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City to consider ending contract on Alvin land
By Rhiannon Meyers
The Daily News
Published September 26, 2009
FRIENDSWOOD — City council members Monday will consider terminating a contract to buy 60 acres of Alvin land for ballparks.
Councilman Mike Barker put the item on the agenda just days after Alvin officials declined to let Friendswood annex the land off FM 528.
Alvin’s refusal ruined Friendswood’s best chance to buy the land from David Wight and avoid the legal questions that remain about whether a judge prohibited the city from buying land outside its corporate limits.
Barker, who is a long-term acquaintance of Wight’s, could not be reached for comment Friday.
Friendswood officials contracted to buy the land in September 2008. A group of residents, who dubbed themselves the Friendswood 5, fought the city’s plan to issue $11 million in certificates of obligation — debt taken on without voter approval — in part to buy the $2.6 million Alvin land.
Judge Scott Jenkins of the 53rd District Court in Travis County ruled in July the city could not buy the land using certificates of obligation.
Members of the city council and five residents disagreed about whether the order prohibits the city from buying the Alvin land at all.
Jenkins won’t comment on his ruling, his staff attorney, Jennifer Kracht, said.
The city has two choices if it terminates the contract with Wight:
• Pay penalties, which could top $1 million, associated with terminating the contract. The city’s attorney recommended against that. Attorney Bobby Gervais warned council members that if they pay the penalties and the contract is found to be illegal, they face personal liability and may have to forfeit their seats on the council because of violation of the city charter.
• Assume the judge’s ruling means the contract is void and refuse to pay the penalties. Wight, however, could sue the city for default of contract, Gervais said. Defaulting on the contract might scare away other contractors who wish to do business with the city, Councilman Jim Hill said.
Janis Lowe, a member of the Friendswood 5, said the contract is void and council should not agree to pay penalties associated with terminating the contract.
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At A Glance
WHAT: Friendswood City Council meeting
WHEN: 7 p.m. Monday
WHERE: City hall, 910 S. Friendswood Drive
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