
This is my photo of a Parkhill slide during a recent ICISD community meeting showing where runoff should be according to the topo map. The red and green arrows show that the water flows to City Park and, specifically, to the county owned roping arena and community center barn. The three government stakeholders in every flood, therefore, are Irion County ISD, the City of Mertzon, and Irion County. Whether or not your residence is being flooded, one question you should ask is: What are these government stakeholders doing as stewards of your tax dollars to protect City Park?
Here is the agenda for the February 5, 2024 meeting, with my agenda analysis under that and my meeting analysis under that.

Agenda Analysis:
Item 6, Frontier: This hopefully about the installation of Frontier's new fiber optic cable. Mertzon is sorely missing fast internet speeds, and Frontier has long rumored to be installing a fiber optic cable.
Item 5, street closure for a party: You might not think about it unless you are a regular reader of this blog, but in Texas the streets are the domain of the city. So, whether to party on them or to use them as part of your construction or business, you do so only with approval of the City. And, squatters can't take adverse possession of a street, no matter how long they stay. Who is going to clean up the pop cans in the street after the party is over what I want to know...
What's not on the agenda: Mayor Stewart and Councilman Councilman attended both and Councilman Crutchfield attended one of the ICISD pre-bond committee meetings that I also attended last month. It would have been appropriate for specific time on this agenda to have an update on the potential bond. Mayor Stewart asked a number of well placed questions at the meetings addressing his concerns regarding flooding. While a bond update may be covered at 11 b, Other announcements, everything related to a possible $50+ million bond should receive its own agenda item because of significant size. (The 2019 bond was the largest bond ever for the District, and it clocked in at $18 million.) If a bond is called by the school board this month (on the 19th, I believe), the impact upon the City is going to be significant.
Post Meeting Analysis and Meeting Documents:
Documents: Here are the meeting documents for this meeting. Council members Holland and Crutchfield did not attend this meeting.
ICISD 2024 Bonds: Mayor Stewart provided an update on his and Councilman Councilman's attendance at the two ICISD bond meetings referenced in #3 above. Both agreed that initially the folks at Parkhill did not take the drainage issue seriously, but by the second meeting the Mayor's message that there would be no street closures without money in the bond attached to drainage issues was understood by both the District and Parkhill. An essential component of the not yet approved $50 million bond call is the closure of a portion of 3rd Street to accommodate the new construction. This update left me with the impression that the City understands well that it is in the driver's seat when it comes to new bond construction drainage. To put an even finer point on this topic, my impression is also that Parkhill itself understands the stakes here. If the Board approves the bond call election at its Feb 19 meeting AND if the electorate approves the bonds (two BIG ifs at this point in time), my impression of the Parkhill representatives I spoke with at the same two ICISD meetings is that they well know themselves that they are already obligated by law to address drainage issues. They have hydrologists on staff, and their statements to me individually and to the committee at large make it clear they, on behalf of the District, already know that they could not legally flood the community were they to win the bid. The "takings" law and litigation finding that government cannot flood property without just compensation is well established law. Moreover, as a business, unlike apparently Potter Architects and WBK Construction who built out the 2019 bonds, they want no part of the practice of government flooding itself with runoff from the District's new bond construction. (Water from the ICISD campus floods City Park, Irion County facilities at that park, and the football field, leased by the City to ICISD.) For more on why Parkhill's thinking might be more aligned with Mayor Stewart than even he realizes, note that I specifically mentioned a specific law to the Parkhill's representative after the second meeting: Chapter 2007 of the Texas Government Code. His response caused me to think he understood that law and that old carpenter's idiom, "measure twice, cut once". See specifically the requirements for a Takings Impact Assessment at 2007.043 of the Texas Government Code. There is no ruling in Texas that school districts are exempt when they undertake bond construction. Indeed, TEA even abides by the law before it passes any regulation impacting school districts. It's the law, and ICISD needs to budget the expense of complying with it into its bond expenses on the front end.
