By Michael V. Hannigan
The proposed Wilson Ranch Fresh Water Supply District (FWSD) is dead … for now.
On a 4-1 vote, Henderson County Commissioners’ Court denied a petition to form the FWSD Tuesday following a public hearing which saw attorneys from both sides present their case.
An attorney for the FWSD said that the commissioners’ decision can be appealed to the District Court or resubmitted to the county.
Even though the district was not created, commissioners were sympathetic to the reason the petition was filed: As a defense against a 9-foot-in-diameter water pipeline one commissioner said would cause “devastation” across the county.
WHAT IS IT
An FWSD is a political subdivision of the state — a government entity — meaning it has the power to levy and collect a tax, hold bond elections, build infrastructure, and is run by an elected board.
The proposed district is about 1,090 acres completely inside Henderson County, with no part in the City of Athens extraterritorial jurisdiction, according to the petition. The proposed district is made up of four tracts of land and includes the East Texas Ranch LP, but commissioners noted Tuesday that they have never actually seen a map of the proposed FWSD.
According to the petition, “An adequate waterworks system, capable of delivering fresh water throughout the district, does not currently exist in the district. Consequently, the construction, maintenance and operations of an adequate waterworks system is necessary to assure the health and welfare
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