Here is the agenda for the City Council meeting tonight. My analysis and comments are below.
Below are my comments and analysis for this meeting.
A. Minutes from previous meeting address a potential street closure. The Council, as it always does, approved its minutes for its last meeting. It is easy to forget about minutes because the governmental body typically has little discussion around them. But, they are key historical sign posts that are part of the official record. Unless you have a recording or can get a recording from the governmental body, if it isn't in the minutes for all practical purposes it didn't happen. I have posted the minutes of the prior meeting here, but for my purposes here is the most essential part of the approved minutes: "Public Comments: ICISD Superintendent Moore spoke to the council about the school wanting to permanently close 3rd Street between the administration building and the high school where the current parking lot is located." B. Public comments this meeting. I spoke during the public comment of this meeting, and here are my comments to the Council: "I would like to make the following comments related to the repair of W. Fleming from flooding:
Concerning Superintendent Moore's comments at your last meeting that the District wishes to close parts of 3rd Street for a potential 2024 bond package, neither the City nor the District can have their cake and eat it too. One reason I opposed the closure of 4th Street and the alley for the new gym was the terrible precedent it would set for future street closure requests by the District. One or the other, the District or the City, is going to have to assert that the closure of 4th Street and its alley for the gym was precedent setting. That comes with a whole new set of legal issues. (See this page, City Gym, for my take on the improper closure of 4th Street for the 2019 bonds.)
The legal issue at play with the flooding caused by the 2019 bonds is not limited to whether the course of the stormwater has been changed. The legal issue includes, among other things, determining how much private land has been newly dedicated to public use for stormwater drainage by the City and the District.
I oppose cementing any part of W. Fleming unless and until the District agrees to concede that the land in the playground field can be used for drainage, as all the topo maps show that it is. I doubt they will ever make such a concession because for seven years now (at least until a few months ago when the tenures of Supt. DeSpain and Pres. Flores ended) it appears that the District’s leaders believed their moral imperative was to just keep the stormwater off of the District and just let everyone else downstream sink or swim. Problem is, they are flooding the District’s property at the football stadium. So, it is impossible for the District to assert the typical moral imperative used by school districts, “This is all for the kids.” This has not been “all for the kids”.
These are the problems we have to continue to address in this situation where the District has gotten its way with the City, and the City won’t regulate stormwater. One reason to regulate stormwater is to avoid these conundrums."
C. Odds and ends. The Daily Operations Update and the Administrative Report/Other Announcements are often the most informative parts of the City's meetings. The radar sign has been purchased and will be delivered in two months. There's a repeat offender table thrower at the park on Spring Creek who has decided that his/her civic obligations include repeatedly throwing a park bench on the river bank into the river after City staff puts it back on the bank. It is a wash, rinse and repeat kind of thing. (What's this brand of cat and mouse act about?! Folks, a key disclosure came out during this discussion: the City uses game cameras at the park, so mind your manners.) Finally, the Council approved its schedule for next month and they will meet on the 2nd and 16th.
Copyright 2023 G. Noelke