Internet Fiber: On agenda item 6, Frontier's presentation made this no longer a rumor: Frontier is bringing internet fiber to Mertzon! It will start in April 2024 and full implementation will be by June, 2024. Watch for door hangars with more information. Now, here's the rub: the City of Mertzon is leaving $ on the table. As pointed out by the Frontier VP doing the talking, Frontier did not have to pay the City any permitting fees. What?! This means that City staff is working for Frontier for free to help design and implement a local utility, with world wide impact, and Frontier, who gets all the revenue for the utility, doesn't have to pay a nickel on the front end for the enjoyment of installing the utilities on City right of ways. And, what about a long term use fee? None. (Contrast this with The University of Texas System, for example, which is requiring the Matterhorn Pipeline to pay easement expenses every ten years for the enjoyment of crossing University lands in Crockett County.) The City is leaving money on the table by not having a fee ordinance in place for the use of its right of ways. This brand of libertarianism by the City is wasteful! The same criticism can be lodged for the City failing to have ordinances in place to collect fees for its troubles when a school bond passes. Construction company wants to store supplies along a City right of way? Pay a fee! They want to close a street during construction? Pay a fee! They want water and sewer turned off or rerouted? Pay a fee! Some might say "double taxation", but I say that it is called reimbursement by fee for legitimate costs. Nothing wrong with that. There's no reason for the City to have been rubbing nickels together for the last 114 years when these big dollar construction firms and telecommunications mega corps come to town intending to profit. Indeed, the Frontier VP openly said their company is making the move into Mertzon to stay competitive. So, why should local government help them for free when local government has legitimate expenses to account for? If I find or am told about a specific prohibition in Texas law preventing such fees, I will report back.
Water, Water, Water: As reported by City Manager Michelle Rabenaldt, a private landowner has approached the City regarding the sale of his water well to the City. Details of the potential sale at this meeting were, of course, scarce. Tests are being performed on the well to see if it is within the guidelines for radionuclides. This is on the heels of my posting just last month that the City should start looking more aggressively for its own sources of water and rely less on private wells. Apparently, there are grant funds already available that would offset the expenses of a city owned well. More water would also mean the City could satisfy TCEQ requirements and allow for more water meters. This past month the City owes Rodney Robertson $1,855.00 and Loye Tankersley $991.25 for the purchase of water from their wells. See page 4 of this month's documents. I am glad the City is looking at this critical issue.
Spring Cleanup: The Council approved the date of April 6. Listen folks, this is a great opportunity to help clean up trash. Please participate.
MOU with the IC Sheriff's Office: Apparently there are behind the scenes talks among the Mayor, Sheriff Estes and Judge Criner regarding revamping an unused and forgotten MOU between the City and the Sheriff's office for assistance in enforcement of City ordinances. I was unaware that such an MOU even existed, so I will be exploring this more. Our local government is going to receive continued attention on these pages for failure to coordinate and cooperate. There's no better time than during this potential 2024 bond season for me to point out that back in 2019 I urged government stakeholders to get together and coordinate on flooding issues to protect our community. Nothing happened. Prior to Supt. Moore's arrival, I even spoke to our County Commissioners and asked them to take the lead on flooding issues. And, since Supt. Moore has arrived I have asked Judge Criner to engage on flooding issues. The coordination and cooperation among local government is lacking on more than flooding issues. The problems among the Sheriff's office and the City are longstanding, troublesome and, frankly, wrongheaded. Citizens need help from local government, and sometimes it is essential that turf battles be dismissed for the greater good.
Bailouts of immigrants: I am loathe to read Facebook, but that is where Irion County News resides. The Mayor caught some grief on Facebook recently when he announced there that some immigrants had bailed out in Mertzon. There was a discussion at this meeting regarding whether the City could use its phone notification system in the future for such announcements, and it appears that method of notification might be used next time. In addition, read Judge Criner's "Greetings from the Courthouse" posted in the February Irion County Newsletter (published offline by the 48 Study Club) and included in the meeting documents by the City at page 3. It is informative and does a good job of explaining why communication is so difficult when these situations arise.
Street Closure: At agenda item # 5, Mr. Abel Molina received the Council's approval to close a part of E. Fleming Ave. in May. The date and location are not posted by me to prevent, well, you know... Yet another reason to attend public meetings is to learn ahead of time where the street tacos are being served. I went to church with an older generation of Molinas, so I am quite sure Mr. Molina knows how to cook! He invited everyone, but I don't think he really meant it.
Copyright 2024 G. Noelke