Brock township continues steps toward plotting future -- commission wants good maps, water security

May 24—BROCK — Leaders of the young township continued steps on Monday toward the future for its 2,000 or so residents.

"Our boundaries are very convoluted," Commissioner Ben Davis said, as civic planner A.J. Fawver pitched an array of municipal planning services offered by Dallas-based Verdunity.

Mayor Jay Hamilton agreed a reliable map, clearly depicting Brock's city limits, its extraterritorial jurisdiction and its zoning, would help the town.

Brock incorporated as a township in 2016, but it traces its roots as a community to 1871, the town website shows.

Fawver later said a map could be designed letting area residents enter their address to see if they are — or are not — Brock residents.

The need Brock has for well-defined boundaries was underlined at the outset of Monday's meeting. A Brock Spur landowner had asked for latitude with a 12-month, $20,000 lease he'd sold a local business without knowing his land is inside the city.

That produced a letter from the city, the land owner said, adding the lessor had been denied when he applied for a permit.

Davis said the two men had not known the sign would be inside the city limit.

"Let's be good neighbors and let them put it up," he said. "But at some time, it's got to come down."

The commission then allowed a lease till the end of summer, the sign owner's busy season, for $75.

Fawver said her firm offers a variety of services to produce a comprehensive plan. Those include reviewing city codes and regulations, updating boundaries and mapping, parks needs and other elements of small-town suburban life.

"It can be as broad or as narrow as you want it to be," she said.

She also said the company enlists residents to "get them plugged in" to the planning project.

Hamilton and Davis agreed to put together a list of elements they might want and let Verdunity design a proposal.

The mayor also reminded Fawver that Brock collects no property taxes and most of its income is from franchise fees and a 1.75-cent sales tax.

He also asked her to include references with the proposal.

Also Monday, City Attorney Whitt Wyatt pointed out the city has yet to adopt building codes. That leaves it defaulted to the 2015 international codes.

He said the lack of a locally adopted code raised questions about enforcement.

The mayor recalled adopting codes in 2015, but Wyatt said he'd been unable to find a record of that. He said he'd look into the issue and return with a recommendation.

"We just have not found the documents yet," he said.

Also Monday, an agenda item to update the commission on a water/wastewater study was postponed because engineers for the project were not able to attend.

Brock residents get 80 percent of their water from individual wells, Hamilton said. The rest comes from the Parker County Special Utility District.

"The purpose of these studies is to get ahead of any potential water shortages," Hamilton said.

He said the planned study of water and sewer needs and options will be funded from the town's share of the American Rescue Plan Act.

Brock received $750,000 under ARPA.

The commission also declined to act on creating a certificate of occupancy regarding fire code inspections.

The town contracts those inspections to a firm called Veritas. The county fire marshal enforces any issues the private company identifies, staff at the meeting told Hamilton.

Finally Monday, no action was taken following a brief update on progress by a couple hoping to build Saddlerock Safari and Winery on Olive Branch Road.

That issue drew more than 40 residents to a March commission session, where a basic zone change from Agricultural to Planned Development was granted.

A Conditional Use Permit is needed before the exotic animal park will be allowed to sell alcohol, a concern of most of the residents that night.

No plat for the park has been submitted, though Wyatt reported a reception building has complied with the new zoning designation.