The Bullard City Council has approved an inter-local agreement with Tyler to settle contested boundaries between the two cities.

“I would like to commend our manager and mayor for the countless hours of work,” City Council member Stacy Thompson said. “I think we have a really good plan that will benefit our city for years to come. Terry Cowan gave much of his personal time surveying and mapmaking to help the city.”

The move comes two weeks after Tyler officials also approved the agree- ment, which establishes an extraterretorial jurisdiction boundary south of Tyler, along U.S. Highway 69, in an overlapped area annexations by both cities.

An ETJ is an area that’s not within the city limits, but is attributed to a city for planning purposes. Defined by Texas law, and ETJ is generally based on established city boundaries and populations.

With a population over 100,000 Tyler’s ETJ is five miles from its city limits. Bullard’s population of 3,600 results in an ETJ of a half mile from its city limits. A provision in state law allows cities to approve interlocal agreements to change the prescribed boundaries.

“To provide for orderly development, particularly along Highway 69, and a mutually agreeable settlement, both cities have agreed upon this ETJ boundary,” Tyler Mayor Barbara Bass said. “Occasionally, questions arise about who reached a particular location first. In this case, it was simply a matter of sitting down together to find a solution that was a win-win for both communities.”

Visit bullardtexas.net and cityoftyler.org.