Kyle’s potential annexation of an unincorporated area of Mountain City—where an incoming residential subdivision has a controversial water supply contract—remains up in the air.
Kyle City Council tabled an item at its May 19 meeting to amend or rescind an interlocal agreement the council approved on May 5. Mountain City and Hays County must approve the interlocal agreement if the annexation is to move forward.
Anthem is a planned subdivision to the west of Mountain City and northwest of Kyle. It is one of three entities to have signed a contract with Electro Purification, which plans to pump 5.3 million gallons of water a day from the Middle Trinity Aquifer in central Hays County. The area in which the company plans to extract groundwater is unregulated, and private well owners fear pumping will drain their water supply.
The agreement calls for Mountain City to relinquish the Anthem property from its extraterritorial jurisdiction, or unincorporated land the city can annex, to Kyle, which would bring the property into its ETJ. The city of Kyle would then extend water utility services to residences in Anthem.
Mayor Todd Webster clarified that the agenda item will be a running item until negotiations between the city of Kyle and Mountain City reach a point where a decision must be made.
Mountain City is holding a public hearing May 20 at Plum Creek Golf Course, 750 Kohlers Crossing, Kyle, to gather citizen input.
“I want to see all sides and hear everything everyone wants to say,” Mountain City Mayor Tiffany Curnutt said. “I think we give it a good look and dive in and see if there are any benefits for the city of Kyle, Mountain City and the surrounding area. I don’t know if there is going to be, but it’s worth a shot to dig in and see what we can find out.”
Webster said he hopes the situation comes to a resolution soon.
“It seems the agreement might have caused tension with folks in the community,” he said.
For her part, Curnutt said she will side with the will of the majority.
“I really want to know what everyone believes will be mutually beneficial,” she said. “We’re not trying to get one over on Kyle, and I don’t think they are either.”
