The Conroe City Council accepted the donation of two parcels of land for future fire stations, but the gifts came with strings attached – two digital billboards and a water line.
“If it weren’t fair, we wouldn’t take it,” said Conroe Mayor Webb Melder. “When the dust settles, we got the better end of the bargain.”
Rigby Owen Jr. and Triple O Investments donated 3.4 acres for Fire Station 4 at the northwest corner of FM 1488 and Interstate 45. Development of that track is expected to proceed quickly as the city’s lease in its old fire station in Harper’s Landing is set to expire in December 2010. The fire station sale was part of a deal with The Woodlands to avoid future annexation of the Harper’s Landing neighborhood by Conroe.
“We are hoping we will start construction at the end of next year,” said Conroe Fire Chief Ken Kreger. “We have an architect working on the building, not the design yet, but how much money it will cost and how big it will be.”
The second site, 4.88 acres located on FM 830 near Little Egypt Road, was donated by the Randal Hendricks for a future fire station. There are no definitive plans at that site in the near future until development grows in the northwest quadrant and more territory is annexed there. The city recently annexed land in the area.
“We find as development occurs, it is harder to find an ideal location for a fire station,” Kreger said. “We’ve initiated discussions with developer to say how about some land to help us out with infrastructure.”
In exchange for the land on FM 1488, Owen requested approval for two digital billboards in the city. Although the city has had several requests for electronic billboards, it is evaluated each one on a case by case basis, Melder said.
The first billboard would be located on the FM1488 fire station site. The second would be located at Davis and Newton streets. As part of the agreement, the city requested 10 minutes of display time every hour on the billboard to promote city events and activities. Owen also agreed to forgo redevelopment of another billboard at 612 W. Davis St., which was damaged by Hurricane Ike.
The donation of land on FM 830 also includes enough land for water well on site. As part of the agreement for the site, the city agreed to provide a city water connection to an adjacent parcel owned by Hendricks. The water infrastructure should be built within two years.
Melder said that the city always planned to run a water line near the Hendricks property to complete a looped water system in the area, which aids in water pressure.
“We are not doing anything for anybody just because we like them,” Melder said. “Our whole long term utility plan was to loop it.”
Conroe currently has four fire stations and leases the facility at 250 Harper’s Landing Boulevard. That facility was sold to The Woodlands Association for $1.3 million in 2007 as part of a deal to avoid future annexation.
In addition to purchasing the fire station, The Woodlands Township agreed to pay Conroe $320,000 in the first year toward fire service in the area and one-sixteenth of a one-cent sales tax collected in the Harper’s Landing area annually.
Conroe already has the staffing for Fire Station 4, but it did not have a viable site. Initially, the city was going to build the facility at FM 1488 and Texas 242, which was costly to reach with water and sewer services.
The new site will allow the department to serve existing residents along FM 1488, in Windor Lakes and a lumber yard on Interstate 1488, as well a future homes and business that may be annexed along FM 1488 in the future.
