 "Photo: Mark Mulligan")
 "Photo: Mark Mulligan")
 "Photo: Mark Mulligan")
It wasn't until Joy Braswell went out one morning to feed her horses and found 20 head of cattle waiting eagerly to be fed that she knew something was wrong.
"They cut our fence in three places and entirely removed a large section of it - all of our no-trespassing signs have been removed, and there was human waste from the workers on our property," Braswell said.
Joy said she was alarmed to find that a dam had been built across Garlic Creek, which winds across the west border of the 100-acre ranch she manages with her father.
Joe Bland Construction Company was given authority by the City of Buda to develop land behind the Braswells' ranch into an approximately 1,980-unit housing development.
Joy and her father Sam, who are members of BudaCAN, a community action network, contacted the Save Our Springs Alliance and decided to pursue legal action against the project.
S.O.S. and BudaCAN filed a lawsuit against the developers and the City of Buda for refusing to recognize portions of the Garlic Creek West tract as being in the Barton Springs Recharge Zone.
Maps published by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality indicate the property is not over the recharge zone. However, newer and possibly more accurate maps may show that the development will cover a significant portion of the recharge zone, Braswell said. The TCEQ will make the ultimate decision about the area.
S.O.S. and BudaCAN have also filed a Notice of Intent to Sue, which accuses the developers and the city of failing to get a 404 permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The permit is required any time someone dredges and fills a piece of land, said Sarah Baker, a representative from S.O.S.
TCEQ has since conducted an investigation and concluded that the developers were not in violation of any regulations.
"The earth dam that was put in place to move construction equipment and lay waterline has since been replaced," said Glenn Greenwood, a spokesman for TCEQ.
The Intent to Sue also accuses the developers and the city of violating the Clean Water Act, a federal law protecting the purity of natural waters.
The plaintiffs are alleging that as a result of the construction, the creek has been polluted.
Braswell said water samples are currently being tested for pollutants.
"If the tests are positive, it could affect a great number of people," Braswell said. "Through dye tests, it has been shown that the creek ultimately feeds into Barton Springs."
The Braswells also said they are concerned about a thick, gelatin-like substance that formed on the surface of the creek on the Braswells' side of the fence, downstream from the construction.
They said developers have pumped the sludge out of the creek into what the Braswells believe is a man-made trench in order to hide it from investigators, but this was not done before Joy was able to get a sample for testing.
"After I dipped the bottle in the creek, the surface did not congeal, and you could still see the spot where I had taken the sample hours later," Joy Braswell said. "After retrieving the sample from the creek, I got sick and had to miss work for a few days."
Joe Bland, the developer, said he isn't aware of any damage to the Braswells' property and had no knowledge of no-trespassing signs being removed.
"I am not aware of any damage being caused, but if we did cause any damage, it's been repaired," Bland said.
Bland said no dam had been put in across the creek. Two trenches had been dug for the purpose of laying some pipe, and any dirt mounds would be the result of spoils from the digging, he said.
The dirt from the mounds has since been placed back into the trenches, and the only thing remaining is a rock berm put in to prevent silting, he added.
Bland said his company does pump water out of the way in some of their construction jobs.
Workers may need to remove a great deal of groundwater, he said, and sometimes they find water that temporarily needs to be removed in order to take the silt out a trench.
After the water has been removed, the workers then lay the pipe and replace the contents out of the trench.
Bland added he was not aware of any sludge or gelatin-like substance in or around Garlic Creek.
"It's not uncommon for us to be pumping water. June was an incredibly wet month, and it's totally in the realm of [the] possible that we were out there pumping," Bland said.
Bob Mathis, a Buda city administrator, said there isn't even a flowing creek on the land in question.
"It's not even an active creek. It's just puddles until they dry up, and then there's not really any water at all," Mathis said. "You've got to have water out there in order for it to be tested."
But Joy Braswell said the creek flowed enough during recent rains for the rock berm the developers put on the Braswells' side of the fence to be washed away.
If the housing development is allowed to be completed, it will approximately double the population of Buda. Growth of this nature could bring financial benefits for the city, officials say.
Hutch White, a member of the Buda City Council, said more residential development will cause a greater strain on city services, but the growth will lead to an increase in commercial growth, which means more locally paid sales tax.
"When the new H-E-B came to town, it about doubled our sales tax," White said. "That is a big help."
Buda Mayor John Trube said the city is not for or against the development, but is responsible for evaluating and approving the plat.
"Our job is to make sure that [the developers] comply with our ... development code," Trube said. "We don't have a dog in this fight."
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