IC ISD Board May 19 2026
- May 26
- 5 min read
See my May 26 updates below.
A. Agenda Analysis
"Special" meeting: A "special" meeting is a meeting called because some matter of business falls outside the regular monthly meeting and has to be dealt with before the next regularly called meeting. The word "special" doesn't appear in the Open Meetings Act, and it different than an "emergency" meeting.
Approval of new Superintendent, item 3. The "special" part of this meeting is that the 21 day wait period to hire is expiring, and it is time for the Board to take the official act of hiring. Dr. Underwood may be officially hired here, but my understanding is that Interim Mr. Underwood is staying on until early June.
MOU with the City of Mertzon for drainage projects, item 4: This relates to the same MOU the City Council is addressing at its meeting the day before. There's a trade going on, and to keep it alive the parties need to extend the term. In a larger city, the city would be asking the District and its construction agents to comply with various development related ordinances. Since those ordinances don't exist in Mertzon, the City and IC ISD created this Memorandum of Understanding so that each side gets what it wants. The jury is still out, but it could be that this MOU method of regulation may be the model for future IC ISD bonds.
Closed session, item 6: I point this item out because this agenda is a good example of different drafting styles for a common issue. Dr. Moore's style for this item was simply "Personnel" as the agenda item. See agenda item 13 a at this meeting. Mr. Underwood, in contrast, states "deliberate the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of contract and/or at-will employee". Both of these postings refer to Texas Gov't Code 551.074, the personnel exception. And, both of these are correct under the law. I have a preference for agendas to be as detailed as possible so that board members don't go off agenda. So, an agenda item that spells out "deliberate the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal" is a reminder to the board in closed session that there are parameters to their discussion in closed. They can't just talk about anything...the discussion must be limited to "appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal". If you want to dig deeper, the Texas Municipal League's Closed Meetings to Discuss Personnel Matters, page 29, Open Meetings Act Made Easy, is a good place to start.
B. Meeting Review
May 26 update: I have uploaded the meeting documents, including the new Superintendent contract with Dr. Michael Heath. I have also updated my 765 kV case in the Commentary at 2.
Employment of new Supt., item 3: The Board voted unanimously to hire Dr. Michael Heath. The motion did not include a term or salary, so I will be doing an PIA request for that soon. I'm also not sure of the exact start date, though I believe it to be in early June.
MOU with the City of Mertzon on flood projects, item 4: Upon Interim Supt. Matt Underwood's recommendation, the Board approved an extension to the end of July. This was the period recommended by Gallagher Construction at the City Council meeting on May 18. So, this rounds out the extension among both parties. The re-do of the flume on 4th Street was also raised during the discussion, and President Carlile made a point of saying that those expenses were going to be born by "them", as in Gallagher or its contractors, but not IC ISD. This is important because the initial budget of $800,000+ was not generated by IC ISD, and there's little doubt that when these corrections are done it is going to be well above that. (The $800,000 figure was the budget total for both projects combined, and that amount has already been spent on the project at 4th and W. Fleming.)
HVAC and roofing bids, item 5: The Board agreed with Supt. Underwood to postpone here until next year on this project. I'm not sure of the exact reasons, but I suspect that initiating such a large project during an interim superintendent's brief tenure was at least one factor. Supt. Underwood's time here will be less than two months, and I could tell even during my brief meeting with him that he is (appropriately) reluctant to initiate anything long term.
Closed session, items 6 and 8: I did not stay beyond the announcement of the closed session; I understand there were no votes taken once they returned to open.
C. Commentary
Dr. Heath as a rain maker? A significant rain, hail, wind and lightning storm happened during/after this meeting. Dr. Heath was in attendance at the meeting, and perhaps he, Supt. Underwood and the Board all got to see...that I have not been exaggerating.
765 kV update: a. This pleading of mine that I filed on Sunday before this meeting. Here is the Oncor/LCRA reply to that pleading, and here is my response to their reply.
And, this excellent resolution by the Irion County Commissioner's Court filed on Tuesday. b. I was able to successfully intervene last week in the CCN 59475 segment of the project that goes from Eldorado to Belton. This is significant because my argument for intervention was essentially that my ranch in Irion Co. created an ongoing justiciable interest in the case next door where I don't own property. Frankly, I've never been a part of litigation of this magnitude, what with I'm guessing over 1,500 intervenors. I'll quote what some of the legislators (now having second thoughts about this mess) are saying: Texans deserve a more thoughtful and deliberate approach to improving existing infrastructure, one that enhances reliability and resilience, reduces costs, and better protects private property rights.
I agree. Well said.
Copyright 2026 G. Noelke
