Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the City Finance And Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council approves Frontera development agreement, awards multiple infrastructure and procurement contracts
Summary
The Round Rock City Council unanimously approved a development agreement allowing out-of-city water and wastewater service for a 365-unit multifamily project in the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction and adopted several infrastructure, procurement and funding resolutions, all by recorded vote.
Round Rock City Council on an otherwise routine evening approved a development agreement with Frontera Hillside Land LP that allows out-of-city water and wastewater service for a proposed 365-unit multifamily complex at the northeast corner of County Road 172 and State Highway 45 and adopted a slate of infrastructure and procurement measures including transportation program amendments, street maintenance contracts and utility projects.
The development agreement, which the council approved by roll call vote, permits the project to receive city water and wastewater while remaining outside city limits and within the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction. Under the agreement the developer must provide roughly 183 living-unit-equivalents (LUEs) for residential service plus 8 LUEs for irrigation; customers served under the agreement will pay twice the retail rate charged to in-city customers. The developer has a 99-year ground lease with the Texas Housing Foundation and the agreement was structured so that no annexation is required while the property retains a tax-exempt financing arrangement. State law cited during staff remarks requires that at least 50 percent of the proposed units be reserved for households earning 80 percent or less of area median income to maintain the tax-exempt treatment.
Other measures approved by the council included supplemental and new professional and construction contracts, an amendment to the Transportation Capital Improvement Program, a $5.1 million award for residential street maintenance, and several procurements for library, fleet, electrical and public-safety supplies.
Votes at a glance - Consent agenda (items G1–G5: minutes and vendor/contract authorizations for Granger Inc.; Ingram Library Services LLC; Genuine Parts Co./NAPA; Elliot Electric Supply Inc.): Motion by Council Member Ortega, second by Council Member Montgomery. Roll call: Lee, Flores, Fleming, Ortega, Stevens (Mayor Pro Tem), Montgomery, Morgan (Mayor) — all voted yes. Outcome: approved.
- Development agreement with Frontera Hillside Land LP (out-of-city water/wastewater for multifamily, 365 units): Motion by Mayor Pro Tem Stevens, second by Council Member Ortega. Roll call: Flores, Fleming, Ortega, Stevens, Montgomery, Lee, Morgan — all voted yes. Outcome: approved. Key terms: 365 units; ~183 residential LUEs + 8 irrigation LUEs; twice retail water/wastewater rate; no annexation required while tax exemption applies; at least 50% of units reserved at ≤80% AMI per state law; 99-year ground lease with Texas Housing Foundation; impact-fee–mirroring connection and roadway fees and $4,000/acre parkland fee.
- Procurement and contract approvals (each approved by recorded roll call): - H2/H3: Upfitting and public-safety supply contracts to Far West Environmental Supply and Dana Safety Supply Inc. — approved. - H4: Type B Transportation Capital Improvement Program (TCIP) amendment adding or increasing funding for several road projects (County Route 118 widening; Gattis Cove segments; Greenlawn Boulevard; Sam Bass/Herriman roundabout; Chisholm Trail pedestrian work and Northeast downtown improvements) — approved; Type B board had previously approved the amendment. - H5: Award to Lone Star Paving Company for the 2024 residential street maintenance program — $5,100,000; approved. - H6: Quantity adjustment change order returning $526,000 to the wastewater rehabilitation program (Cycle 3 Basins 4 and 5) — approved. - H7: Supplemental contract for West Transmission Main valve replacement design (adds three valves for system resiliency) — approved. - H8: Professional consulting agreement for the Chandler Elevated Storage Tank rehabilitation (inspection scope with HOTT Inspection Services) — approved. - H9: Rule 11 settlement to acquire 0.063-acre parcel for Gattis Cove Segment 3 — $245,000; approved.
What staff said and next steps City staff emphasized that many of the utility and road measures are part of ongoing maintenance and capital programs: the residential street maintenance program runs annually and the TCIP items are intended to complete engineering and right-of-way steps ahead of construction. For the Frontera development, planning and permitting steps (subdivision plat, site development permit, drainage and tree protection review) must proceed through Planning and Development Services; building inspections will be performed by a third-party inspector because the site will remain outside the city’s building inspection jurisdiction while served with utilities under the out-of-city agreement.
The council did not require annexation for the Frontera property because the developer’s tax-exempt financing through the Texas Housing Foundation would have exempted the property from property taxes during the term of that program, and staff said the city would receive no property tax revenue while still being asked to provide municipal services.
The council adjourned after routine council comments.
