Irion County Commissioners Court July 15 2025
- G. Noelke
- Jul 17
- 8 min read
Agenda Analysis | Meeting Review | Meeting Documents | Commentary | Last Meeting
A. Agenda Analysis 1. Community Center Area Walk Through on Duncan Street, item 7: This meeting item merits attention for two reasons. First, as covered before, any new Community Center construction is going to impact City Park significantly, not the least of which is as a possible source for more stormwater runoff and another flood source for the IC ISD football stadium. Second, the agenda is a good example of a "roaming" meeting that has to be posted under the Open Meetings Act. That is, when a meeting changes location (here starting at the Courthouse and going to Duncan Street) and a quorum of Commissioners are present and official business is being discussed, then the change in location has to be posted on the agenda. This means that the public can also attend this part of the meeting because it too is an "open" meeting. You can tag along and listen in if you wish. 2. The time of the walk through: When the Court will be at the Park isn't listed, and if I am able to find out about when they will be there I will post it here. 3. Other examples of posted roaming meetings: The IC ISD Board did one some months back when they were evaluating what campus renovations were needed. And, years ago when I represented the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, I was involved in two. One was a tour of the Harris County Jail, which was posted as an executive session because of security reasons. The second was in Laredo when the Commission met for a meeting, then crossed over the border into Neuvo Laredo to eat at a restaurant. On occasion you'll see a governmental body posting a meal, and the reason is because of the Open Meetings Act requires it. To be clear, the Act turns on whether official business is being conducted, regardless of the location, and whether a quorum is present. Sometimes a governmental body will post social gatherings like meals just to be safe in the event the members discuss public business while they eat.
4. Contrast a roaming meeting with a roaming quorum: Technically, members who meet in less than a quorum and then meet with other members deliberately to avoid a quorum violate the Act because they are conducting what is called a roaming (or walking) quorum. That is different than having a meeting that changes location. There is nothing problematic about a quorum changing locations, so long as the location is posted, in advance, as it is here.
For more on the prohibition against roaming quorums, see Texas Government Code 551.143.
B. Meeting Review
Below is the map the Commissioners' Court considered during their roaming meeting.
The Court met in the caliche parking lot immediately south of the current Community Center. Commissioner Nanny was absent. In brief, they held a frank and thoughtful discussion about where to locate a new Community Center. The consensus was to locate it it in the caliche parking area south of the Community Center. See the green and gray rectangle in the map below.
Their thinking appears to be to make the western part of the current Community Center pad an outdoor pavilion, and turn an eastern part into parking. Some of my additional observations:
- The County's architect is considering a size even larger than recommended by the Community Committee proposed a few weeks ago. While attending that meeting, I recall that the current building is about 6,000 sf, and the proposal from the Committee was 12 to 15,000 sf. From what I heard at this meeting, the architects are at 20-24,000 sf. This raises the question: How much does the Community really need? The Court at this meeting was rightfully trying to grasp the size of the building. My experience now with two bond issues at Irion County ISD is that the design team will definitely start with "this is more than how much you can afford" instead of "this is what you have told us that you need".
-Arena: Again, heads up to those wanting to protect the arena, if you want to save the arena you are going to have to use the arena. Judge Criner favors keeping it as a cultural standard for the community, and I agree. But, here is the reality: while there was no mention of this use for it at this meeting, in time I think the arena will be used for parking. There is not enough parking in City Park as it is now during big events, so a larger events center is going to place more demand upon the local neighborhood streets. When those citizens start complaining I predict it will be pavement time for the arena.
-Stormwater - I learned something during the walk - the space between the current community center and show barn is itself acting as a drainage ditch, yet another sign of drainage problems in the area. Kudos to Judge Criner for her sweat equity; she's put in the hours herself to shovel out the oak leaves in between the two buildings. This raises the question whether an outdoor pavilion with cement pad is even feasible. Adding another larger impervious structure, without taking away the current center, is already going to add even more stormwater runoff. Note - the Lions Club is already donating an outdoor pavilion at the river, so one has to wonder about how many are needed.
