The San Patricio County Commissioners Court on Sept. 29 approved a resolution authorizing the county to acquire specified parcels needed to deepen and widen outfall channels, reconstruct bridges and harden eroding ditches — and to use eminent domain if voluntary purchase offers are not accepted.

The court said the property described in the resolution is needed to complete a stormwater mitigation project conducted in coordination with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Texas General Land Office. The resolution authorizes county attorneys to file condemnation suits and authorizes staff to complete matters and documents necessary to acquire the land if owners do not accept the county’s offers.

The measure’s supporters told the court the acquisition is necessary to “improve drainage, flood mitigation, erosion control and public safety.” The resolution, read and summarized in open court after an executive session, cites Chapter 21 of the Texas Property Code and Chapters 261 and 270 of the Texas Local Government Code as authority for the county’s actions.

County attorneys will be authorized to initiate and litigate condemnation suits on behalf of the county, subject to any negotiated settlement, the resolution says. The resolution also ratifies prior acts and filings the county has taken toward the project and directed that the order take effect immediately upon passage.

County leaders said the authority is needed because they have been unable to locate some property owners; the court must be able to complete the project by January. The resolution noted the parcels are more particularly described in the attached exhibit included in the order and referred to “lots 3, 4 and 5 of Block 2, the Hidalgo Addition to the City of Taft,” as among the properties involved.

The court voted to approve the resolution; the clerk recorded the order and the county will proceed with the acquisition and any subsequent legal actions as authorized.

The court adjourned shortly after the vote.