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Rockwall ISD trustees table easement request from Iron Ranch FATE LLC for Rayco Middle School parcel
Summary
Trustees declined to approve a proposed private sanitary sewer and temporary construction easement to Iron Ranch FATE LLC and asked staff to return with a draft easement and updated market comps for the district land valuation.
The Rockwall Independent School District Board of Trustees on Tuesday tabled consideration of a private sanitary sewer and temporary construction easement request from Iron Ranch FATE LLC that would cross a portion of the Rayco Middle School site.
District staff described a proposed perpetual sanitary-sewer easement of 8,053 square feet (0.1848 acre) along the east side of Rochelle Road and said the developer would pay $23,108.93 for the easement. The recommended payment was calculated using a district baseline of $125,000 per acre multiplied by the 0.1848-acre easement area.
The board paused action after several trustees sought more detail about the price and the draft agreement. Trustee Britton said the $125,000-per-acre baseline appears low and that current market transactions suggest the district’s rubric for valuing land should be updated. “I think we’re probably about 75% low on that price per foot,” Britton said. “Especially when we own the land and they need what we have.”
Mr. Carter, representing the district’s finance, operations and technology department, told trustees the amount was arrived at using a historical per‑acre figure the district has used in recent easement arrangements and that the district’s attorney had reviewed terms with the developer’s counsel. Carter also said consulting civil engineers had determined the easement would not negatively affect future development of the district site and that the developer’s private line would connect to the public sewer at Rochelle Road and Gettysburg Boulevard.
Trustees requested that staff return with (1) the proposed easement instrument in draft form, (2) recent market comparables or updated appraisal support for the $125,000-per-acre figure, and (3) clearer language on post‑grant obligations such as maintenance and restoration of temporarily affected areas. Trustee DuBois and other board members indicated a willingness to maintain the previously-discussed $23,108.93 figure for the current deal if legal and mechanical terms required more time to resolve, but they still asked staff to bring comparative market data and the exact contract language to the next meeting.
Board President Frank Consulman led the discussion and accepted a motion to table the item so staff could provide the requested materials at the next regular meeting.
The developer named in the request is Iron Ranch FATE LLC; the project and the easement remain under review and were not approved at the meeting.
