The Blanco County Commissioners Court unanimously approved the Master Pipeline Agreement last Tues. Nov. 12. The Master Pipeline Agreement is composed of three different agreements: Pipeline Easement Agreement, Master Road Use Agreement, and the Blanco County Investment Agreement. Copies of the full agreements can be found on the Blanco County’s website under Public Notices tab in the Commissioners Court meeting 11-12-19 supporting documents. A direct link to the documents is: http://www.co.blanco.tx.us/upload/page/4027/docs/11-12-19%20supporting%20documentation.pdf and the pipeline agreements start on page 40 and end on page 120. Here are condensed versions for now. All information has been obtained from the documents mentioned earlier.
Pipeline Easement Agreement
Blanco County owns sixty foot wide strips of land containing roughly 420 linear feet of land. There are several terms and conditions of the easement agreement. The temporary construction easement will not exceed 75 feet in width. Permian Highway Texas Pipeline, LLC, (PHTP) a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan Texas Pipelines, LLC, will have the right to use the temporary construction easement and will have the right of ingress and egress to and from the easement. A 72 hour hour notice must be given to the county before any PHTP employees and/or contractors enter the easement for construction, maintenance, or repairs unless there is an emergency. The company may request an extension for the temporary construction easement no less than 45 days prior to expiration. The pipeline and appurtenances will have a minimum of five feet ground cover unless otherwise directed and approved by the commissioners. There will only be one pipeline with the easement and it will only transport natural gas. PHTP will try not to interfere with the construction, reconstruction, maintenance, or repair of any county roads, roadway drainage system, or any road right-of-way and will try to avoid blocking roads and water drainages. Improvements must be authorized by the county. If damage to a roadway right-of-way, the company must begin within 48 hours to begin the restoration.The top 18 inches of topsoil will be removed and stored separately from the subsoil if there is an excavation within the easement; the topsoil will be placed on top of the subsoil which is also known as the double-ditch method. PHTP will be responsible for the costs of all barricades, warning signs, lights, and flagmen required for installation and maintenance of the pipeline crossing. They will also be responsible for seeding the easement to promote restoration of the pre-project vegetative coverage. “Grantee will be solely responsible for the design and construction of the Easement pipeline constructed within the Easement Property, the operation, maintenance, and repair thereof, and any damages resulting from the activities of Grantee hereunder or the use of the Easement Property or any other portion of Grantor’s Property by Grantee, or Grantees employees, agents, contractors, customers, or invitees,” states the agreement. PHTP is required to have several types of insurance and bonds including: Employer’s Liability coverage, Commercial General Liability (CGL) coverage, Business Auto Liability coverage, Umbrella Liability coverage, and a Road Maintenance bond. Prior to the removal of any pipeline within the county’s roadway right-of-way, a written notice, which must include a description of the procedures, the date, and time of removal, must be delivered to Commissioners Court. A representative of PHTP will be available 24 hours a day by phone. The agencies who regulate pipelines will be notified no later than 24 hours after the discovery of any contamination in, on, under or adjacent to the easement by PHTP. The agreement reads, “...if the Easement Pipeline Facilities are abandoned by Grantee, ceases to be used for a period of 24 months excluding periods of force majeure, or any part thereof is removed from the Easement Property by Grantee, then in any such event, the easement, rights, and privileges granted hereby will automatically cease, said easement and rights will terminate, and the Easement Property will be released of and from, and title to the Easement Property will revert to and re-vest in Grantor…, free and clear of the easement, rights, privileges granted hereby as fully and completely as if those easement had not been executed...in which event Grantee will have the right to abandon the pipeline in place or remove said pipeline.” The company must follow all the laws, rules, satules, and regulations.
Master Road Use Agreement
The roads of Blanco County will be used by pipeline personnel and related service companies who have equipment and heavy vehicles. “The purpose of this Agreement is to define the terms and conditions under which the County and the Company agree with respect to the cost of excess maintenance and repair of excess damage arising from the use of County Roads by the equipment and/or heavy vehicles of the Company and/or by Contracting Companies in excess of normal wear and maintenance of County Roads as carried out by the County,” states the agreement. The agreement continues to state that Permian Highway Texas Pipeline, LLC, (PHTP) a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan Texas Pipelines, LLC, will be required to pay for all costs and expenses if a road does become damaged in excess of “normal maintenance.” Examples of “normal maintenance” include: pothole patching, grading, ditch cleaning, and culvert replacement. Examples of road damage include: potholes after the roads have been maintained or graded, damage to ditches due to heavy vehicles squeezing the ditches closed by running on the shoulders of the road, damage to culverts crushed by heavy hauling, and damage to the existing base by heavy traffic. When the work is completed PHTP will restore the county roads to an equal or better condition as they were at the beginning of the project. The company and county will have a pre-inspection meeting to confirm specific routes for heavy vehicle traffic and the type of vehicles and duration of road use for a particular operations. A surety bond or letter of credit in the amount of one million dollars will be given to Blanco County to cover PHTP’s obligations. The agreement is valid for two years.
Blanco County Investment Agreement
Because of the pipeline, there will be an increase of population in Blanco County with pipeline employees and their families moving in. In order to help, Kinder Morgan Texas Pipeline, LLC will donate to various community resources. “...Kinder Morgan desires to help support and enhance various community resources for the health, safety and education of County residents,” reads the agreement. The donations between Jan. 1, 2020 and Aug. 1, 2020 totaled $570,000.00 and were received by Blanco County Community Resource Center: $200,000; Blanco County Community Wellness Program: $ 50,000; Blanco County Sheriff’s Office: $48,000; Blanco Emergency Services District #2: $172,000; and Blanco Emergency Services District #1: $100,000. Donations to Blanco ISD Educational Foundation: $34,000; Johnson City Community Education Foundation: $34,000; Blanco County Sheriff’s Office $162,000; and Blanco County Road & Bridge Improvement Fund will be made between Aug. 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2020. Those donations total for $430,000; all combined equals $1 million of donations.
