City Council Welcomes New Members and Address Water Reclamation Funding and Master Plan

Today was an emotional and busy day at the City Council Regular Agenda meeting held at the McNease Convention Center. It was emotional because new members joined the council, while those being replaced said their goodbyes. Not to mention, a further discussion about water took center stage.

New members from Single Member Districts 1 and 3, Bill Richardson and Harry Thomas, were sworn in to their new posts, and Elizabeth Grindstaff, SMD5, who is currently in a runoff election with Lane Carter, was also sworn in as Mayor Pro Tempore.

Harry Thomas was the first to take the Oath of Office. Mayor Morrison called him forward and Judge Allen Gilbert recited the oath for Thomas to repeat. Thomas recited, "I Harry Thomas, do solemnly swear or affirm that I will fatefully execute the duties of the office of San Angelo City Council..." It is custom for the individual to raise his or her right hand and repeat the words of the person administering the oath.  

After the oath ceremony, Thomas spoke about his excitement taking on the new position.

“As I go forward, I know that only the members in SMD 3 elected me, but I want to be there for all the citizens of San Angelo.”

Thomas said some plans he will focus on includes replacing missing speed zone signs and finding a resolution for citizens around the Avenue P area, where flooding occurs regularly. 

After Thomas, Mayor Morrison Swore in Richardson. Richardson said, “I think this is going to be a learning experience for me.” He mentioned he has monitored the city council for many years, and there are some decisions he agrees with, and some he doesn’t. He wants to seek input from the voters and work with what they want changed.  

After both members took their oaths, they walked up to their new seats on the council and shook hands with their colleagues. The placards now reading their names signified the final transition of the commencement ceremony.   

Additionally, previous SMD3 and SMD1 council members Johnny Silvas and Rodney Fleming said their goodbyes. Both were presented with an award celebrating their years of service to the San Angelo community while serving on the council. Both Fleming and Silvas reflected on their time with the council and thanked all the people who helped them along the way.

Silvas said, “It’s a humbling experience to have served on the council. Thank you to all my colleagues and former colleagues. It’s had its ups and downs, but it’s been a very learning and humbling experience.” He mentioned that there wasn't a time he voted on the council and had not been able to sleep with a clear conscience on his decisions. Silvas also spoke of his first time sitting on the council and how he learned from and embraced Mayor Morrison as his friend, despite any disagreements they may have had. Silvas closed by saying he might return to council in the future. 

Fleming thanked his wife for all of her support during his time on the council. He noted that those members on the council will still face difficult times in the future, but he said he knew they are all very capable leaders; and despite knowing they had their disagreements at times, Fleming said they were always a great team to work with. He continued to thank members on the city staff for their hard work and determination. He also reflected on the key votes during his time on the council. He echoed what Silvia mentioned about always knowing he made conscious decisions while voting. 

"Some of those votes that I had, I didn't decide to the last minute, or I would change my mind, especially after talking with [Mayor Morrison]," he explained. "One of the things that this job has taught me is to see the other side of [a debate], and not just to be set in your ways. I will never be back. I will never do this job again, and, if I do come back, use this against me in the future."

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In addition to his parting words, Fleming had a few words of encouragement for the new members.

“I think this goes to show, it’s not just your resumé; it’s what’s in your heart," Fleming said. “Get out there and do your best.”

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After the new members took their posts, business continued as usual with the council addressing the water reclamation project and the funding towards the water system's master plan.

Allison Strube, Water Utilities Assistant Director, presented the resolution for a grant funding of $300,000 towards the Water Reclamation pilot project. This was met with a 7-0 vote in favor of the grant. This grant will go towards the TCQ requirements for additional testing with pilot portion of the reuse project. Strube mentioned the pilot portion is currently halfway finished with the finalized date to be determined.

Bill Riley, Water Utilities Director, also presented a plan for a professional service contract with an engineering firm called CDM Smith, Inc. of Austin, to support completion of the master water systems plan. This plan looks at the City's water system and helps meet the regulatory requirements that includes storage capacities, fire flows, and high and low plain locations, to name a few. Riley mentioned this also goes towards the future growth of the San Angelo area and works to improve the capital improvement plan with the line sizing for future development.  

“It’s important that we do this; it’s a pretty specialized process, and so water comprehensive checks of your water system needs to happen every five to seven years,” Riley said.

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He presented the project to the council by mentioning three phases. First, he explained the development of the comprehensive master plan itself. The second phase addresses the infrastructure condition assessment for the improvements, or rehabilitation, of San Angelo's water and infrastructure; and finally, the third phase includes a detection component to identify leaks and water loss in the system.

Riley went on to say the comprehensive water system provides an in-depth look at the entire water system and the development of a hydraulic model system. This model allows projections of future water demands associated with population projections, and this develops the capital improvement plan for the appropriate infrastructure needs to meet the demands.

The master plan is a key component to identify high and low pressure plains that move around as the system grows. This includes the pump capacity applied to each of those. Riley mentioned the checks to these systems need to be updated given that the last check occurred in 1997.

Riley said he also wants to prioritize rehabilitation and infrastructure efforts using the previous planning stages, like the street program, to identify the streets that need to be fixed now and prioritize according to that. 

"To reach that priority, we need to have a good understanding of the condition systems to see where failures are most likely to happen" Riley said. "This directly shows the return on investment in reducing our water loss and customer service levels." 

In summary, the master plan allows San Angelo to reach the requirements and additional assessments regarding the mentioned issues. The project was approved by the Water Advisory Board on Tuesday, May 10, before coming to the council; it passed unanimously.

Thomas asked, "How much water is the city losing every year due to water leaks, and will this identify and fix some of those issues?"

The leak detection assessment would directly end the leakage, Riley said. He also emphasized keeping water that is lost.  

Grindstaff said she was hopeful with future development efforts and reassured those opposed that the master plan efforts go hand in hand with fixing a problem that has faced the San Angelo community for years. However, Mayor Morrison was the only member opposed to the request of $314,460 for the engineering company to run this master water plan. He repeatedly mentioned that he was not sold on the master plan, despite noting the water leaks as the component. In regards to that aspect, he said he could see himself looking into the plan's recommendations.

As part of that project, a condition assessment can take place to prioritize the needs and infrastructure's rehabilitation. Riley said. “The master plan in general allows us to operate the water utility, and the condition assessment to utilize our resources in the best manner and get the most bang for your buck, if you will.”

Steve Hampton, a local citizen in attendance, said he felt the resources that San Angelo already has are being misused.

“I did object to the $313,460 project," he said. "I think people just buy the price and try to negotiate. We already had a master plan done in 1997, and nothing major has really changed.”

Hampton acknowledged that an update is necessary given how much San Angelo has grown in population, but the infrastructure and soil in the ground has not changed.

“We do have a big problem with leaks, but the master program could just be revised in my thinking.”

The final vote on the funding of the engineering firm was approved with a 6 to 1 vote.