Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Octa Homes Business Manager Anzer Husain (left) and Octa Homes Executive Director Mayer Husain show changes to plans for a new manufactured home park to Kerens City Council Aug. 9.

KERENS–Kerens City Council reviewed changes to the proposed Richland Gardens manufactured home community during its Aug. 9 meeting.
July 12, Octa Homes Executive Director Mayer Husain and Octa Homes Business Manager Anzer Husain, both of Houston, first presented plans for the park. Then, the community (which would be located on 31 acres in the northeastern part of town) planned for new manufactured homes to be placed on 225 lots.
Now, the number of lots has been reduced to 150 (maintaining a minimum square footage of 850 for mandatory new homes) because Mayer Husain said feedback based on the “calculated growth” of Kerens indicated the first plans were “too dense.”
Said Kerens Mayor Jeffrey Saunders, “I like this plan better.”
Mayer Husain said a mandatory homeowners’ association (HOA) would enforce rules about property upkeep, as well as maintain concrete streets built by the HOA. He said the newer plans also call for a minimum 51,750 square-foot common area, including a clubhouse that would be a minimum of 3,000 square feet, also maintained by the HOA.
Anzer Husain said the development would target people who want to work remotely, be within distance of Dallas and enjoy country living.
Kerens City Administrator Katherine Combs said the council plans to consider at its September meeting changing the land upon which the park would be located (which Anzer Husain said is still in the engineering phase) from single-family zoning to a manufactured home district.
Council also approved a resolution dealing with a negotiated settlement between the Atmos Cities Steering Committee (of which Kerens is a member) and Atmos Energy about Atmos’ 2022 rate review mechanism filing for natural gas service.
Combs said Atmos originally asked for a $145 million total rate increase for cities within the steering committee, which have retained their rights to control rates of the utility franchise, as opposed to other cities that have ceded that authority to the Public Utility Commission of Texas.
Atmos and the steering committee settled for a $115 million total rate increase, which Combs said translates to a $4-$6 increase per month for Kerens natural gas customers.
In addition, council discussed the city’s next tax rate. Combs said Kerens’ rate is currently $0.6805, that the no new revenue rate (at which Kerens would collect the same amount of property taxes as last year) is $0.5829 and that the highest rate council could adopt is $0.6208 without triggering a tax ratification election.
Combs said the tax rate would have to go down “significantly” without holding an election because of increased property valuations within the city, which generally increase property-tax funding with the same rate.
Council also discussed two budget proposals, both of which Combs said have balanced funding and spending. She said council plans to adopt the city’s next tax rate and budget at its September meeting.