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Hays County roadsPosted June 13, 2007, 10:25 a.m.
on response to TxDOT |
Hays Highway Editor
SAN MARCOS – Meeting for the last time before a June 22 deadline set by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Hays County commissioners crafted letter Tuesday saying they wish to maintain a pass through financing agreement for funding state roads within the county. Hays County Judge Liz Sumter said the letter will go out to the state agency before the end of this week.
But the commissioners don't know for sure if their response is sufficient or insufficient, if it includes too much detail or too little, or if it will sustain the road financing arrangement.
All they know is that it's a response. At times in the last couple weeks, they might not have done that much.
Mark Kennedy, the commissioners' special counsel, said lack of response could have given TxDOT grounds for terminating the deal for failure to communicate. It remains to be seen if TxDOT will terminate the deal anyway, and if the county has legal remedies available should that be the case.
In light of the May 12 electoral defeat of a $172 million road bond in Hays County, TxDOT Austin District Engineer Bob Daigh sent the court a letter, dated May 23, giving the county 30 days to declare if it wishes to continue with the agreement struck last summer.
Under the bond proposal, the county would have issued $172 million in debt to front the costs to improve 20 miles of state roadway within the county, with TxDOT reimbursing up to $133.2 million over 20 years.
Kennedy said the agreement with TxDOT contains no specific termination dates or benchmarks for beginning the road projects.
However, Daigh’s letter said TxDOT is under increasing financial constraints because of federal cuts, increasing maintenance and mobility costs, and the eroded purchasing power of the gas tax that funds the agency. Furthermore, said Daigh, TxDOT “currently anticipate(s) the Texas Transportation Commission will be addressing some of the maintenance funding concerns by shifting mobility dollars to maintenance.”
In addition to all that, the Texas Transportation Commission is soon to replace two commissioners and no one knows how that might change its direction. A newly constituted commission could be less sympathetic to pending agreements that haven’t yet been executed.
Because the commissioners have cancelled their June 19 meeting for training, Tuesday gave them their last chance to meet before the TxDOT deadline. As it happened, Precinct 2 Commissioner Jeff Barton, one of the bond's biggest boosters, was out of town on vacation.
In the end, commissioners agreed, by a 3-1 vote, on a letter saying the county doesn't wish to end the agreement, that a citizen's road committee is being formed, that the county is working expeditiously, and that it's examining possibilities involving public-private partnerships and local governments.
Sumter characterized the final product as a "compromise." Sumter began the proceedings by presenting to the court a draft saying the county wants to keep the agreement alive and is assembling a citizens road committee with an eye towards a possible November election.
But Commissioners disagreed to various degrees about what the letter should include.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Will Conley wanted to include specifics about roads in the letter, arguing that entities throughout Texas are pressuring TxDOT to make the money available to them and the information would help Daigh fight for Hays County's interests.
In particular, Conley said the county should tell TxDOT that the scope of the RR 12 project is unpopular with the county's voters. TxDOT has insisted, under the pass through agreement, that RR 12 be widened to four lanes with intermittent turn lanes. Conley also wanted to mention that San Marcos wishes to front the money for a segment of SH 110, using the county as a go-between, and that various private-public options are being explored for FM 1626.
"It gives them more to work with, gives Mr. Daigh more tools to fight for us," Conley said. "I do feel the more meat we have in the letter, the better chance we have of making a case ... I think it would help us send a signal to the state that we're serious."
However, Precinct 4 Commissioner Karen Ford said she didn't want to "dissect roads" in the letter, adding that it's unnecessary to mention a possible November election, considering that a citizen's road committee hasn't yet been assembled and, therefore, hasn't recommended an election.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Debbie Ingalsbe agreed with Ford that it's not necessary to mention a November election, adding, however, that "Daigh (has) indicated that it would help if they knew a project would be dropped."
For her part, said Sumter, "I don't think the county is prepared to give specifics on roads and the letter (from TxDOT) didn't ask for specifics."
Ford finally proposed that the letter include mention about possible involvement from public-private partnerships and local governments without discussing specific roads. In the end, her "compromise" prevailed.
Conley told the court he would not vote for the letter because he didn't believe it contained enough information. However, he commended the court for issuing a response. By then, the discussion made clear that the version of the letter under motion already had the votes to pass.
The former commissioners court struck the the pass through financing deal with TxDOT last summer, calling for the county to front $158 million towards expanding and improving state roads in Hays County. TxDOT agreed to reimburse the county up to $133.2 million over the next 20 years.
Following that agreement, voters replaced three members of the court last November, and the new court, seated in January, put forth the bond proposal asking for $172 million, adding in costs for context specific improvements.
Voters turned back the bond proposal as citizens in the less-populated west side of the county turned out in numbers dwarfing the east side, where most of the roads would have been built. Since then, officials from the county's growing east side have scrambled about, trying to keep $133.2 million in state money from falling through the electoral cracks.
San Marcos Mayor Susan Narvaiz went before the court Tuesday with the city's proposal to participate in the funding for SH 110. The city had asked the commissioners to place the item on its agenda for Tuesday, but the court did not comply.
