By Matt Ward —
A land-for-paving swap between the City of Fredericksburg and Gillespie County has finally been completed, following months of negotiation.
The Fredericksburg City Council agreed to pave Nimitz Parkway and the adjacent county parking lot behind the Gillespie County Courthouse four times — at an estimated current cost of $50,000 each — for property running along Barons Creek near the proposed Texas Center for Wine and Culinary Arts on East Ufer Street.
The council approved the proposal, already OK’d by county commissioners, by a 4-1 vote during a regular meeting Monday with Councilman Graham Pearson voicing strong objection to the decision.
“The county is asking us to pay essentially $200,000 over the period of 30 years for some property along Barons Creek in the creek bed,” Pearson said. “The county inherited this property, has no capital investment in it and has not maintained the property. The property has no commercial value and is in a poor state of affair.
“The county is currently liable for any flooding caused by lack of maintenance. Why should the city assume this liability without compensation? With all of these downsides, how can any of us on the city council justify the purchase of this property?”
Mayor Linda Langerhans countered by arguing the merits of the city acquiring the property, including maintaining the creek bed to prevent flooding.
“The city has a responsibility to upkeep or attempt to upkeep the creek,” Langerhans said. “It’s an agreement that allows the city to have better access into the creek. It allows the city to help bring a proposed development and allow that to happen which will benefit our hotel occupancy tax funds and our sales tax funds.”
Gillespie County owned eight acres along Barons Creek across from H-E-B and Old Fair Park, awarded to the county in a district court ruling in 1920, which was subsequently filed away and forgotten.
“I’m guessing that if the shoe was on the other foot and the city approached the county commissioners with this proposed agreement, we’d be laughed out of the courtroom,” Pearson said.
Animal shelter
Members of the Friends of Fredericksburg Animal Shelter urged the council to fund a new facility in their upcoming 2015-2016 budget.
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