top of page

Mertzon City Council June 17 2024


Street intersection with speed limit sign.
This 25 MPH speed limit sign on Bank Hill will be no more by meeting time.
 

Below is the agenda for this meeting, with my agenda analysis and meeting analysis underneath.


A. Agenda analysis

  1. The Council of late has been prioritizing greater use of the little league fields, as seen in agenda item 5. This is a good thing. I’m not much of a baseball fan, and I still think this is a good thing.

  2. Office space for the sewer plant, item 6: This is the first time this has come up to my knowledge, though a year or two back it came up in the limited sense of the space was also being over utilized for document storage. Stay tuned.

 

Rad Rover 6 Plus e-bike with a pick axe resting in a gun mount.
I was wrong back in March when I said the only digging tools I owned were a shovel and trowel. There’s this pick axe that I am currently using to build a hike, bike and horse trail. I initially added the gun mount for my crossbow, but I’ve found it useful for other purposes as well. Going off-road on my Rad Power Bike is way more efficient (and fun!) than on an ATV.


B. Meeting analysis. Here are the meeting documents for this meeting.

  1. Repairs to baseball field stands, item 5: Jaydon Taylor was present and discussed with the Council his evaluation and bid for demo/repair/replacement of the stands. After much discussion, the Council accepted his bid of $2,410 to demo the existing stands. The City is going to reach out to Jaime Tankersley on the little league side to encourage a fund raiser to replace the stands. The Council wants to encourage year round use of the field, but doesn't have the money budgeted to do it right. It's a good idea to do a fundraiser. The City shouldn't bear the entire burden. See the meeting documents for more details.

  2. Office space, item 6: The City is in talks with Producer's Marketing Cooperative and the railroad to purchase/lease the building/land immediately north of the Wool House.

  3. Other announcements, item 9b: Mayor Stewart gave an update on his meeting with the City's engineer, Supt. Moore and Parkhill's engineers on ICISD's proposals to address stormwater flooding from the campus. It is important for our community to understand that even at these earliest of pre-bid planning stages hydrology engineers can predict quantities and patterns of water flow. And, ICISD is required to by law to evaluate it's impact. We were all hoodwinked in 2019 by ICISD failing to properly address the impact of the stormwater displacement from the bond build out. It's not as if I wasn't speaking out, publicly, that the District needed to disclose its hydrology data back in 2019. I was. So, what was done at this meeting is what should have happened back in 2019. What ICISD is doing now is something that they are already required to do by law, and the incentive is that they wish to close 3rd Street permanently for the new elementary building.

  4. Other announcements, cont'd: Mayor Stewart also announced his meeting with Judge Molly Criner and Supt. Moore to form a coalition so that future community emergencies are messaged consistently among the City, County and ICISD. This effort was born from one of Mayor Stewart's recent initiatives after the fugitive situation developed. (See B.2. on this page.) I applaud each of them for these efforts. Consistent messaging during emergencies is something that builds trust in government. The consequences of failing in messaging are significant in these days of social media.


 
Typed notice that speed limits are going to 30 mph.
This was the notice about the speed limit change included with the most recent city water bill. Going forward the Irion County Sheriff’s Office will be responsible for regulating speed within the city limits.

A rural city street intersection with a post for a speed limit sign but no sign.
And then…there was no speed limit sign. The City’s new radar sign recently clocked a driver at 51 MPH at this location. Under current law that would be 21 MPH over the speed limit. The Irion County Sheriff’s Office has their work cut out for them.

 

Copyright 2024 G Noelke

bottom of page