A 142 acre property near FM 3039 and Celia Drive has become the center of one of Combine’s most consequential land use disputes. The fight pits the city’s restrictions on new mining against a company’s push to remove sand from the site.

City records describe the land as the Whiskey River Development. Residents told the Combine City Council the property was once planned as a residential subdivision.

By July 2025 residents described the property differently. They called it a mining pit and raised concerns about neighboring land, public safety and groundwater.

Verdego Materials disputed the city’s position. A company representative argued the business was being targeted while other mining operations continued inside Combine.

The conflict did not end with a permit decision. Combine later sued Whiskey River Development Corp. and Verdego Materials LLC over two parcels along FM 3039.

The case was still active on city agendas as of August 2026.

How the Rules Changed

The dispute developed during a major shift in how Combine regulates excavation and mining.

On January 27, 2025 the City Council unanimously approved Ordinance 2025-002. The ordinance repealed Chapter 151 from the city’s Code of Ordinances. That chapter had been titled “Gravel Pits.” The repeal took effect the same day.

The repealed chapter had set excavation permit requirements and other rules for gravel pits. The ordinance did not use the words “ban” or “prohibition.”

Later city records show officials treated the change as ending approval for new mining inside Combine.

Combine added a separate grading permit process two months later. On March 24, 2025 the council approved a grading permit requirement that came out of a subdivision workshop.

The requirement gave the city engineer authority to review erosion control and drainage plans. It applies to property developments of five acres or more. Council members also set a $600 permit fee.

The city’s grading permit application allows approved applicants to clear brush and begin early site grading. It also allows some excavation and fill work. The material and amount must be approved by the city engineer, and excavation for mining is prohibited.

That distinction became the central question in the case. Was the Whiskey River work legitimate site grading, or was it a sand mining operation?

City Says It Is Mining

Verdego Materials submitted a grading permit application on May 13, 2025. The company sought permission to remove sand from part of the 142 acre property.

The city engineer and city manager denied the application. According to the July 28 council minutes, the amount of material proposed for removal amounted to a mining operation in the city’s view.

The minutes do not disclose the proposed volume of sand. They also do not list the planned depth, truckload estimates or how long the work would last.

Those missing figures make it impossible to independently judge the project’s scale from the public record alone.

Verdego appealed the denial to the City Council. Seven residents signed up to speak when the council heard the appeal on July 28.

The minutes say residents described damage they believed the excavation was causing to nearby properties. They also raised safety concerns.

Residents also submitted a geology report prepared by Dr. Devin Dennie. City minutes describe the report as addressing the effects uncontrolled sand and gravel mining can have on landscapes and groundwater quality.

The minutes do not reproduce the report’s findings. They also do not document site specific groundwater testing.

For that reason, the report should not be read as proof that contamination had already occurred. It was presented as evidence of potential hazards for the council to weigh.

City officials responded that mining operations active at the time had received approval before the January 2025 rule change.

Council Member Patrick Stepp moved to uphold the permit denial. Council Member Julian Castaneda seconded the motion. The council approved it unanimously.

The vote left the city’s original decision in place. Verdego could not use the grading permit to remove the proposed amount of sand.

The Case Moves to Court

The conflict escalated after the July appeal. On August 25, 2025 the council unanimously ratified a lawsuit in Kaufman County’s 489th Judicial District Court.

The case is Cause No. 121712-489. It names the City of Combine as plaintiff.

It names Whiskey River Development Corp. and Verdego Materials LLC as defendants. Two parcels are also named: Parcel IDs 12502 and 73094.

Those two parcels sit along FM 3039. They match the property at the center of the Whiskey River dispute.

By February 2026 the litigation had produced court ordered work at the site. That update came from the mayor and was recorded in the February 23 council minutes.

The minutes state that a court ordered the defendants to drain a pit created through unauthorized mining. The order also required them to fill part of the pit and seal its bottom. The goal was to stop water described as contaminated from reaching an underground stream or aquifer.

The court order itself was not included with the published minutes reviewed for this article. Those details are attributed to the city’s official summary and are not independently confirmed here.

The minutes do not provide lab results, contaminant measurements or the order’s full findings.

Two Different Verdego Cases

The Whiskey River lawsuit should not be confused with a separate case. That case involves Verdego Materials, Clayton Wittwer and the City of Combine.

The second dispute concerned Combine Road. It centered on the city’s removal of part of the road from its truck route system and who controlled that roadway near Verdego’s established mining site.

On August 11, 2026 the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas affirmed the dismissal of Verdego’s claims in the truck route case. That ruling did not resolve the grading permit dispute over the 142 acre Whiskey River property.

What the Record Shows and What It Doesn’t

Combine’s records establish a clear sequence of events. They also leave real gaps that matter to residents on both sides.

For Combine, the fight is about more than one permit. It tests how a small city balances development, natural resources and neighboring property rights.

At its center is a hard question with no easy answer. When does ordinary land preparation cross the line into commercial mining?