Mertzon City Council July 20 2026
- Jul 19
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 22
Agenda Analysis | Meeting Review | Meeting Documents | Commentary | Last Meeting
A. Agenda Analysis
Previous meeting: A previously scheduled meeting was postponed for lack of a quorum, and several of the items on this agenda were on that agenda. Here is the page for that meeting.
Nexbil, item 8: The City doesn't currently have an online portal for water/sewer customers to access and pay their accounts. My recollection from a previous Council meeting that this item will address this.
Texas Water Development Board WSIG grant, item 9: More information on the TWDB Water Supply and Infrastructure Grant can be found here. These last several years the City (and, in particular, Michele Rabenaldt) has been quite successful at getting grant monies, so this is something to watch.
B. Meeting Review
Ordinance 7-6-26, item 5: See page 3 of the meeting documents. This is the ordinance required by 311.008 of the Texas Transportation Code to close an alley or street. Council Member Crutchfield made the motion to approve, Council Member Harper seconded, and the Council unanimously approved. See my Commentary below on the significance of this vote.
The Council had a good meeting and accomplished several other worthwhile things, like approving the application for the WSIG grant. But, for this meeting I am going to keep the focus on Ordinance 7-6-26.
C. Commentary
My regular readers know that the origin of this site is based on Irion County ISD's 2019 bonds that were used to construct a 30,000+ sf gymnasium a block from my home. Stormwater runoff was already flooding my property, and it was evident from the placement of the gym that my property was going to be inundated with even more water. My early advocacy included a brief unsuccessful effort in District Court using the Texas Private Real Property Preservation Act at Texas Gov't Code Chapter 2007. I've stayed out of the Courthouse since then. Instead, I've relied on persistently attending public meetings, oral and written advocacy and, of course, this blog.
This meeting of the Council is significant because it represents the City of Mertzon coming full circle and finally recognizing my key argument that I presented before construction of the gymnasium started: the City failed to lawfully close the street and alley under 311.008 of the Texas Transportation Code.
In this meeting, the Council left no room for doubt by passing Ordinance 7-6-26 that applies 311.008 for the benefit of a local citizen who sought to have an alley abandoned when the citizen owned the entire city block. Council Member Crutchfield, the very same member who made the motion to close the street and alley for the benefit of IC ISD's gym, made the motion to close the alley for this citizen. Full circle. One reason for municipalities to strictly abide by 311.008 is that failing to follow it leaves a cloud on the title of the property that was abandoned. That is why I don't recognize the new gymnasium near my property as "Hornet Gym", its given name by IC ISD, but instead as "City Gym". There's no duration of squatting on that street and alley by IC ISD that will ever convert it to the property of IC ISD. I predict in the future IC ISD will have trouble getting Moody AAA ratings through TEA's Bond Guarantee Program when they seek to pass bonds to improve the gym. IC ISD is just like the rest of us when we seek to use credit to improve real property - if there is a cloud on the title they are going to pay more or maybe not even get the credit at all. Another reason to abide by 311.008 is that a protestor like myself just may have a point: abandoning the street or alley is not in the best interests of the public and may have some very expensive consequences. In my situation, IC ISD had to spend over $800,000 in 2024 bond funds to build a flood detention wall to protect a Mertzon city street and my real property from flooding. (Case law has long held that the flooding of private property by government is an unlawful "taking" under the Texas and US Constitutions. If the government doesn't first pay a fair price first for the taking, the flooding is called "inverse condemnation". ) Moreover, the extra rainwater runoff from the impervious cover of the gym will forever flood City Park, where the rainwater drains to, and where the Community Center, public pool, public livestock arena and IC ISD's football stadium are all located. So, the costs associated with City Gym will be experienced for decades to come. All that said, Ordinance 7-6-26 stands for progress for property owners in Mertzon. And, perhaps others are using this unfortunate situation to learn from. Because folks are always searching for how to close a city street or alley, my page Alley Oops regularly receives hits and remains popular on my blog three years after it was posted.
765 kV cases: Last week was a significant week in these cases. I filed a notice that because the PUC had missed a significant deadline the application sought by Oncor and LCRA, including the route that goes through Irion County, was denied by operation of law. Also, there’s a Texas Senate hearing on the cases on the 29th. I’ll provide more info on my 765 kV page.
A delicious combo plate can be found at the Boquillas Restaurant Bar in Boquillas Mexico. You can get there inside Big Ben National Park at the Boquillas Entry Point. There’s a boat ride available to cross the Rio Grande, and after that you can get a burro ride into Boquillas. Get it all done before 11:00 am in the summer. It’s blazing hot by 11:00 down there.
Copyright 2026 G. Noelke
