By Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe / Staff Writer

HICKORY CREEK — Former council member Randy Wahl has offered the city a drainage easement on his land in hopes of staving off a court battle over drainage problems that have persisted there for several years.

Wahl owns 20 acres adjacent to the new Town Hall, which was built in 2005.


So far, he has not given the city permission to survey the land and assess the damage to a dry gorge, which runs through his land between Town Hall and Lewisville Lake. Town leaders hired a survey team to assess damage downstream from Town Hall after city engineers determined that the Town Hall retention pond was undersized.

Mike Deason, town administrator, did not return phone calls Friday.

A controversial figure in town politics, Wahl has been afraid that town leaders would rather pursue eminent domain than negotiate with him.

“I’m afraid you just want to condemn my property,” Wahl told the council when he made the offer earlier this month.

Instead, he sweetened the deal by pledging to return $80,000 to the town to help pay for a new animal shelter. Hickory Creek’s current animal shelter is located in the old town hall and must be torn down for the widening of Interstate 35E.

In September 2005, several months after being elected to the town council himself, Wahl sued Hickory Creek, its contractors and the owners of Cornelius Town Center claiming his land was being damaged by runoff from an undersized drainage pond. He also made a formal complaint to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality during construction, which later cited contractors for the problem.

The drainage pond was built to contain storm runoff from both Town Hall and neighboring Cornelius, a strip mall built at the same time.

Wahl dropped the city from the suit in 2006, saying at the time that talks to resolve the matter were going well. In May 2007, voters approved a broad public works bond package that includes roadwork, a new public works building and $1.75 million for drainage improvements in the city’s commercial core.

But talks stalled, and Wahl became concerned last fall when eminent domain discussions were posted on the council’s agenda.

“I used to be on that council,” Wahl said. “I know what goes on.”

He refiled and renamed the city in a lawsuit over the drainage problems in September.

Wahl told the council that he thought it would be big gamble for the city to condemn his land. The city could pay as little as $50,000 for the easement. Or they could be on the hook for $800,000, the appraised value.

Neighbor Ken Casey said he couldn’t understand why it was so hard for town leaders to fix drainage problems that come from new development. He had to retain a lawyer to protect his land when the first round of commercial development came in a decade ago.

But drainage problems continue to plague the creek behind his home. He has to pick up a lot of trash, and he’s afraid that many trees along the creek will soon die because erosion has exposed their roots.

“It’s a shame to have your home paid for, and then have to take a second loan on it to get a lawyer to protect it,” Casey sai