Commission Agenda Item No. 7
Presenter: Trey Vick

Action
Grant of Easement – Lubbock County
Approximately .10 Acres at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Law Enforcement Office
August 27, 2020

I.      Executive Summary:  The City of Lubbock and Lubbock Power and Light request an aerial easement on Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) land to facilitate upgrades to an electrical transmission line.

II.     Discussion: TPWD owns and operates a regional law enforcement office in Lubbock.  Lubbock Power and Light is in the process of upgrading an existing electric transmission line that runs along Highway 289 within the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) right-of-way.  The upgrade will convert an open loop transmission system that feeds much of north Lubbock to a closed loop system, significantly improving the system’s reliability.  The configuration of the TXDOT intersection adjacent to the TPWD office does not allow a “straight shot” for the replacement line, but instead requires clipping the edge of TPWD property. The alternative would be a 0.7-mile detour of the intersection, which would be expensive and inefficient.  The new line is similar in scale and alignment to the existing line and is expected to have no impact on TPWD operations.

III.   Recommendation: The staff recommends that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopt the following motion:

“The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopts the Resolution attached as 
Exhibit A.”

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Commission Agenda Item No. 7
Exhibit A

A Resolution by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission Regarding the Granting of an Easement of Approximately .10 Acres in Lubbock County 

Resolution

Whereas, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) owns and operates a regional Law Enforcement Office in Lubbock Texas (Land); and,

Whereas, the city of Lubbock (City) and its municipal electric utility, Lubbock Power and Light, are in the process of upgrading an existing 115 kilovolt electric transmission that currently runs in the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) right-of -way along Highway 289; and,

Whereas, Lubbock Power and Light desires to acquire an easement of approximately .10 acres (Easement) on the Land for these upgrades; and,

Whereas, this proposed Easement will enable the City to avoid a costly and inefficient reroute of the line around an intersection adjacent to the Lubbock Law Enforcement Office; and,

Whereas, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission (Commission) finds that as required by Texas Parks and Wildlife Code chapter 26, notices of today’s hearing of this matter were published at least once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation which is published at least six days a week in the community nearest to the Land in which such newspapers are published (Lubbock Avalanche-Journal in Lubbock County), with the last day of publication being not less than one week or more than two weeks before the date of today’s hearing and that such notices specified the date and time at which the Commission would hear testimony regarding the proposed disposition; and,

Whereas, the Commission finds, in accordance with Texas Parks and Wildlife Code chapter 26, that (1) there is no feasible and prudent alternative to the use or taking of land (Easement); and (2) the program or project that requires the use or taking of land (Easement) includes all reasonable planning to minimize harm to the Land; and,

Whereas, the Commission affirms its authority to grant an easement to the City in accordance with Section 11.301 of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Code; and,

Now, therefore, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission authorizes the Executive Director to take all necessary steps to establish terms and conditions under which an easement may be granted and to grant an easement for the purposes and subject to the conditions described herein and in the motion approved in this Resolution.

Adopted and approved this 27^th day of August, 2020.

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Commission Agenda Item No. 7
Exhibit B

Location Map for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Law Enforcement Office in Lubbock

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Commission Agenda Item No. 7
Exhibit C

Vicinity Map for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Law Enforcement Office in Lubbock

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Commission Agenda Item No. 7
Exhibit D

Site Map Showing Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Law Enforcement Office in Lubbock
Proposed Easement in Green