served by Oncor decided to initiate a rate case against Oncor, explained Chesser. Many cities are involved in this rate case, according to Chesser.
