Ellis County approves RHID for Big Creek Estates after public hearing on water, sewer and roads

The Ellis County Commission voted 3-0 on Sept. 16 to adopt Resolution 2025-16 and create the Big Creek Estates Third Edition Reinvestment Housing Incentive District (RHID), approving a development agreement that would allow a private developer to be reimbursed for certain infrastructure costs from incremental property taxes generated by new construction.

The RHID is a tax-increment reimbursement tool that, if used by the developer, would let the county segregate property-tax increments from the newly developed parcels and reimburse the developer for eligible infrastructure costs. The action followed a public hearing at which residents described worries about water availability and quality, rising sewer bills and the condition of local roads.

“It's a reimbursement program,” Gilmore Bell said during the hearing, describing the RHID mechanics: the developer pays initial costs; taxes generated by new valuation above a base assessment are set aside, and the developer can request reimbursement from those segregated funds. Bell added that “if there's nothing constructed, then there would be no incremental tax revenues generated,” and therefore no reimbursements.

Residents who live in and near Big Creek Estates pressed the commission on a range of local impacts. “A lot of the concerns in our area is water. We are all on private water wells,” said Larry Denkel, who said he and neighbors circulated petitions opposing the development. Denkel and other speakers asked whether well yields and water quality could sustain additional homes and whether a city water connection or other mitigation is planned.

Dwayne (president, Big Creek Improvement District) told the commission the existing sewer system “can handle everything that we have at the present time,” but said additional homes would likely require adding another pump at a lift station; he emphasized that contractors must evaluate elevations and that upgrades have not yet been confirmed by contractors. He also said the lift station was recently refurbished and estimated that redo cost about $18,000.

Developer Adam Frey said water testing is routine when wells are drilled in the area and described wells at roughly 28–32 feet in recent holes. Frey said contractors have found “really good water so far out there,” and that the developer expects to pay for infrastructure and work with the county on paving Reservation Road from Canterbury to the second entrance of the Big Creek addition.

Justin Craig, environmental services director, described the county’s planning process: a pre-planning conference, a preliminary plat reviewed at a public hearing with mailed notices to property owners within 1,000 feet, and then a final plat before the commission. Craig said the planning process can include requirements such as stormwater or well testing if the commission or planning and zoning commission imposes them; he noted that no specific water-survey requirement is written into the RHID development agreement itself.

County staff and counsel outlined the limits of the RHID program. The development agreement as presented lists eligible infrastructure costs — road construction and improvements, sewer lines and lift station work, water and utility extensions — and ties reimbursement solely to the incremental property taxes produced by new valuation on the subject parcels. Counsel said the county could add additional stipulations to the development agreement if the commission and developer agree, but that requiring certain conditions as a precondition of RHID participation could lead the developer to pursue development without the RHID if it prefers.

Commissioners and staff emphasized next steps: if the commission approves the RHID, the base valuation for the taxing increment is set at establishment; subsequent platting, planning and construction approvals remain required. Staff told the commission the estimated eligible infrastructure costs in the development plan total roughly $600,000 (roads, sewer, water, electrical and gas) and that the RHID term in the feasibility materials uses conservative assumptions to estimate repayment schedules.

Commissioners voted 3-0 to approve the resolution establishing the RHID and authorizing the form of the development agreement. The commission record and staff said the RHID does not create immediate county disbursements; reimbursement is not payable from general county funds but only from the segregated increments generated by the new development. Commissioners and staff said a number of community concerns — water availability, sewer contract rates for outside-city users, stormwater and maintenance responsibility for lift stations — should be addressed through the planning and platting process before construction proceeds.

The developer and several residents said one lot is planned as a retention area for stormwater; Adam Frey said it is designed as green space for water dissipation and not as a permanent pond. Frey told the commission retention features will be designed to meet applicable regulations and to avoid prolonged standing water. Several speakers urged formal water-table monitoring or well-testing as part of the approval sequence; county planning staff said such studies can be required as a condition of plat approval.

The commission’s action establishes a tool for financing infrastructure should the developer proceed, but it does not itself authorize construction or transfer county funds for reimbursement unless eligible increment is generated and the agreed documentation is submitted and approved. The planning and zoning review and final plat will be required before lots are sold or homes built.