By TX3DNews Staff
PRINCETON, Texas — A full public-appearance segment at Monday’s Princeton City Council meeting focused on water and sewer billing, inspection and certificate-of-occupancy practices, drainage near new development, and access to city services. Later, the council approved updates to the city fee schedule and advanced a White Wing Trails plat while reiterating that no Phase 3 building permits will be issued until the subdivision’s amenity center receives a final certificate of occupancy.
Opening invocation
The meeting began with a prayer that referenced the “funeral service for Charlie Kirk” and his widow’s public statement of forgiveness.
Water and sewer bills dominate public comment
Several residents asked for clearer information on wastewater refunds and for the city to publish the citywide “winter averaging” value used when individual accounts lack historical data.
“The wastewater refund for excessive billing is currently underway… the ordinance states that for accounts without winter averaging data, the citywide winter averaging data will be used. I made a request to publish what that data is. To this date, that has not happened,” one speaker said.
Another resident criticized repeated reviews and asked the council to repeal Ordinance 202-409-1602.
“A rate study was presented in 2022… again in 2023… in 2024, it was the third one in three years. I’m asking you to pass an ordinance that completely repeals Ordinance 202-409-1602.”
Residents question consultant payments
A speaker asked the city to reconcile a prior water-rate study contract with payments shown in city records.
“Why is there a contract for NewGen Strategies that said it would not exceed $50,000, but the city checkbook shows they have been paid over $95,000? I am asking council to thoroughly investigate.”
Homeowners allege inspection and CO lapses
Multiple White Wing Trails homeowners described issues they said they experienced with inspections and certificates of occupancy.
“I have documentation of houses issued [COs] without all their inspections… I personally have three inspections that were done with an expired permit… If you don’t have the IECC inspection, you’ll get mold in your house. That’s how I got mold,” one resident said.
(These are resident allegations made during public comment.)
Drainage and ETJ concerns
Residents flagged terraced grading near Harper Elementary and asked for city–county coordination as some developers move projects outside the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.
“Getting out of the ETJ allows them to sell it and not have that moratorium… Can the city and the county work together?” a speaker asked.
Access to city services
One resident requested a clearly visible AED in council chambers, more household hazardous-waste options, and noted weekend library closures.
“My request is for an AED to be mounted where we can see it… If there are two Green Days, that may be the solution… The library is closed on Saturday and Sunday… our library is important to the community.”
Council actions
White Wing Trails Phase 3B: Staff restated the standing condition on permits:
“No building permits will be issued for any part of Phase 3 until the final certificate of occupancy has been issued for the amenity center.”
The motion on the White Wing Trails item passed 5–2.
Fee schedule: The council approved updates 6–1 after removing an ETJ-removal fee. During discussion, staff said certain recycling-related charges reflect vendor indexing and are passed through to residents, not new program mandates.
“These are the current charges increasing due to consumer index pricing… adopting those new rates as a pass-through to the residents,” staff said.
Water/sewer rate schedule: In a separate vote, the council approved an ordinance that, according to the city’s CFO, makes a single change:
“We are removing the flat rate wastewater that is applied to the residents outside of Princeton that we provide sewer services for… that is the only change to this rate schedule.”
That motion passed 6–1.
Consent agenda: Earlier, the council pulled several items for separate discussion and approved the remaining consent items 7–0 after a re-vote and a clarifying motion on minutes language.
Tone and next steps
Public speakers urged council members to “ask questions on behalf of the residents” and to improve transparency and responsiveness.
“When residents approach city staff and cannot get answers, it is your responsibility to demand accountability,” one commenter said.
Staff said they will keep the council apprised on White Wing Trails compliance items—including the amenity-center CO and related fences/walls—and report back on options to expand household hazardous-waste disposal events.
Editor’s note: Quotations reflect the city’s Sept. 22, 2025 meeting audio/closed-caption transcript. Allegations raised by residents are reported as statements made during public comment. Follow TX3Dnews.com local news page for local coverage.