City donates dirt to Reynolds
By BENJAMIN C. SHARP bensharp@journal-spectator.com

The city of Wharton will donate a portion of the dirt removed from the Santa Fe Drainage Outfall Channel to County Commissioner Mickey Reynolds.

The dirt will help Reynolds prepare the site where he will relocate his Precinct 1 Barn.

"We will need approximately 500 yards," Reynolds stated in a letter to City Manager Andres Garza Jr.

Reynolds said the soil will be used for building up the foundation of a new shop building. Commissioners court earlier this month approved a $254,600 bid for the construction of a 100 foot by 80 foot shop and a 200 foot by 80 foot shed.

Plans are to relocate the Precinct 1 Barn to a 10-acre tract off FM 3012. The county earlier purchased that parcel from Navasota Energy for $25,000.

As part of the deal, Navasota Energy also donated 50 acres to the county. Intentions are to turn that into a public park, complete with a mountain bike trail, fishing pond and softball fields.

Reynolds had outgrown the former Precinct 1 Barn, which is located on FM 1301. The county has already obtained a buyer for the property: Precision Gas Well Testing.

A commercial contract is now being reviewed, with the closing date set for Feb. 1. The sale price is $294,000.

The Wharton City Council on Jan. 14 agreed to grant Reynolds's request and donate the 500 yards of dirt. Garza said an interlocal agreement would need to be signed between the city and county.

Mayor Bryce Kocian suggested a stipulation be added to the agreement that requires the county to pick up and transport the dirt itself.

The city was recently accused of spreading dirt from the ditch on one nearby property, but unfairly refusing to do so for another. City officials have said that the dirt is only temporarily being dumped on the property, with intentions to move it onto city land as the project proceeds.