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Mertzon City Council May 18 2026

  • May 14
  • 3 min read

Updated: May 20

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


The flood detention area in Mertzon at 4th and W. Fleming has this exit for flood waters to cross W. Fleming. The same concept was proposed to slow and redirect the stormwaters at Fayette and 2nd Street. The stakes are the same: just a few blocks away the water reaches City Park.
The flood detention area in Mertzon at 4th and W. Fleming has this exit for flood waters to cross W. Fleming. The same concept was proposed to slow and redirect the stormwaters at Fayette and 2nd Street. The stakes are the same: just a few blocks away the water reaches City Park.



A. Agenda Analysis

  1. Mayor Pro-Tem, item 5: Council Member Jayton Lindley won the IC ISD school board election, so his role as Pro-Tem is vacated.

  2. 2nd Street Drainage, possible execution of the MOU Extension, item 6. As a reminder here is the expiring MOU. The City folks met with Interim Supt. Matt Underwood the week before this meeting to address the renewal. The issue at hand is really all about getting a flood control structure built at 2nd and Fayette/Juanita similar in design to the photos on this page. This design was understood what was necessary for both basins.

  3. Speed bumps on Duncan, item 8: The City is sovereign over the streets.




In theory, stormwater rushes in and leaves at the lowest point in a more controlled manner. The same concept was proposed, and adopted by voters, at the 2nd St. drainage area.
In theory, stormwater rushes in and leaves at the lowest point in a more controlled manner. The same concept was proposed, and adopted by voters, at the 2nd St. drainage area.

B. Meeting Review

  1. Mayor Pro Tem, item 5: The Council voted unanimously to elect Randy Councilman as Mayor Pro Tem.

  2. MOU extension, item 6: Folks from Gallagher Construction were present t explain the latest design of the flood control project on 2nd Street between Fayette and Juanita.

    The Council did not specifically vote on the plan, as they have been careful to not endorse any specific solution as they don’t have expertise in the area. One missing fact is: what is the flow rate capacity for this project? That was not discussed, so in time I think the City's reluctance to approve anything will have been well placed. This project is going to have to scale because there's every reason to believe that the District will continue to expand its facilities. The Council did, however, vote to approve the extension of the MOU until late July. The District also approved that extension at its meeting the following day.

    Note: Gallagher also raised at this meeting the need for a windrow in the alley between 4th and 5th where the new transportation facility water is being dumped. The Council agreed to allow Gallagher to put up that windrow. In theory this is going to protect the residence immediately adjacent to the alley. In practice, well, it is going to require maintenance through the years.




I’ve raised the question of where the runoff will go from this new proposed parking lot across from City Gym since before the 2024 Bond election. Representatives from Gallagher said at the last City Council meeting that they didn’t know yet. If it is allowed to flow north over Fayette it will flood the flume between the auditorium and City Gym, plus 4th Street. If it goes due East, it will flood a residence, which is wrong and unconstitutional. If it flows down Fayette, it will damage the City’s street and ultimately reach the 2nd Street drainage basin. The only solution is to leave it unpaved. Click on the tag “Grand Mistake” at the bottom of this page to see my longstanding efforts to get IC ISD to stop creating impervious cover.
I’ve raised the question of where the runoff will go from this new proposed parking lot across from City Gym since before the 2024 Bond election. Representatives from Gallagher said at the last City Council meeting that they didn’t know yet. If it is allowed to flow north over Fayette it will flood the flume between the auditorium and City Gym, plus 4th Street. If it goes due East, it will flood a residence, which is wrong and unconstitutional. If it flows down Fayette, it will damage the City’s street and ultimately reach the 2nd Street drainage basin. The only solution is to leave it unpaved. Click on the tag “Grand Mistake” at the bottom of this page to see my longstanding efforts to get IC ISD to stop creating impervious cover.

C. Commentary

  1. I understand that the joint meeting with the City and the Irion County Commissioner's Court about forming a Commission to address 765 kV lines, data centers and battery storage facilities will be rescheduled.

  2. I am beginning to see the cracks in administrative justice system in one of the 765 kV transmission cases. In the 49175 case that forms the segment just east of Irion County, there were 4,586 documents filed by May 13, a key deadline for intervenors. To be clear, those are "documents" that are often many pages in length. Some deadlines are being missed that I won't elaborate here. I'm thinking this letter from the legislators saying "hold up" PUC is in part due to the groundswell of opposition to the lines, as well as the system being unable to absorb 1,500 intervenors in an efficient manner.







Copyright 2026 G. Noelke

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