Copperas Cove city council approves land swap agreement with local businessmen

By LYNETTE SOWELL 

Cove Leader-Press 

The east side of the U.S. 190 bypass is a step closer to future development, after the Copperas Cove city council approving a land exchange with the United States of America and business partners James Clark and Wesley Atkinson.

The approval took place at Tuesday’s council meeting, but the process has taken several years to complete in dealing with the government. 

The parcels of land that Clark and Atkinson will gain are 13.39 right-of-way acres along the east side of the bypass. In turn, Fort Hood will gain a total of 24.07 acres. 

City Manager Ryan Haverlah explained the back-and-forth part of the exchange, and why it was necessary for the city to play a role in the exchange. 

“The city has an agreement with James Clark and Wesley Atkinson to receive privately-owned land, which we have received, exchanged that land to Fort Hood, Fort Hood will then give that the 13-plus acre strip of land to the city in deed form, and then we will deed that property to those business partners.” 

In addition to the acreage gained from the swap, Clark and Atkinson also own tracts of 71.342 and 32.984 acres on Mashburn road, which adjoin the U.S. 190 bypass, in the vicinity of the Old Copperas Cove Road exit. 

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the council approved an ordinance that establishes the city’s estimated population at 38,211, as of Jan. 1, 2023. 

This number is arrived at using a combination of the 2020 U.S. Census population of 36,670, then adding in the number of dwelling permits 2022. In 2022, the city had a total of 329 single-family and 45 duplex housing permits, which comes to 375 residential units. According to the 2020 Census, Copperas Cove has an average of 2.63 persons per household. Multiplying the number of new dwellings of 375 by 2.63, calculates to 986 being added to the estimated population in 2022. The same calculation for the year 2021 added 555 residents. Adding them all together comes up to 1,541 added to the 2020 Census population.

The new estimate shows that Copperas Cove has grown by an estimated 4.2 percent over the past two years.