-Water catchment - the Court seems united it conserving and using stormwater from roof runoff, but I think only Commissioner McManus understands at this point how limited that system will be. My rule of though, math aside, is that 1 inch of rainfall on 1 square foot of metal roof amounts to .60 gallons of water. (I collect rain water at the ranch to water dove and quail, and, unfortunately too many skunks and raccoons.) So, whatever the dimensions of the roof, it is going to be a LOT of water. By law the architect is required to plan the roof drainage for a 100 year flood. Here is my post for what the architect calculated for the new gym and why I am so persistent about IC ISD protecting our community from the stormwater coming from its campus. The new gym is roughly a 30,000 sf facility. So, while I can say the Court at this meeting thankfully showed some real appreciation that they are going to have to address stormwater, I don't think their design team has yet made the math clear to them. No water catchment system can be sized large enough to keep the lower elevations (football field) from being flooded in a serious storm. -Parking: another reason to continue to take this bull by the horns is the potential for folks to park in the shade in flood prone areas. The City and County need to coordinate on safe street parking for large events. Again, there are some lessons to be learned from the new gym given the stormwater flow design with parking at a lower elevation. I was the only person from the public present during the walk through. Take nothing I say above as the gospel truth. Verify for yourself by contacting a member of the Court. Be a citizen and engage.
2. Budget and salary workshop, item 6. I attended a portion of this part of the meeting. There are two things to note. a. Inmate housing. First, as I've mentioned elsewhere, one significant advantage Irion County has as compared to most other Texas counties is that its small population size has allowed it to transfer inmates to the Tom Green County jail, rather than managing and paying for its own jail. This inmate transfer is not without costs, and each year the Commissioner's Court sets the budget for the Sheriff's office, including the amount to house Irion County inmates in Tom Green County. Judge Criner stated in this meeting that Tom Green County was raising its daily fee for inmates from $8 a day to $50 dollars a day, a significant increase. During this meeting, after registering their initial shock at this increase, there was immediate consensus among the Court that even with this increase the fee was still cheaper than running their own jail. The Court is spot on correct on this point, and the community has them to thank for their fiscal prudence when it comes to inmate housing. b. Salaries. The discussion here was confusing enough that I can't provide a sentence or two on who is in line for a pay raise and for how much. In any event, nothing was finalized because this was a "workshop", and workshops are intended to air out the difficult issues. That said, I can say this much: this Court cares very much about how much to pay County employees and how to do so equitably. They also clearly understand the current cost of living pressures everyone is under. As I have said in other posts related to the City of Mertzon and IC ISD, citizens don't get good government if the leadership is too tightfisted with salaries. This workshop was a good sign that the Court cares about what folks are paid. Taxpayers should come to expect regular budget increases for salaries, with an understanding in the vast majority of situations government employees are seriously underpaid.
C. Commentary
Find another Location for the New Community Center
Only 10 days before this meeting our state experienced the devastating Central Texas floods. That same weather disturbance visited nearby Tom Green County, only 30 miles away in San Angelo, where there was up to a foot of water overnight. What our community and all its elected leaders at Irion County, Irion County ISD and the City of Mertzon now know is that all stormwater dumps into City Park. Yet somehow we have determined that City Park is the community's "center".
I think it is not financially prudent, and indeed dangerous, to continue to develop City Park for community purposes. There's every reason to believe the flooding problems are going to worsen through the years, and I don't think any of us have to be a trained hydrologist to understand this basic fact of nature: water always wins. That is a very expensive fact...if it is ignored.
I recommended to the IC ISD board back in 2019 before those improvements to the football stadium were made - with taxpayer dollars - that they should find another location for the stadium. I regret that they did not take my advice then because had they done so at least half of today's problem relating to the Community Center expansion wouldn't exist. IC ISD has every reason to be concerned that a new Community Center will wipe out their improvements at the stadium.
Similarly, my recommendation now is that Irion County should not build its new Community Center in City Park. The Commissioners' Court should search out higher grounds and go for where it is dry and more spacious. Our "center" should not be in a place that is known to flood, no matter how beautiful the oaks.
Copyright 2025 G. Noelke
