Published Friday, January 15, 2010 12:03 AM

Landfill lawsuit closer to resolution

By CASSIE SMITH
cassie.smith@theeagle.com

A lawsuit between Bryan and College Station is one step closer to being dropped after both cities agreed to form a new agency to operate their landfills.

College Station City Councilman Dennis Maloney was the only person to vote against the plan at Thursday night's meeting. He couldn't be reached for comment afterward.

Bryan sued College Station in 2008, arguing that it had been left out of the process surrounding the construction of the Brazos Valley Solid Waste Management Agency's new 610-acre landfill in Grimes County, which is scheduled to open this summer.

Bryan and College Station are partners in BVSWMA, which operates the cities' solid waste operations, but College Station has the lead administrative role in the partnership.

Bryan spent nearly $200,000 on legal fees related to the lawsuit, and College Station spent more than $425,000 to counter the suit.

The Bryan City Council signed off earlier this week on the agreement to create a new landfill partnership.

Also on Thursday, the College Station City Council approved funding for the Brazos County Health District. The district consists of Bryan, College Station and Brazos County. The Bryan City Council and Brazos County Commissioners Court approved changing the district to equal shares last month. Each entity will contribute $351,000 per year to fund the district.

Maloney was the sole vote against the issue Thursday night, calling the action "double taxation." He said if the county is in need of money, it should increase taxes instead of looking toward College Station for additional payments.

College Station Chief Financial Officer Jeff Kersten said the 25-year-old district is not a county operation, but a joint organization between the three partners. Despite being commonly known as a Brazos County district, each partnership has equal representation and has funded the district throughout its life. The district is allowed for under state law.

The City Council also agreed to rezone the 42.56 acres of Campus Village at 1711 Harvey Mitchell Parkway South.

City Planner Jason Schubert said the area will be rezoned from general commercial, multi-family and agricultural open to a planned development district.

Schubert said developers want to turn the property at the northeast corner of Harvey Mitchell Parkway and Wellborn Road into an urban pedestrian and bike-friendly area with multi-family housing and retail space. The development, which is near Texas A&M University, will seek to integrate restaurants and commercial uses as well, he said.

---

Notice about comments: Theeagle.com is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. Theeagle.com cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not theeagle.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "report abuse" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website. Full terms and conditions can be read here. The Eagle is proud to offer our users enhanced commenting features. You can now build user-to-user connections, follow friend's recent posts, add an avatar that fits your personality, and more. If you have posted here before you’ll need to sign up again and if you’ve never posted start now by signing up!.