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Most craftsman have tools they use every day. They also have specialized tools they pull out occasionally for a specialized task.
The City of Farmers Branch recently pulled the Farmers Branch Local Government Corp. (FBLGC) out of its toolbox though it had sat out of public eye for several years.
Observant residents may have noticed the organization’s meetings in November and January on the city’s agenda center for the first time in recent months.
It has been pulled out of the city’s toolbox to allow the city to market and sell property.
The last time it was used was to transfer properties from the city to Builders of Hope.
It was used then to sell the properties below market price because the purpose of the Neighborhood Renaissance Program is to create attainable housing and “hedge against gentrification,” whereas, if the city were to sell properties directly, it would need to list them for 30 days, said Ben Williamson, Farmers Branch city manager.
Currently, the FBLGC is being used as an economic development tool, serving as a conduit for the city to sell residential and other property it owns.
Another way it assists the city, Williamson said, is that it prevents real estate prices from being artificially raised or lowered because the buyer or seller does not know it is a city selling it, allowing for a true market-rate value to be given, which he said saves taxpayers money. “As soon as you say, ‘Farmers Branch,’ the price goes up.”
The Farmers Branch LGC does not have its own bank account, though Williamson said it did at one time. All money connected with the sale or purchase of property in the FBLGC stays in and controlled through city funds. It’s never had a budget adopted.
“I like it in the city budget,” Williamson said. “It makes it nice and easy.”
It is included in the city’s budgets as a non-major special revenue fund like the landfill closure/post closure fund, the joint fire training fund and the residential revitalization fund.
Despite it seeming like a new organization, the FBLGC has been in place since 2006, apparently to control its mineral rights, according to a presentation given by Kevin B. Laughlin, an attorney with Nichols, Jackson, Dillard, Hagar & Smith LLP, who was formerly attorney for the City of Farmers Branch, to the Texas City Attorneys Association 2016 Summer Conference.
Williamson said he has not found any documentation of mineral rights at Camelot Landfill. However, Williamson also said city staff has not found all meeting agendas or meeting minutes from the FBLGC, but add them to public records archive as they do. Many agendas and meeting minutes were paper and have been scanned and added to the archive.
FBLGC also does not have an IRS tax ID number though Williamson said that his and his staff’s research indicates it does nothing that requires a tax ID.
“Can we be better at being more transparent … absolutely,” Williamson said.
He said he prefers the city’s actions to be resolutions because they go on public record and are searchable. “To me, let’s make it transparent so the people sitting in these chairs five years from now can find the information.”
The FBLGC is not a city board or commission but instead is a public, non-profit corporation, legally separate from the city. It is required to comply with open meetings and public information acts as is required of other government organizations under the Texas Government Code.
In general, local government corporations were created as part of the Texas Corporation Act in 1989.
The FBLGC was created by Resolution 2006-048 in April 2006. Members of the board of directors are appointed by the Farmers Branch City Council, serve two-year terms and must be residents of Farmers Branch. According to the city website, the board may consist of city council members and city administration; however, it consists of ONLY city council members and city staff.
Williamson said the organization is used only as a quick hand-off to move property titles and is not structured to hold assets.
At the Nov. 27, 2024, meeting, the three members on the board named Pam Dehon, who works in the city’s finance department, president; Mayor Terry Lynne vice president; and Jessica Alvarado, recreation superintendent for the parks and recreation department, secretary. All three began their terms on July 18, 2023, and their terms expire on June 30 this year.
Farmers Branch City Councilmembers Omar Roman and Tina Bennett-Burton were appointed to the FBLGC and started their term Dec. 10.
Also at the Nov. 27, 2024, meeting, the FBLGC board approved for the property at 13330 Veronica Rd. to be purchased from the City of Farmers Branch and sold. While the agenda for the meeting is on the city’s agenda center, the minutes are not yet publicly available.
At the Jan. 7, FBLCG meeting, which was recorded and posted both on YouTube and the city’s agenda center, the board agreed to purchase from the city and sell the lots at 12918 Harrisburg Circle and 2837 Ermine Way, both of which have homes proposed to be built on them.
The Harrisburg Circle lot did not have a builder named but an elevation for a home of about 3,600 square feet has been submitted to the city by the potential buyer.
“This approximate value is going to be a minimum of $700,000,” said Perla Travera, director of economic development, tourism and planning, in response to Lynne’s questions about the builder and proposed value.
The proposed home at 2837 Ermine Way will be between 3,084-3,700 square feet depending on funding, Travera told the board.
The board also voted to transfer the former Citizen Collection Center, the lot at 1349-1399 Valley View Lane, to the FBLCG.
“What would the necessity be of transferring this parcel?” Bennett-Burton asked Travera.
Transferring the property to the FBLGC will allow the economic development and tourism team to advertise the property for sale, Travera said.
Williamson also said that the FBLGC will walk any zoning changes for the property through the city’s planning and zoning processes, because the city can’t do that for itself, which Travera confirmed. She said she expected rezoning to go through the Planning and Zoning Commission and go to city council within three months.
Travera hesitated before answering Bennett-Burton’s question about the proposed zoning for the lot but said it will be light industrial/warehousing.
