Champions Area fire officials say they have not scrapped plans to build a new fire station next to the Greenwood Forest clubhouse despite an ongoing lawsuit.
That lawsuit, filed by Greenwood Forest residents Duane and Darline Rutherford in October 2004, has made its way through the district and appeals court systems and is on the Texas Supreme Court's radar. The higher court is expected to make a decision soon on whether or not to hear the case, said Howard Katz, attorney for Harris County Emergency Services District 29, the taxing entity funding the Champions Area Volunteer Fire Department.
"We are waiting for the word from the Supreme Court," said Bill Wald, board president of ESD 29. "If they don't hear the case, then our work begins. If the Supreme Court accepts the case, we are probably looking at another two years of delays."
The Champions Area Volunteer Fire Department plans to build a 26,000-square-foot fire station on the site.
The Rutherfords filed the lawsuit against the Greenwood Forest Homeowners Association — incorporated as Greenwood Forest Fund — to stop it from selling one-third of an acre to the Champions Area Volunteer Fire Department for the new station.
The Rutherfords' case claimed the site was common property owned by all Greenwood Forest residents and the homeowner's association did not have the right to sell it without getting permission from residents.
The Rutherfords live across the street from the property, which is between the existing Champions Area Volunteer Fire Station and the Greenwood Forest Clubhouse on Champion Forest Drive.
The Rutherfords could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit. Their attorney, John Schaffer, also could not be reached for comment.
They are members of a group that organized in opposition to the sale of the greenspace to the fire department two years ago.
Harris County District Court Judge Brent Gamble found in favor of the homeowner's association in May 2005. The Rutherfords appealed to the 14th Court of Appeals one month later.
The appellate court judges upheld the lower court's decision in March 2006.
Wald said the ESD 29 board still plans to purchase the property from the homeowner's association, unless the court's ruling prohibits that from taking place.
The two parties have not closed the deal, but the ESD 29 board voted almost two years ago to accept the association's $90,000 offer pending the outcome of the court case.
ESD 29 would foot the bill for the land and building using proceeds from an existing 5-cents-per-$100 property tax.
Champions Area Fire Chief Hilland Hardy said the delay has probably added another $450,000 to the project's estimated $3.1 million cost.
kimberlye.jackson@chron.com
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