City, developer try to come to sewer solution
Flowing smoothly
The city of Bullard is looking for the best way to help one the biggest in-town developments with wastewater issues, and engineers - both the city's and the developer's - put an option before council members at last Tuesday's meeting.

Above is the model home currently being built at Bullard Creek Ranch. The development, which stretches across FM 344, will be an elaborate mix of commercial space, houses and park space, with a bit of Bullard history thrown in.

But it looks like nothing will be firm until Jan. 23 - when the council will revisit the issue.

This isn't the city's first blush with sewer capacity; it's currently under EPA mandate to have its plant's capacity increased.

But the council and City Manager Larry Morgan have made significant inroads into addressing an issue that affects both current residents and the plethora of developments asking for voluntary annexation into the city limits.

And Mayor Pro-Tem A.W. Hines believes this issue will be resolved quickly.

The city and Bullard Creek Ranch will mostly like-

share in the cost of a wet well, which is a chamber that collects sewage for pumping.

"We probably need to bite the bullet and put it in," Hines said. "It's best for the city and we want to help not hinder developers - especially ones who have been so compliant.

"We do, however, need firmer figures before we agree to anything."

Architect Kenneth Kline said it would be cheaper for Bullard Creek Ranch to put in a lift station - but if it does so, the city will be forced to maintain it.

"A lift station would be a hindrance and financial burden to the city in the long run," Kline said. "With the maintenance, electricity costs, etc., it wouldn't make sense."

Councilman Rodger Johnson agreed.

"As far as Bullard Creek Ranch goes, we support them," Johnson said. "We absolutely want growth, we just need good financial figures."

Owner Chip Jones approached the city a few months ago asking the council to consider participating in the expansion of sewer capacity. Since then, Jones' engineer Allan Ross and city engineer Brian Capps have been putting together designs and preliminary figures to see if it's a feasible project.

Capps and Ross approached council together at the meeting to answer the myriad questions about the proposed project.

Capps said the reality is: the development can't flow its wastewater through gravity, so the choices were to install a force main that ties into an existing city line, have the owners install a lift station, or have them build a wet well.

"The best solution is to lower the line three-four feet and build a wet well in the area," Capps said.

Ross agreed. "When you build a sewer line, you want to put it in as low as possible - it's easier to tie into a 7-10-foot deep line than one the that is 3-4-feet deep - as the current one is," Ross said. "And it's in the better interest of the city."

Ross said his early estimate is about $59,000.

"I did preliminary calculations - but they didn't take into account depth - just capacity," Ross said.

Mayor Connie Vaughan agreed a wet well was a better solution.

"We've got a professional city engineer and we need to rely on his recommendation," Vaughan said. "We have six lift stations, we don't need more."

And while the rest of the council agreed, they want firmer figures before anything is signed.

Hines made a motion to "agree to participate with the city paying a prorated share of the cost - contingent on final numbers and design."

He added to the motion that everything comes down to final figures.

Nothing has been negotiated yet as to who will be responsible for what percentage of the well, but that decision is expected to come at the special-called meeting at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 23, at city hall.

Hines sold this property to Jones last year, citing he wanted no appearance of a conflict of interest.

A local developer, Hines does a lot of his work outside the city limits and in the Lindale and Austin area.

Hines said he believed he had two choices: resign as Bullard's Mayor Pro Tem and city councilman or sell the development he's invested 1 years in planning.

"I've made the decision to sell," Hines told a group gathered at city hall last week. "I took an oath when you chose me to represent you.

"And while I don't believe there's a conflict of interest, I don't want anyone to perceive that there is, so I made the decision to sell."

The project consists of about 500 housing lots and almost 10 acres of commercial property, centrally located in the city. Hines said at the time he didn't have a buyer , but he anticipates no problems in selling the property.

"What Bullard needs and wants is affordable housing," Hines said.

At first concerned with the project, some residents switched concerns once Hines made his announcement.

"Now I'm concerned about what will happen if you sell it," one audience member said. "What if the buyer decides to change everything?"

Hines said that while he can't guarantee the next owner will carry forward on his vision, the city has new regulations to protect homeowners, and he, as the seller, will place deed restrictions for further protection.

"I'll find the right developer - one with integrity," he said. Jones seemed the perfect choice to Hines because of his ties to the community.

Hines, with 20 years of real estate development behind him, said there are few professional developers out there.

"It's usually done by trial and error," he said. "And that's why the city and council have been working so hard on our subdivision guidelines.

"We don't want Bullard to be hurt by a developer's mistakes. "

City manager Larry Morgan said one of his first tasks when he came to Bullard about five months ago was getting together a committee to update the city's ordinances and subdivision guidelines.

In October 2005, the council passed the first ordinance proposed by the group - one that limited the building and placement of manufactured housing within the city limits.

The point of the committee and updated ordinances, Morgan said, is controlling growth and streamlining processes to make it easier on citizens and prospective Bullard residents and businesses.

Mayor Connie Vaughan said the group was about halfway through in its list of recommendations to go before council.

Vaughan said the ordinances are antiquated and in desperate need of an update.

"This stuff is 30 years old," he said. "We're seeing progress, and we can't be prepared for that progress unless we do this."

Morgan said the group needed to move quickly to keep up with Bullard's exploding growth.

"We've seen a tremendous amount of activity in the past few months - on both a residential and commercial scale," Morgan said.

The city's 2003 population projection by the U.S. Census Bureau tallied Bullard's population at about 1,300. City officials put the current number at about 2,500.

Morgan said in looking at the current and planned growth, he expects the population to be about 7,500 in the next five years.

"We have new shopping centers coming in and more housing developments in the works," Morgan said. "We have four new subdivisions being presented to our planning and zoning commission."

And city leaders want to stay ahead of the growth.

"You can't stop progress," Hines said. "And even though we are growing, we can still keep the small town charm we all want."

In other business, the council:

! approved the rezoning from single-family residential to light commercial at 215 W. Tyler St.

! approved a resubdivision plat for an area on Lynch Drive, allowing the owner to move lot lines to allow his house to be completely on one lot;

! approved a final plat for the Arroyo addition, dividing .906 acres into two lots;

! approved a final plat for Bullard Crossing;

! decided to - instead of writing a specific ordinance - take on a case by case examination of any reimbursement costs residents believe are owed by the city for sewer/water damage;

! tabled an appointment replace Jimmy Clark on Bullard's Planning and Zoning Commission. Clark resigned from P&Z because he moved outside city limits, making him ineligible to serve; and

! heard a presentation by acting city secretary Doris Crockett on a proposed joint election agreement with Bullard ISD and Smith County to streamline the May election process. This matter will most likely be revisited when the council and trustees hold their next joint meeting on Jan. 25.

The Bullard City Council meets at 6:30 p.m. the second Tuesday of the month at city hall, North Phillips Street. For more information, call 903-894- 7223.