Bastrop, Tx–No one at the Dec. 8 Bastrop City Council meeting was bold–or rude–enough to mention the most unusual and glaring fact about an extended discussion about storm water drainage requirements for a commercial lot which a previous council laid down in 1999 when the lot was first platted.
Tim Kleinschmidt, a Giddings lawyer who represents District 17 in the Texas House of Representatives, asked the council to waive a decision requiring on site detention of storm water to protect some adjoining property owners. The House member was representing a private client, Mike McCrae, who bought the 1-acre lot at Hasler Blvd. and Agnes St. just west of Walmart in 2003.
House District 17 includes all of Bastrop County, meaning Kleinschmidt could exercise virtual veto power over any local interest law sought by the city during future legislative sessions. The lawmaker got a very polite hearing.
Kleinschmidt argued that despite a number of city records reflecting the detention requirement, McCrae bought the property while under the impression the condition did not apply to his lot, and some other development in the immediate area has been completed without on site runoff detention.
Following some discussion, the council agreed unanimously to waive the on site detention requirement if some alternate drainage plan can be devised to satisfy state laws. In general the law requires that runoff to neighboring property following development cannot be greater than it was prior to development.
“If there’s no impact to neighbors, okay,” said Council Member Bill Peterson. “Just make sure everything’s right,” he urged the staff. Mayor Terry Orr warned that devising a drainage plan without on site detention could be tricky.
Council Member Joe Beal, himself a civil engineer like the mayor, said developers should demonstrate that any alternate plan can work. “If there’s another drainage solution (not involving detention), if that can be shown, okay,” he said.
“Go back to the engineers,” Peterson recommended. Drainage in the area south of Texas 71 between Walmart and Texas 304 has been problematic for years now because of the flat terrain which generally drains to the south and west across presently undeveloped property.
City Manager Mike Talbot said amending the plat for the lot in question will require a public hearing which will give neighboring property owners an opportunity to comment on any proposed drainage plan.
Outside the meeting Talbot said during his career as a city manager he has never seen a case where a sitting state lawmaker represented a private client in a dispute with a local government unit in the lawmaker’s district.