There’s an answer to a recent legal action taken by those supporting Wellborn residents who want a vote on incorporation.
The City of College Station and the Texas Municipal League have answered the legal action filed two weeks ago by four realtors. They have called on the Texas 10th Court of Appeals in Waco to let College Station voters decide whether Wellborn voters can form their own city.
The city and the TML call on the appeals court to follow state law. That calls for a majority of the qualified voters and the owners of at least 50 percent of the land in the affected area to annex into College Station. If the city council fails to annex within six months, that constitutes consent for Wellborn to incorporate.
The TML, supporting College Station, admits in a filing to the appeals court that College Station’s city charter, quoting, “would appear on its face to allow consent to incorporation in the city’s ETJ (Extra Territorial Jurisdiction) to be put to a popular vote.” But College Station and the TML side with state law, which prohibits the city from having an election when the land in question lies within the ETJ, as Wellborn does inside College Station. The appeals court has not taken action on the writ of mandamus.