Irion County Commissioners Court meeting June 24 2025

Agenda Analysis | Meeting Review | Meeting Documents | Commentary | Last Meeting

This photo shows how close the Irion County Community Center, the building in the center with a tan roof, is to the IC ISD football stadium.

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June 24 Agenda

A. Agenda Analysis

1. Community Center Committee presentation, item 5: As written, this item appears to be for just receiving the committee's presentation, so that no formal action (a vote) is going to be taken. For my "how to read an agenda" series, note, however, the language above the item, "DELIBERATE, CONSIDER and/or TAKE ACTION ON ANY OF THE FOLLOWING". This is the fail safe language for the Commissioners to take any action, including a vote.

2. Why you should be interested in this agenda item: If you are a resident of Irion County (or own real property in the county), your tax dollars are or will be being used for the capital improvements at both the stadium and Community Center. Stormwater flooding inundates this area of City Park, a matter that I have extensively written about in this website. Because some, not all, of that flooding can be sourced to local government authorities (IC ISD and the City of Mertzon) I have described this situation as one where government is flooding itself. This problem has grown more complex with the possibility of expansions or improvements to the Community Center that could worsen the flooding at the football stadium. The folks that pay for flooding are local taxpayers. My goal here is not to quash whatever the Committee has found, but rather to continue to bring light to the problem of flooding so that our local governments do not make the flooding worse, at taxpayer expense. (A number of private landowners, myself included, are also experiencing flooding.) If at the same time, you get a lesson in civics, decide to attend a public meeting or learn something new about the law, all the better.

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Some sand piles currently in the parking lot between the Community Center and stadium conveniently show the direction of the stormwater runoff. This parking lot was a joint project in 2022 between IC ISD, who paid 60%, and Irion County, who paid 40%. The stakes for IC ISD to avoid flooding have increased since the passage of the 2024 school bonds. They are spending some of that bond money on replacing the turf and track, as well as on an extension of the field house, the building left of center.

B. Meeting Review

1. Community Center Committee Presentation, item 5: The Committee, comprised of Ashley Hill, Nicole Hamilton, Jennifer Thorp, Michelle Rushing and Deborah __, presented these slides (.pdf) to the Commissioners. It was a well thought out presentation, and clearly the committee invested a lot of time and energy into the effort. Count this as the "thinking phase" of the project; these were Committee recommendations to the Court, not the final decision of the Court. An architect has already been hired and was present at the meeting.

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C. Commentary

A few brief comments about the presentation:

• As a member of the IC ISD Board, Ashley Hill (a member of this committee) is quite aware of the flooding issues at City Park. In this committee presentation she, I'm glad to say, paid special attention to the flooding issues. I know, as well, that Judge Criner herself, and the entire Court, is also aware of these problems. This brings the local flooding issues full circle. Or, perhaps this is a circular firing squad with taxpayers in the center and Board members and County Commissioners doing the shooting. If neither the IC ISD or the Commissioner's Court can reach a truce on development in the basin (which includes how any new Community Center might flood the football field), then both are assured mutual destruction by floodwaters. Without a a reasoned approach to development in the basin, countless taxpayer dollars will be wasted by local flooding. I just don't get the previous lack of cooperation on this issue by elected government representatives. I can't be any more clear than this: without careful planning and cooperation, expansion of the Community Center will result in flooding of the football stadium.

• The Committee did an excellent job presenting only plans and features that preserved the existing oaks.

• The Committee appears to have endorsed doubling the size of the current Community Center. The amount of money to do so was not discussed, and I gather from their recommendations that their charge did not include a specific budget amount. I'm unaware of what the dollar amount the Commissioners' Court is considering.

• The fly in the ointment for the County I suspect will the very limited space at City Park, and in particular, limited parking. And, any increase in size of the facility is going to require more disability parking spots, per ADA requirements. That equals more paving and more impermeable areas, which means more flooding to the football field. Limited parking will also be a concern for IC ISD given their need for parking when the field is used. (IC ISD is no stranger to parking issues, as evidenced by the parking problems created with the new gym paid for with 2019 bond funds.)

• The Committee's maps/proposals formally did not consider taking out the arena and using its space for a new Community Center, and I was surprised there was some consensus at the end of the presentation for doing so. Rodeo and horse folks, take note. Removal of the arena has been put on the table.

• There was some mention of a rain catchment system and putting in underground tanks for water storage to use for watering in the park and to decrease flooding. Again, it is commendable that the Committee is sensitive to the issue of water conservation and stormwater flooding. If underground storage is cost prohibitive, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin has a well thought out and attractive above ground system, as an example of how to integrate a rain system with a garden.

• Who was not present at the meeting and should have been? Any representative from the City of Mertzon. (I am not privy to why the City wasn't present, but they should have been invited.) Supt. Moore was present for IC ISD, however. Like I said back in April, 2019, before that bond election, the way to solve our flooding issues is to have all 3 of our local government stakeholders - the City, IC ISD and Irion County - all working together and agreeing to limit their input of stormwater runoff into the basin. Another way to put it is...they need to mutually agree to help the other save taxpayer dollars. In the end, it will continue to be the taxpayers who are losing out if nothing is done to control the flooding.

Note to any new readers, as I typically don’t cover county government: I earn no income off of this site. If anything, this site is an is an experiment in civics and the 1st Amendment.

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Copyright 2025 G. Noelke