Council vacates portion of Park Street
By DAVID LOWE Staff Writer

PHOTO BY DAVID LOWE Yvonne Beatty looks toward a portion of the Park Street right of way that the Lampasas City Council voted Monday to abandon. The vote clarified action taken in 1917 to close the southernmost portion of the street. Private owners have added improvements to the right of way, and stone walls have been on the property for more than 50 years.

The Lampasas City Council last Monday agreed to vacate the unopened, southernmost portion of Park Street and to offer Tony and Tracy Langley, homeowners, unopened right of way in a nearby alley for $1,357.

The council voted 5-0 to abandon the unopened portion of Park Street with no fee. Councilwoman Debbie Fuller recused herself from the discussion and vote because she lives within 200 feet of the area in question. Mayor Pro Tem John Cole was absent from the meeting.

The portions of Park Street discussed by the council have never been opened to the public and have no city utilities, gas or telephone lines.

The vote ratifies action taken by the City Council on Feb. 5, 1917, when members agreed to a petition signed by C.D. Stokes, C.N. Witcher, J.N. Manual and A.L. Hidgen requesting the closure of Park where it crosses Fourth Street.

Property owners later built a stone wall on the north line of Fourth Street, and heirs signed quit claims against each other. From these historical records, current city staff determined that Lampasans in 1917 interpreted the council's action as closing the portion of Park Street and upholding the petitioners' claims of ownership, City Manager Michael Stoldt and Public Works Director Randy Clark said Monday.

Rock walls and metal fences constructed on the unopened right of way have been in place for more than 50 years, Clark said.

The Langleys and their neighbors Steve and Yvonne Beatty said when they purchased their homes they understood their properties included the unopened portion of Park Street.

"I thought it was time we get this all corrected for future residents," Langley said.

The council also voted 5-0 on a proposal to abandon the southernmost portion of a 16-by-138-foot alleyway between four lots the Langleys own. The council offered to sell the property for $1,357, roughly half the estimated fair market value of the property.

The City Council in May 1972 vacated the northernmost portion of the alley, which has never been opened to the public and does not have city utility mains, Atmos Energy gas mains or AT&T telephone utilities. Mr. and Mrs. Langley have a structure that sits on the alleyway and understood the property was conveyed to them when they purchased their home at 408 Park St.

Even though city staff recognized the Langleys' claim to the alleyway, Stoldt said the council needed to charge the homeowners for it to comply with state laws. The council also needed to guard itself against future requests for free abandonments, he added.

"I do think you need to set some kind of price on it so you don't create a precedent," the city manager said.

Because the area is hilly and terraced, Councilwoman Wanda Bierschwale moved to charge $1,200, rather than the estimated value of $2,715, which Clark derived from square-foot cost comparisons with flatter surrounding properties. Mrs. Bierschwale's motion died for lack of a second, but the council voted 5-0 in favor of Councilman Robert McCauley's motion to offer the Langleys the alley right of way for $1,357.

The council at its March 10 meeting will vote on ordinances that, if passed, will officially vacate the alleyway and the portion of Park Street, Stoldt said.

In other business, council members voted 6-0 to approve a replat of three 30-foot-wide lots in the 1000 block of Avenue H into a single lot, allowing Ramon and Mary Castro to move their home to the lot. The area is zoned single family-8, and houses in SF-8 zones must sit on one lot, Building Official Lance Carlson said.

The council also addressed several items of business allowing the city to oppose proposed rate increases for gas utility service provided by Atmos Energy Corp.

The council agreed to issue a "show cause" resolution that allows Lampasas to re-establish its jurisdiction over Atmos rates.

After holding a public hearing, the council voted 6-0 to approve a settlement agreement between Atmos Energy and Atmos Texas Municipalities, which the city joined to oppose the corporation's original $52 million rate increase.

The settlement provides for a $10 million rate increase, a reduction of more than 80 percent from the rates Atmos initially requested. Under the agreement, residential rates will rise $0.20 per month, and commercial rates will increase $3.48 monthly. In addition, on Oct. 1, 2008, the residential customer charge is to be reduced from $10.69 to $7, and the commercial customer charge is to be reduced from $20.28 to $13.50.

The reductions provide an incentive to use less gas and should benefit low-income customers and low-use small businesses, ATM attorney Jim Boyle wrote in a report given to the council.

The settlement also creates a rate review mechanism that allows ATM cities to examine each Atmos expenditure.

In a workshop session preceding the regular meeting, Texas Department of Transportation Area Engineer Tom Dahl said bidding for a rebuild of Key Avenue is scheduled for Dec. 28, 2008.

Construction is set to begin in February of 2009, and will include rebuilding all five lanes from Sulphur Creek to the intersection of Key Avenue and Avenue E, curb and gutter work, traffic signal system improvements and continuous lighting on the highway, Dahl said.

When the project is complete, Key Avenue will have four 11-footwide traffic lanes and 14-foot-wide two-way turning lanes, along with uniform shoulder widths from Sulphur Creek to Avenue E.

Due to budget shortfalls and repairs needed elsewhere in the Brownwood district, however, TxDOT has removed the Fourth Street/Loop 257 project -- estimated to cost $2.7 million -- from the December 2008 letting, Dahl said.

TxDOT has faced 62 percent inflation of construction costs over the last five years, the engineer said, and is having cash-flow problems. The department also overestimated motor fuel tax revenues and the growth in federal transportation authorization bills, he added.

TxDOT placed a higher priority on fixing Key Avenue than Loop 257, Dahl said, because Key Avenue has a pavement score of 29 to 38 on a scale of 100, and its average daily traffic is 18,000 vehicles. Pavement scores range from 52 to 77 on Loop 257, where 6,000 vehicles drive each day.

Mayor Judy Hetherly said she has been promising civic groups the city's drainage would improve as a result of the Loop 257 project, which was to have included utility adjustments and storm drain upgrades. TxDOT's announcement shocked her, she said.

"It is absolutely like being hit in the stomach," said the mayor.

Ms. Hetherly said city officials had hoped to improve drainage on Fourth Street to move water from downtown to Sulphur Creek.

Officials with TxDOT's Brownwood District, which includes Lampasas County and eight other counties, will seek funding for Loop 257 improvements in future funding cycles, Dahl said. The project will compete with others throughout the district.

Ms. Hetherly said she will contact Brownwood District Engineer Lynn Passmore with her concerns about the decision not to let the Loop 257 project.

"We're not through with this issue," she said.

During its regular session, the council also voted to hold a public hearing on a citizen petition to remove a stone sign in the Diamond Ridge Subdivision at the entrance to Diamond Ridge Drive.

In other business, Stoldt said the city still needs to fill two alternate positions on the Zoning Board of Adjustments.

This is important, the city manager said, to ensure the board has a quorum. The board of adjustments meets when zoning requests arise and does not convene every month, Stoldt said.