Hutto Economic Development Corporation under criminal investigation
The Hutto city manager announced Thursday night at a City Council meeting that the former Hutto Economic Development Corporation is under criminal investigation.
It was immediately unclear what the subject of the investigation is, but the revelation came several minutes after Mayor Pro Tem Tom Hines had said that the EDC — against the wishes of the City Council and the city manager — had sold some option rights to an $8 million megasite between Hutto and Taylor for $10 to a brokerage firm.
The city has regained the rights in a deal that will cost taxpayers $275,000, Hines said.
Hutto City Attorney Mike Shaughnessy said after the City Council meeting that the option rights involved an agreement the Hutto EDC had made to have the first right to buy seven tracts of land in the 1,200-acre megasite. The EDC had spent $80,000 on the agreement plus a study on what development would be appropriate for it, he said.
The Hutto EDC sold the option rights for $10 to a brokerage firm representing a blind trust, Shaughnessy said. He declined to comment on whether what the EDC did was legal. He also said he didn’t know when the Hutto EDC entered into the original agreement to be the first buyer.
Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/local/hutto-economic-development-corporation-under-criminal-investigation/y8QG9RTegC7zVhTfq4I7SI/