More than six years of legal battles are over for the College Station city council regarding land at the freeway and Rock Prairie Road. Before anyone considered the idea of building the Scott and White hospital, the council refused rezoning the land to build a Wal-Mart. That led to a lawsuit where the city spent about $2 million dollars in legal fees before reaching a settlement where the city paid the landowner $1.6 six million. Then the city sued its insurance company for failing to cover costs in the first lawsuit. Thursday night, the council unanimously approved a settlement where the insurance company pays the city $4 million. The city will net just over $2.6 six million after paying its lawyers. Between the two lawsuits, the city lost about $1 million dollars. But Mayor Nancy Berry pointed out in a WTAW interview three and a half years ago it was an economic development win for the city after the landowner sold to Scott and White, combined with Wal-Mart’s decision to expand at its present location to what was at the time the largest store the retailer had in Texas.
The council approved rebuilding Rock Prairie Road from east of Scott and White hospital to William D. Fitch. Public Works Director Don Harmon says there’s not enough money for a four-lane. The city has acquired almost all the right of way for a future expansion. Construction is scheduled to start in February and take eight months to complete.
Click below to listen to the discussion and vote on rebuilding Rock Prairie Road.