The Bee Cave Bee

A storm is brewing in the Hamilton Pool Road community as State Rep Paul Workman appears to be working with the developer to get clearance for a further 1,100+ homes from the WTCPUA water authority. Here is the background from the loacl protest group organizers:

 
"In 2013 landowner John Hatchett and Jim Meredith of Masonwood Development originally asked the WTCPUA for 1,837 water taps for what was then known as Masonwood West. Much to everyone’s relief the PUA eventually granted “only” 700 water taps to Masonwood West due to capacity limitations in the Hamilton Pool Road water line. It appeared at the time that unless another water source came along, the subdivision would be less than half the size originally envisioned. It will still be, hands down, the largest and densest subdivision on Hamilton Pool Road. The impact on our traffic and creeks will be dramatic.

 
Fast forward to 2018. Masonwood West is now Provence. Developer Jim Meredith has continued to harrass the PUA to grant  Provence the remaining 1137 water taps. He has recently enlisted the help of Paul Workman. Representative Workman organized a May 8 meeting between a PUA board member, Meredith and himself. He followed up on May 24 with a letter to the PUA, saying that he arranged the meeting “upon a constituent’s request” (referring to Meredith), and  “Based on the meeting and subsequent discussions with Mr. Meredith, I believe that an agreement can be reached that is mutually beneficial for the WTCPUA, Mr. Meredith/Masonwood, and the owner of the remaining lands …”  (referring to Hatchett’s property). 

 
Representative Workman also suggests that the Provence might proceed “without WTCPUA imposed impervious cover limitations”, which is highly inappropriate because that’s exactly what Hatchett is suing the PUA about. Never mind that Meredith contractually agreed to to a 20% impervious cover limit as a condition of getting his 700 water taps.

 
Representative Workman is well aware of the local community’s long-standing opposition to the extreme size and density of Provence. He could simply have avoided the controversy. Yet he went out of his way to use his political muscle to advance the moneyed interests of just two constituents at the expense of hundreds of constituents who live along Hamilton Pool Road.  We don’t have a seat at his table.

 
It's understood that Representative Workman is pro-growth and pro-developer. But that doesn’t justify throwing an entire neighborhood under the bus. He has turned his back on all of us who would suffer the consequences of what he is lobbying for - -  a thousand more homes spewing cars onto Hamilton Pool Road and a thousand more lawns leaching fertilizer into Little Barton Creek."

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