The Lampasas City Council on Monday voted 6-0 to begin annexation of land along U.S. Highway 281 south of town and near the sports complex under construction on Farm-to-Market Road 580 West.

The annexation south of Lampasas will extend the city limits on U.S. 281 to County Road 1002. Residential property just east of U.S. 281 will not be brought into the city, City Manager Michael Stoldt said.

The other annexation will incorporate about 300 acres, including the regional sports complex and possibly a handful of homes.

State law requires that cities offer a 15-year non-annexation agreement to property owners whose land is appraised for “agricultural” use. A property owner who accepts a non-annexation offer may not develop the land for non-agricultural uses during the 15-year period.

Neither the U.S. 281 annexation nor the action on the west end of town will require capital expenditures, as the affected properties already have utilities.

Although the City Council authorized city staff to begin those annexations and obtain land surveys, two other city expansion efforts will not begin until at least 2011, when a new five-year debt payment schedule will be set.

The City Council is considering funding the annexation of land north of Lampasas along U.S. 281, as well as the Wildwood Addition and other areas south of town near U.S. 183 and the city business park. Utility installation for the fourphase U.S. 281 annexation could cost about $1.5 million, according to an annexation committee report. Cost of extending infrastructure to the southern area under consideration is estimated at $1.81 million.

Annexation is not the only project that could be funded during the city’s next five-year period for capital improvements. A civic center, Lampasas Public Library expansion, a new fire truck and a Lampasas Fire Department substation near the sports complex also may be debated for the 2011 debt issuance, Stoldt said.

“There will be a lot of things to consider, not just annexation,” the city manager said.

Civic center construction and/or library expansion likely will be decided by ballot, Stoldt said, as those projects likely would require a tax increase.

Because Lampasas will retire about $100,000 of annual debt payments in 2011, the city could take on additional debt for annexation without requiring a tax hike, Stoldt said. As a result, the city manager said the two future annexations the City Council plans to consider could be funded through certificates of obligation, which do not require voter approval.

City residents could force a vote, however, if they organize an official petition, Stoldt said.

In other business Monday, the City Council approved an application for a state grant to pay for a Lampasas Police Department major crimes investigator.

The grant could help cover the salary of an investigator already employed by the department and will not require the city to create a new position, Police Chief Tim Angermann said. The grant program does not require the city to contribute matching funds.

In case Lampasas does not receive the criminal justice grant, the city’s budget includes sufficient funds for the investigator’s annual salary, Stoldt said.

In an unrelated police matter, Angermann noted that the department did not receive any complaints of racial profiling in 2009.

In other matters, the council approved the first reading of an ordinance to authorize the installation of signs for a four-way stop at the intersection of Samac Lane and West First Street. Samac Lane resident Robert Biberston requested the four-way stop, as he said he is concerned the intersection is unsafe.

And the City Council took no action on a proposal to transfer $17,500 for the remainder of this fiscal year — the equivalent of a $30,000 annual salary — to the Lampasas Economic Development Corp. for a full-time consultant to assist Vision Lampasas!. The LEDC’s board of directors requested instead that the city spend $30,000 next fiscal year on specific VL! projects, including murals, landscaping and facade improvements.

The council approved a one-time water sale, at a rate of $3.05 per 1,000 gallons, to the Lower Colorado River Authority. The water sale, which is limited to 350,000 gallons per day, will allow LCRA to shut down the Lometa water plant temporarily for maintenance.

In other items, the City Council:

-- agreed to purchase $38,000 of crushed limestone base material from Clayton Aggregate Inc. of Copperas Cove for the FM 580 sports park.

-- OK’d a mutual aid agreement with Lampasas County, the cities of Kempner and Lometa, the Adamsville Volunteer Fire Department, Capital Ambulance and Rollins Brook Community Hospital. The agreement will allow the city to receive reimbursement for disaster-related expenses.

-- approved the purchase of a $6,270 blower unit from Air Mac, which has a Dallas distribution center. The blower will replace a unit that has been used since 1998 at the pre-treatment plant that handles waste from Windsor Foods.