Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0320 Page: 1 of 5
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ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
GREG ABBOTT
May 3, 2005
The Honorable Todd Staples Opinion No. GA-0320
Chair, Committee on Transportation and
Homeland Security Re: Whether the Athens Economic Development
Texas State Senate Corporation may expend funds for highway
Post Office Box 12068 construction adjacent to an industrial park
Austin, Texas 78711-2068 (RQ-0289-GA)
Dear Senator Staples:
You ask whether the Athens Economic Development Corporation ("AEDC") may expend
funds for highway construction adjacent to an industrial park.'
The Athens Economic Development Corporation is organized under section 4A of the
Development Corporation Act of 1979. See Request Letter, supra note 1, at 1; see also TEX. REV.
CIv. STAT. ANN. art. 5190.6 (Vernon 1987 & Supp. 2004-05) ("article 5190.6" or the "Act"). The
AEDC derives its revenue from City of Athens sales tax proceeds levied pursuant to section 4A of
the Act. See Request Letter, supra note 1, at 1. The AEDC acquired real property in the City of
Athens and established an industrial park, which includes facilities for manufacturing and industrial
firms, primary job training (currently used by Trinity Valley College), and a 400,000 square foot
warehouse. See id. at 1-2.
The park is located on FM Road 1616 near its intersection with Loop 317. Several fatal
traffic accidents have occurred at the intersection, and the Texas Department of Transportation
("TxDOT") has determined that in order to remedy what it deems an "unacceptably dangerous
condition," one road must pass over the other. Id. at 1. You state that TxDOT has made plans for
FM Road 1616 to pass over Loop 317 in a project to be funded by both the federal and state
governments, except for $50,000. See id. As you explain, while the City of Athens could fund that
amount, the overpass would or could not be built to include entrance and exit ramps between the two
roads. See id. Currently, FM 1616 provides the sole access to the industrial park. Id. Without a
traffic interchange at tat t location, traffic from Loop 317 could not reach the park except by a
cumbersome, circuitous route through the city. See id. at 2. Such a configuration would render the
'See Letter from Honorable Todd Staples, Chair, Committee on Infrastructure Development & Security (now
Chair, Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security), Texas State Senate, to Honorable Greg Abbott, Texas
Attorney General (Nov. 2, 2004) (on file with Opinion Committee, also available at http://www.oag.state.tx.us)
[hereinafter Request Letter].
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0320, text, May 3, 2005; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth275216/m1/1/: accessed June 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.