Residents urge Ellis County to appeal TCEQ decision on proposed MUD and wastewater plant

A group of local residents opposed to a proposed municipal utility district (MUD) and adjacent open wastewater treatment plant urged the Ellis County Commissioners to consider filing a district-court appeal of a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) decision.

John Wesley Tryon, speaking on behalf of Texans for MUD Reform and area residents, described concerns about a proposed sewer treatment plant that he said would treat and discharge 1.2 million gallons per day into a spring-fed creek that flows through local parks and into Lake Bardwell. He asked the court to consider funding an appeal and said the county’s environmental law attorney (identified in the comment as Stephanie Albright) was already familiar with the multi-year fight. “So I'm asking that you will consider pursuing the appeal through district court… Our environmental law attorney told us that the cost for doing this is minimal,” Tryon said.

Tryon said the TCEQ had ruled in favor of the applicant (identified in the comment as Kevin Finch, LVT Holdings) and requested that the county consider legal action to oppose the permit and protect downstream waterways. The County Judge acknowledged the comment and said the court would discuss the matter with counsel in executive session; the meeting later entered executive session under the attorney-consultation provisions cited on the agenda.

What’s next: The court moved the item into executive session for consultation with counsel as allowed under Texas Government Code section 551.071; the transcript shows the court later returned to open session and took public actions on other agenda items, but no open-session funding decision on the proposed appeal was recorded in the transcript.