The Whitney City Council held its regular meeting Wednesday, June 18, and discussed the status of the city’s wastewater treatment plant, along with other city business.
Council member Amy Teal requested a discussion about the plant in light of a recent $18,500 fine levied against the city by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The plant has had issues for decades, and the city commissioned an engineering plan for a new facility last year.
Operations Director Billy Pribble told the council that the current wastewater plant was built in the early 1990s, and it was already having problems by 1999. Previous administrations attempted various fixes, including a cooperative agreement with Baylor University, but none were successful.
Pribble said he urged the council last year to take meaningful action, stating that the city could no longer continue to “put Band-Aids on the problem.” Last July, TCEQ accepted the city’s engineering plan for a new plant. At the same time, the city was notified it was due to renew its wastewater permit — with the added challenge of facing more stringent requirements. This was concerning, Pribble said, as the current plant has struggled to meet even the existing standards.
The city began exploring funding options for the new plant, estimated to cost between $2.5 million and $3 million. One proposal from Government Capital Corporation involved a loan with a monthly payment of $44,000 — a cost Pribble said that the city could not afford.
Instead, the city approved a combination of reserve funds and increased sewer rates to fully fund the project. However, plans were put on hold when TCEQ began discussing changes to the permit parameters.
Whitney has also applied for funding through the Texas Water Development Board. Pribble said that he received a letter from the board on the day of the meeting that appeared to be a positive sign the city may qualify for assistance through the State Revolving Fund.
Pribble added that because the city is actively working to fix the plant, it is likely the TCEQ fine will be reimbursed.
The council revisited an agenda item from last month that proposed publicly releasing the council packet that council members receive prior to each meeting. Council member Teal brought the item before the council last month, but her motion failed to pass after other members expressed concerns about sensitive and personal information being publicly available online. Council member Vicki Wilson brought the issue back to the council this month.
Council members once again discussed privacy issues and the potential added cost of having the city attorney review the packets, which can be several hundred pages long, to redact protected information. Ultimately, the council approved the release of the packets minus any private information protected by state law in a 3-2 vote, with Valery Peacock and Cheryl Taylor-West voting no.
The council heard a presentation from Westwood Engineering on the development of a master drainage plan for the city through the FEMA Resiliency Program. The council previously selected Westwood to serve as the engineering firm on the project, which would help the city address drainage issues in Whitney. Correcting the city’s drainage issues will allow effective street and sewer work to be performed.
The firm reported that there are two FEMA grants that could benefit the project by providing 90% federal funding with a 10% local match. There may be additional money available from the Texas Water Development Board to reduce the local match. Westwood reported that the city has a good chance of securing funding for the project.
Westwood presented two options, one with a higher upfront cost of at least $114,795 that could be refunded up to 90%, and another with a lower upfront cost of just under $16,000. The plan with the higher upfront cost would have construction ready to begin in three years, while the lower upfront cost plan would take six years until construction.
The council directed staff to provide more specifics about the costs of each plan and what each plan would look like for presentation at a future meeting.
Pribble presented the results of the city’s recent budget survey, which ended with 25 verified city resident responses and other responses that could not be verified.
Streets were identified as the highest priority by the citizens who responded. Respondents were equally divided on whether they would prefer lower taxes and decreased services (11) or the same taxes and services (11). Three residents indicated that they would like higher taxes and more services.
The council discussed an agenda item regarding the status of road work in the city and the process for accepting donations for infrastructure projects. Council member Jason Ince said that Teal brought the issue to the council. “My concern is, if we try to find revenue to take care of some of these problems we have, are you going to support and try to spend some money to fix some of this?” he asked Teal. “You’re not about spending money, but you’re bringing stuff to the council…either we’re going to fix it or not.”
Taylor-West added, “None of us sitting at this table wants to go spend, spend, spend. None of us want to do that; we pay taxes, too.”
Teal responded, “I mentioned in the candidate forum my philosophy on government: I oppose property taxes, and I don’t like budgets that are crafted from property taxes. I absolutely have a problem with that.” She said that her job, based on the citizens who elected her, is to bring transparency to the process and bring concerns to the council.
The city’s policy for accepting donations was later discussed in closed session, and the council voted when open session resumed to consult with the city attorney before accepting donations.
The council also discussed an update on animal control efforts in the city. Teal said that she opposes spending taxpayer money on an animal control facility, but she requested a walk-through of the issue and steps that have been taken.
Pribble said that the city’s animal control project came about after citizens brought up concerns, including during last year‘s budget process. He and the former police and fire chiefs visited other cities to get ideas about how to implement an animal control program. Other cities said that the first step was pet registration, which the city implemented, and then an animal control officer was hired.
