The creation of an additional Travis County emergency service district that will serve the outer portions of Buda’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) got the green light from city council the Feb. 7.
The agenda item for ESD 15 originally was presented to council members at the Jan. 17 meeting. The item was tabled until February to give council and staff time to review the item more thoroughly.
According to city documents, Buda’s consent to the creation of the new ESD is only one step Travis County has to take before the creation of the ESD 15 is voted on by Travis County residents.
Buda Mayor Todd Ruge said the portion of the Buda ETJ in question currently is not inhabited by any residents nor is there any development in the area.
“No residents live there right now,” Ruge said, “There isn’t any development there right now either.”
Ruge said the decision came from executive session at the Feb. 7 council meeting and was made due to the lack of effect it would have on the city.
Ruge said the land that Travis County wants for the ESD lies along the frontage road of Interstate 35 near South Park Meadows in Austin where the CAT construction equipment is located and falls into an “overlapped” district.
Ruge said the city also reached its decision after consulting ESD 8 Chief Clay Huckaby, who assured council members and city staff that EMS and fire service in Buda was okay, even if the creation of ESD 15 passed in Travis County.
It is currently unknown when Travis County residents will be voting for or against the creation of the new ESD 15.
Ruge said even if it doesn’t pass, any Travis County residents residing there or near there have access to fire protection and EMS service from Travis County.
