By Megan Wehring
KYLE — Landowners for about 50 years have been making plans to sell their property for quite some time until they went before the Kyle City Council on Oct. 20 and no action was made.
Kyle residents Dennis Lake and Deborah Lake requested for an addition of land to the North Hays County Municipal Utility District No. 1. The landowners seek annexation of the property into the district for retail wastewater services to be made available. The property contains about 25.53 acres located off Windy Hill Road in the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) of the city of Kyle.
“Over the course of 11 years, from 1973 until 1984, we purchased five parcels of adjoining land giving us a total of 25.53 acres,” Deborah Lake said. “We were in hopes that one day, we would sell the property and help supplement our retirement which is the stage we are at right now.”
While the land has been on the market for quite some time, Deborah Lake told the Kyle City Council that it’s been a challenge to find a buyer.
“We currently have our property for sale but we are finding that it is almost impossible to sell our property unless it is annexed into the MUD [Municipal Utility District],” Deborah Lake said.
Dennis Lake added, as landowners, they remained loyal and cooperated when the county previously decided to construct on their property.
“We are always working hard and trying to do the right thing,” Dennis Lake said. “When the county came to widen Windy Hill, we didn’t complain and accepted the county’s offer. We didn’t try to negotiate for more money. We just did what we were supposed to do.”
Council member Tracy Scheel said, despite the sentiments she has for the homeowners, she will not support the expansion.
“I feel for the homeowners but I just have a really hard time with expanding any MUDs in our ETJ,” Scheel said. “The other issue is, of course, we’re just not ready for more on Windy Hill just traffic-wise until we can get that road expanded. Unfortunately, I am going to have to say no to this.”
Taxpayers would have the most impact if the MUD was to be expanded, according to council member Robert Rizo.
“I’ve got to think about the taxpayers,” Rizo said. “I’ve got to think about what a MUD does towards the tax base. We are hoping 20 years from now that MUD will start paying back but as infrastructure decays, they’re investing back into that infrastructure.”
There was no motion made during the Kyle City Council meeting on Oct. 20 thus there was no action taken on the agenda item.