Pribble said that he would not go into personnel matters, but that officer is no longer working with the city. The city constructed some temporary holding facilities and started trying to get bids for a facility based on the council’s feedback at the time. The goal was to look into funding a facility that a nonprofit organization could run.
Police Chief Joshua Scholes is the latest city employee to look into the matter and seek bids on a facility. He presented a report to the council stating his key concerns, including unclear construction costs, the lack of a confirmed nonprofit to operate the facility, the lack of a clear placement strategy after intake due to regional facilities being full, a relatively low number of animal-related service calls, and the city having significant financial responsibility without control of the facility.
Scholes recommended that the council finalize and publicly share the construction budget based on the submitted bids and select and vet a qualified nonprofit organization. He also recommended that the city establish operational agreements covering intake, care standards, placement procedures and long-term funding. His final recommendation was to reevaluate the facility’s scale and scope considering the actual animal control call volume.
Pribble said that there is also an issue with strays actually increasing in cities when it becomes clear that there is an animal control facility and people start dumping animals in the city limits. He also said that other cities issued words of caution about having a nonprofit run a city-owned facility, because these agreements tend to fall apart when the nonprofit runs out of money or goes under, and the city is left with a large financial burden. “That’s not something the city can handle,” Pribble said.
There was no action, as the issue was only a discussion item.
The council approved moving forward on a contract with Safe Built building inspection service. Pribble said that the city has been working with local builders and contractors to revise the city’s permitting process, and they have expressed concern about working with the city’s current building inspection service. No local companies responded to the city’s request for bids, but Safe Built works with over 180 cities in Texas. Council member Teal abstained from the vote.
An asbestos abatement quote from MSE Environmental was approved for city properties at 115 and 117 West Washington Avenue in the downtown area. Council member Teal asked for clarification about why the city purchased the property. Pribble said that the owner reached out to the city about donating the property, which needed improvements. The city has not yet decided what to do with the building, but a community center or historic city hall have been discussed. The asbestos abatement quote was approved, with Teal abstaining.
The council approved a final plat for two lots in the Whitney Business District, which have been sold by Baker Opportunity Properties. Council member Teal abstained.
Council members discussed an update on Team Zac’s proposal, which was presented at last month’s meeting. The company would perform basic financial services for the city at a cost of approximately $42,000 per year. Last month, Pribble said that the service could be funded by reallocating resources that are currently spent on temporary bookkeeping assistance or contract clean-up work before and after each audit season. He added that it is always noted in the city’s audit that too few employees wear too many hats, which is often an issue in smaller-sized cities. A contract will be before the council at a future meeting for review.
The council approved a professional services agreement with Westwood Professional Services for a roadway assessment in an amount not to exceed $11,800. The plan will serve as a guide for the city to follow, outlining a step-by-step approach to repairs. Council member Teal abstained.
In other action, the council approved a special event permit from Whitney Fellowship to close a portion of Railroad Avenue for the church’s vacation Bible school “Touch a Truck” event on July 13, observed the mayor’s reappointment of Trey Jetton as municipal judge, and approved the replacement of the HVAC system at City Hall due to the outdated system’s recent failure.
The council approved the city’s expense reports and register report for May, with Teal voting against approval.
In departmental reports, the fire department ran 119 calls in May, including seven fire calls in the city, 13 fire calls in the county, 53 first responder calls in the city and 46 first responder calls in the county.
EMS responded to 65 calls in May, with 60 in the city and five in the county as mutual aid for CareFlite. The average response time in the city was five minutes, and the county response time was nine minutes.
The police department responded to 395 total incidents in May, with two arrests, 203 traffic stops and 259 total citations or warnings issued.
Code enforcement reported four animal control calls for service, including a dog at large, a dead animal, a snake removal and a welfare concern. Other code enforcement calls for service included two calls for tall grass and one for abandoned/junk property. Code enforcement addressed 10 other issues with tall grass, and several properties with piles of brush were addressed.
The library issued 40 new library cards in May and served a total of 1,391 visitors for the month. There were 27 unique events and programs provided, and 295 individuals attended these events.
Public Works completed two water leak repairs and addressed an issue at the city park with floor drains being vandalized and filled with rocks. There were eight water calls and five sewer calls in May.
The mayor read proclamations observing National Amateur Radio Week and Juneteenth.
Several residents spoke in open forum. Concerns included the condition of youth sports facilities, road and drainage issues on Bush Drive and the lack of an animal control facility.
The council’s next regularly scheduled meeting date is Thursday, July 17, at 6 p.m.
The Lakelander 