Bellaire council approves land swap with Houston, moves to connect to Houston wastewater plant

Bellaire's City Council voted unanimously May 19 to authorize a purchase-and-sale agreement with the City of Houston that trades Bellaire's Ruffino Hills tract for three Houston-owned Beech Nut tracts and sets terms for Houston to treat Bellaire's wastewater.

City Manager Sharon Satino told council the deal would free roughly 6.6 acres on Bellaire's wastewater-treatment site and add about 13 acres of Houston-owned land for stormwater detention that Bellaire needs for its Cypress Ditch flood-mitigation project. Satino said the trade also includes a $5,140,000 credit against the impact fee Bellaire must pay Houston to reserve treatment capacity, and that Houston has agreed to freeze that impact fee at its 2025 rate when Bellaire eventually connects. "The sanitary sewer service agreement ... is for a term of 100 years," Satino said, describing an initial 40-year term with three 20-year auto-renewals and noting Bellaire would remain responsible for its collection system while Houston would handle treatment.

Nut graf: The council framed the vote as a way to secure land for detention needed to widen Cypress Ditch, reduce flood risk and avoid the multi-hundred-million-dollar cost of rebuilding or replacing…