Were these 2019 upgrades to the football field fiscally prudent when the District knew its decisions to build the gym in its location was certain to increase flooding at the football field? Ask that question the next time you see the football field flood. And it is going to flood again...
One goal of this site is to create a historical record so that when new government leadership is elected, appointed or moves up in rank that they have some foundational understanding of how past decisions were made and who made them...
In the spring and summer of 2023, our community all at once underwent a significant leadership change. We now have a new Mayor (Aubrey Stewart), new Mayor Pro Tem (Jayton Lindley), new ICISD Superintendent (Nikki Moore), and new ICISD board leadership (President Maegin Carlile*, Vice President Ricky Rey*, Secretary Ashley Hill* and new board member Tony Martinez). While I've covered the decision to close 4th Street on the pages City Gym and Alley Oops, I thought now would be the opportune time to add some audio to the mix so that this new leadership could hear it straight from the horse's mouth.
So, here is the August 17, 2020 audio of Irion County ISD Athletic Director Jacob Conner's presentation to the Mertzon City Council to close 4th Street, along with the Council's vote to close. The "Description" link on the YouTube page show the indexed times, so you can click on those to jump around in the audio to save time.
Here are a few of my observations:
Conner's presentation clearly avoids the elephant in the room - that the gym location he proposes will cause storm water runoff that will not only flood streets, homes and the City Park, but ALSO will flood the very football field he manages and at the time of his presentation was being upgraded. He simply does not address the issue of storm water flooding. And, he can't claim ignorance of the issue. The District paid approximately $25,000 for its own hydrology study, the Hydrologic and Hydraulic Study Irion County ISD Football Field, which was completed in May, 2020, just 3 months before this presentation. This study transparently shows that the 4th Street proposal by Conner was in the same basin as the football field. Conner is obviously failing to disclose this study.
And to put a fine point on his failure to address this huge issue, only moments before his presentation I had spoken in open forum against the same location because of the storm water flooding it would cause. I have been speaking against the new gym because of flooding issues since April 2019, prior to the bond election. There is no clearer evidence of the District's willingness to flood itself - and its neighbors - than its failure to heed my repeated warnings while ignoring its own hydrology study. (And the District continued to ignore the study as recently as June 2023 when it completed what I have labeled the GMPL, the Grand Mistake Parking Lot. The storm water runoff from this lot is in the same basin as City Gym and the football field.)
Consider whether Conner's statements proclaiming that there would be plenty of parking have aged well. It already appears that in its first year that there was not sufficient parking. This will be something that the City has to contend with for the life of the gym, a cost they didn't discuss. Texas law provides that coaches are responsible for keeping emergency access lanes open during competitive events, so it would appear that Conner is dependent upon the City for his compliance with the law, a cost that he likely failed to consider.
The City Council's failure to ask Conner a single question during his presentation and, after the executive session, their lack of discussion of the motion to close the street are quintessential signs of a pre-engineered outcome. Another sign that the decision to close the street was pre-determined was the technical motion to close, which was likely approved by the lawyers for the District and the City. (It is commonplace for lawyers to draft motions in advance for their clients in controversial situations.) The motion, however, failed to close the alley, an issue I cover at Alley Oops. This audio makes it crystal clear that there was no public discussion as to the alley.
The City Council's failure to discuss Council Member Danny Crutchfield's motion to close after the executive session was a fatal failure to establish a record that the Council believed it was for a good governmental purpose to close the street. Establishing that good purpose, or essentially that their act was in the public interest, is essential under their statute (Texas Local Gov't Code 51.001) to pass an ordinance, which is required when closing a street. See City Gym. Had the City Council handled this motion properly, however, they would have been hard pressed to establish a good purpose given the street, residences, park and football field flooding that were a forgone conclusion were the gym to be built at the 4th street location. Moreover, the District leases the land for the football filed from the City, so the City was always in a double bind to establish that it was in the public interest to close a street that would contribute to the flooding of the land it oversees for the public's interest.
For even more on the dispute over where the gym should be located, see my post Pickin' A Fight. To be certain, Conner's comments here come after the City Council had previously told the District they could not have the 4th Street site and the Board - except for one member - voted to approve an alternate site that would not have flooded me.
I may add additional comments here in the future. Stay tuned.
*Carlile, Rey and Hill were on the ICISD Board on the date of Conner's presentation, but they didn't hold leadership positions at the time.