By Eleni Himaras
reporter@ltview.com

The Lakeway Municipal Utility District is asking the city to zone an acre on Lohman’s Crossing for a two million-gallon water storage tank — something they thought they had already done. 

District board members and concerned citizens met Nov. 19 to discuss the recent mandate from the city for the district to request a zoning change. LMUD General Manager Richard Eason presented an e-mail between himself and Director of Building and Development Services Shannon Burke dated Jan. 22 of this year in which Burke specifically stated that the land in question is zoned for Governmental, Utility and Institutional development (GUI). He says more correspondence throughout the year continually alluded to this land being zoned appropriately for the tank.

Then, he said, on Oct. 6, the District was advised by city staff that they would have to request a zoning change for the land, as it was now zoned as Tuscan Village Planned Unit Development (PUD).  Due to aesthetic concerns, he said, the city wants the district to move the water tank back 200 feet before they will approve it. 

“It’s really not worth it to relocate the tank or the extra time it would take to do so,” said Eason. He went on to say that the cost of relocation would be more  than $750,000 — a 26 percent increase in construction costs. 

District board president Tom Rogers says the city does not want to pay for the move and the developer of Tuscan Village, Haythem Dawlett, also does not want to pay for the relocation of the design.

“This is a definite benefit for the builder and the city and we don’t get anything. I don’t see any positive gain for us,” Rogers said. 

Mayor Steve Swan and City Manager Steve Jones, who were not at the meeting, say that LMUD knew about the zoning issue as early as June and they do not believe that moving the tank would cost $750,000. These details, however, they said were unimportant as the only issue now facing the city is where this water tank will go.

“We got to where we are through a very circuitous route, the fact that we are where we are is the fact. We can’t change it, all we can do is try to make a decision about where that water tank goes,” Swan said.

Jones said the plot had never reverted to GUI zoning and that it simply changed from ARC PUD to Tuscan Village PUD. While the Tuscan Village plans allowed for a lot on the land to be marked for the water tower, the land was never rezoned as such. 

Furthermore, Swan said they have had engineers look into the cost of moving the water tower back and believe it to be as much as half the estimate given by the utility district. 

No one at the LMUD meeting disputed the immediate need for the water tank or that it may be aesthetically displeasing. Many of the board members were concerned that moving the site would cause a further delay to the project leaving water levels extremely low during the peak-use season next summer. 

“We know we need the water tank because we almost ran out of water last August,” Rogers said.

City officials said that project delays, costs and water levels were not within their jurisdiction.

“We certainly as a city want to make sure that our citizens have all the water that we need. If the city were the operators of the LMUD then we would have control over that. We don’t operate the LMUD, we don’t have control over that — not when they put it or why they put it,” Swan said. “We believe the citizens don’t want to have to look at this huge tank. If we’re wrong, then perhaps we will hear.”

Based on past years, the board said with certainty that if there were to be a fire emergency on a peak water usage day, they city would run out. 

“To me, it’s all going to blend in and I’m all for saving the taxpayers money, “ Kay Ehlers Andrews, second Vice President and Assistant Secretary of the district board.

She advocated painting the tower a sky blue to minimize the building’s impact on the view and said the extensive landscaping planned for around the structure would do the same. 

“This is something that’s going to scare children, looking like a flying saucer looking for a landing,” Lakeway resident Elsa Hopkins countered. She believes the board has not looked into enough alternatives for the site, including sites further from the center of town.

Rogers said that was impractical due to the cost of underground water pipe — $1 million per mile. Also, he said, this site exactly matches the elevation of the Rolling Green/Twin Hills site, as is necessary for the water system to work. This means that the water tank does not require a stem but can simply sit on flat ground.

District Board Secretary Jerry Hietpas analogized the displeasing appearance of the tank to himself, saying “we’d surely be able to make this every bit as acceptable as me. Let’s not blow this out of proportion.”

To which Hopkins said, “But it’s in the heart of the city, Jerry.”

Hietpas replied that having extra water in that location would be a good thing.

Dave DeOme was the only city council member in attendance. While he did not say which way he would vote on the proposal, he said that the district made very strong arguments on the need for the tank due to fire safety concerns and the cost of moving it.

The City Council has called a special meeting set for 3 p.m. Dec. 1 to discuss the issue. In the mean time, Eason said he is pushing ahead in opening the development for bids to prevent the further delay of the project, which he said must be operational by the peak season next summer. 

“There is one issue and only one issue and that is where does that tank go. How much does it cost and how we got here are not as important as will the public live with that tank practically forever at that location. The council represents the public on this and they’ve got to decide based on how the public feels,” City Manager Steve Jones said.