Commissioners ignore recommendation about Comfort property
Half of Kendall County’s 12-member Proposition A committee resigned last week after Commissioners Court voted 3-1 to spend $2.5 million on a Comfort property the committee previously rejected.
The decision involves 70 acres in a flood plain with an additional 50 added before the final vote.
The committee twice advised commissioners not to buy the land, and the outgoing six members called the expenditure a waste of taxpayer money.
“For more than 18 months, 12 members invested substantial time and effort in that responsibility, expecting our recommendations to be meaningfully considered. That process has been bypassed,” the six members stated in a joint letter released Aug. 13.
The letter states, “The decision to acquire 8 Cypress Creek Road, Comfort, Texas, proceeded without consulting the committee after the scope of the transaction changed and without providing an opportunity for us to present our positions — despite the committee having twice voted against the property.”
Commissioners approving the purchase include Jennifer McCall, Andra Wisian and Chad Carpenter. County Judge Shane Stolarczyk cast the lone dissenting vote. Commissioner Richard Chapman was unable to attend the Aug. 11 session.
The Prop A members who signed the resignation letter are: Tom Allred, Debra Grandjean, Wanda McCarthy, Chesley Muenchow, Bobby Schwab and Ryan Thompson.
In 2022, voters approved Prop A, which set aside $20 million to be spent on “open space and conservation land and acquiring conservation easements on land for any authorized purposes.”
The $2.5 million is part of $19 million of the designated $20 million that now has been spent.
Stolarczyk Tuesday said several properties have previously been vetted by the 12- member committee, meaning the six members still part of the group may continue working to divvy up the $1 million left for property acquisitions.
A bone of contention for the Prop A committee with the Cypress Creek Road property is a concern about flooding. None of the approved uses of Proposition A funds authorize general flood relief, the letter stated.
“Floodwater storage is only one tool and may or may not be sufficient. Absent studies determining what is required for effective flood mitigation on this property, the expenditure risks wasting taxpayer funds,” the letter from the members stepping down added.
“We cannot, in good conscience, remain on a committee whose work and recommendations can be disregarded without consultation on decisions of this significance,” the six members signed.
“We do not believe the current course is consistent with those commitments or with the responsibility entrusted to us by the voters,” the letter stated.
Comfort was particularly hard hit during the recent floods of July, as well as the deluge during the July Fourth weekend in 2025.
“We cannot, in good conscience, remain on a committee whose work and recommendations can be disregarded.”
— letter to the county from six departing Prop A committee members
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