Brazos River Authority committee recommends conveying 175 acres near Possum Kingdom to City of Graham

The Brazos River Authority Property Management Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the BRA board authorize the general manager to negotiate and execute an agreement to convey roughly 175 acres of BRA land north of Possum Kingdom Reservoir to the City of Graham for environmental and public recreational purposes.

Randall McCartney, regional lake operations manager for the BRA, told the committee the parcels under consideration lie west of Graham and are mostly within the 100-year floodplain. McCartney said staff evaluated operational necessity, easements, flood inundation and water quality and determined the tracts are “outlying” and effectively landlocked, limiting BRA’s practical use of the property.

The resolution read to the committee lists three tract groupings totaling approximately 175 acres: PK 0259 (about 117 acres), PK 0039 (about 2 acres) and PK 0036/PK 0371 (about 56 acres). McCartney said the deed would reserve mineral rights to the BRA and include a perpetual inundation easement and an automatic reversion clause that would return the property to the BRA if the city ceased using it for public recreation or natural-resource purposes.

McCartney also told the committee that BRA attorneys have assured staff the inundation easement would include a hold-harmless clause to protect the authority from liabilities tied to flooding of recreational areas. He said those protections, and retaining mineral rights, were critical to maintaining BRA’s mission while allowing interim public use.

Eric Garrity, identified in the presentation as the city manager of Graham, described prior floodplain management work in the area and said some underground utilities already cross Salt Creek near the wastewater treatment plant. Garrity explained the practical distinction between above-ground utilities, which are more exposed to flood damage, and underground lines, and said BRA would retain final acceptance or rejection authority if the city or a utility provider proposed additional underground utilities.

Committee members asked for and received a date for the FEMA flood map used in staff materials: 2011. One committee member also asked whether the Graham city council had already approved accepting the conveyance; McCartney said the city had agreed and was willing to accept the property. A member asked whether the city could later convey the land to another party; McCartney said the reverter clause would return the land to the BRA if it left the city’s control or was used for purposes other than those specified.

Director Savage moved to recommend adoption of the resolution and Director Flores seconded. During a roll-call vote the committee recorded eight votes in favor and one absence; the motion carried and the committee will forward the recommendation to the full BRA board for final consideration.

The committee did not set a final date for the board vote. The meeting adjourned at 09:35 a.m.