Proposed wastewater plant by Central Texas elementary school sparks opposition, possible change

Editor's note: The above video shows KXAN News' top morning headlines for Tuesday, April 29, 2024.

ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) – Leila Liberman lives close enough to hear kids at Veterans Hill Elementary School shrieking over her backyard fence.

On her Siena neighborhood street, which straddles the boundaries between Hutto and Round Rock, children outnumber adults, she said. So, opposition was fierce when homeowners caught wind last year of a proposed sewage treatment plant that would be built next to the school and their houses.

Local residents and Hutto ISD have come out against the potential plant intended to discharge an average of 50,000 gallons of treated wastewater per day into a nearby ditch that leads to a tributary of Brushy Creek. The facility would service a development of dozens of yet-to-be built homes. A state lawmaker has gotten involved, as have local city leaders.

The development sits in a unique boundary zone of jurisdictions – just outside both nearby wastewater service areas. But, according to statements obtained by KXAN, there’s a chance the facility might not need to be built if the developer can come to an agreement with a nearby utility provider.

Liberman, who has a Ph.D. in education, spoke with KXAN at her home, along with her neighbor, Alyson Lefebvre and Lefebvre’s four-year-old daughter, Madison.  Madison doodled quietly as we spoke, at one point gripping a dozen highlighters at once and swirling rainbows across a sheet of paper.

The health risks and smells and hits to property values worry them, but their main concern is for the children.

“I’m an educator. I look at this and go, ‘What’s going to happen when she’s at childbearing age?’” Liberman said, looking at Madison. “What is going to happen when they're running around outside, playing in the yards, inhaling all this?”

“I’ve lived my life,” said Lefebvre, a retired U.S. Marine who lives a couple houses down and also has a back fence that would face the facility. “But what about these kids?”

The Hutto ISD Board of Trustees passed a resolution in March 2023 raising concern about the plant, noting the discharge could contain E. coli. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality confirmed wastewater plants are allowed to discharge bacteria within limits in state statute.

The proposed wastewater system would present an “odor nuisance, noise nuisance, and general concerns to the health & safety of students and staff at Veterans Hill Elementary, as well as residents in the immediate vicinity,” according to the board’s resolution.

A contingent of residents was prepared to voice its opposition to the facility on April 9 at a public TCEQ meeting regarding the facility’s permit, but the meeting was canceled.

TCEQ agreed to pause consideration of the facility’s permit while an alternative solution is negotiated, according to 705 Limmer Loop JV LLC, the company behind the development.

Real estate investor James Kandasamy is listed as the head of 705 Limmer Loop, according to Secretary of State filings. Kandasamy is the CEO of Achieve Investment Group, a real estate development and investment firm with developments in the Austin and San Antonio area. The Limmer Loop project is described as a 19-acre tract in the “pre-development” stage, according to his company’s website.

“Our desire is to build affordable housing for a growing community without the need for a TCEQ-approved wastewater plant. However, to date, we have been unable to secure a commitment from an existing wastewater provider,” 705 Limmer Loop JV LLC said in a statement to KXAN. “We are in negotiations with a potential provider to secure wastewater services, which would make a new wastewater plant unnecessary.”

While Limmer Loop didn’t specify which potential provider, the City of Round Rock separately told KXAN it is in negotiations to tie the future development into its wastewater system.

A potential agreement and resolution has been years in the making.

'Taken aback'

The developer has been trying to get the development tied to a municipal wastewater system for years, according to application materials obtained by KXAN.

The application materials show Round Rock initially rejected 705 Limmer Loop’s request to get wastewater service through the city’s infrastructure.  

In April 2022, a design engineer working for the developer said he was “taken aback” by Round Rock’s denial, considering the city had agreed to service nearby Veterans Hill Elementary and the Mansions at Hutto development, according to an email.

In August 2022, after months of back-and-forth emails, a Round Rock official told the developers the city “can not serve any tracts outside of our current ETJ and CCN,” according to an email obtained by KXAN.

The city’s stance has since shifted.

“Following the email sent in 2022, the developer pursued the option of building a private treatment facility; however, the lines of communication remained open between City leadership and the developer,” a Round Rock spokesperson said.

Round Rock's initial denial was based on the city's master plan, which is designed to ensure enough capacity to service the entire city at “full buildout,” a city spokesperson said.

If approved, this would be just the third time Round Rock has agreed to provided wastewater service outside both its ETJ and CCN – its wastewater service area, a spokesperson said.

The city said it weighed what is best for residents and the ability to recover costs, according to the spokesperson.

“When it was clear that there was a compelling enough case for us to insert ourselves in the process, we returned to the table to negotiate an agreement,” Round Rock’s spokesperson said.

Now, it appears, the development is on track to potentially get service from Round Rock.

Amicable resolution?

“Round Rock staff have reached amicable terms with the developer of 705 Limmer Loop via a proposed Out-of-City Wastewater Service Agreement, pending City Council approval. This agreement would require the developer to build to City standards, pay impact fees and pay the higher out-of-city wastewater rate,” city spokesperson Sara Bustilloz said in a statement.

The Limmer Loop development is within Hutto’s extraterritorial jurisdiction but outside “any jurisdiction’s wastewater CCN (Certificate of Convenience and Necessity),” according to Round Rock.

A wastewater CCN gives a retail public utility the exclusive right to water and wastewater service to a specified area, according to the Public Utility Commission.

Connecting the out-of-city development to Round Rock’s municipal wastewater system would involve “several steps: agreement negotiation, engineering assessments, regulatory approval and infrastructure development,” according to Round Rock.

“To be clear, it is unique for Round Rock to provide service outside our CCN and ETJ,” Bustilloz said. “That said, agreeing for a development in another city’s ETJ to connect to our system is carefully determined based on several factors. These factors include proximity to existing infrastructure, available capacity, alignment with City and regional planning standards, and the developer agreeing to pay the required costs.”

In a letter from Laurie Hadley, Round Rock’s city manager, to James Earp, Hutto’s city manager, Hadley explains the challenge of setting up wastewater service in the Limmer Loop development area, which is in Hutto’s ETJ but outside that city’s wastewater service area.

Round Rock previously made out-of-city wastewater agreements to service Veterans Hill Elementary and another development called “The Mansions.” Because of those agreements, Round Rock had a wastewater line already built nearby “with reasonable capacity to serve the proposed development,” according to Hadley’s letter.

“This agreement has not yet gone before the Round Rock City Council, but should be headed to them in the coming month or so,” according to Hadley’s letter.

Rep. Caroline Harris Davila, R-Round Rock, also stepped in to help resolve the facility controversy. Harris Davila said she has been in “constant contact” with constituents, local officials and state regulators.

“As of now, I believe all parties involved are optimistic that the ongoing conversations about this project will result in not needing the facility after all,” Harris Davila said in a statement to KXAN. “I will continue to engage in these conversations and will continue to make sure that the concerns and needs of my community are fully acknowledged and addressed.”