Grindstaff Leads Effort to Kill Potty Water Loan

San Angelo City Councilwoman Elizabeth Grindstaff killed Direct Potable Reuse (DPR), or what it’s affectionately called, “Potty Water” at Tuesday’s regularly scheduled City Council meeting for this year. The proposed $136 million water treatment project was floated by city staff late last year as a potential solution for increasing San Angelo’s water supply. To pay for the proposed project, council approved applying for a $150 million load from the Texas Water Development Board’s State Water Implementation Fund for Texas, or SWIFT.

Cash flow to fund the loan was baked into water rate hikes at the end of 2015.

The application and approval did not require the City of San Angelo to accept the debt and loan terms. Mayor Dwain Morrison likened the application as being akin to obtaining pre-approval for a mortgage before selecting the home you were to purchase.

Grindstaff, who is facing a contentious re-election campaign, has been hit hard over her supposed support for the big ticket capital expense project. Three instances of anonymous flyers were mailed and distributed throughout SMD 5 accusing Grindstaff of a sinister plot to push the expensive water reclamation project through. The flyers drew the ire of State Rep. Drew Darby.

“Don’t ever take seriously any piece of literature that you get where they (the authors) don’t care enough about their issue to sign their name,” Darby said at a Mar. 11 San Angelo Rotary Club meeting. “They should (have) signed their names to it, tell you who is supporting this initiative, and how they’re funded, and what their ultimate purpose is.”

The facts on the flyers were incorrect. At a Feb. 2 city council meeting, it was Grindstaff who initially put the brakes on DPR, or water reclamation. Water Advisory Board member Kendall Hirschfeld took the podium that day and agreed with Grindstaff, explaining he would like to rescind his support to moving forward. He had voted in favor of water reclamation the day prior as a member of the WAB.

Water Advisory Board Chairman Mike Boyd, a local banker, began to ask questions about the City of San Angelo’s long-term debt. He suggested the city look at waiting until older debt to retired before obtaining new loans to finance a large capital investment for the water supply. He also wondered aloud whether the city should consider a larger investment to replace the entire water treatment facility itself, not just adding on DPR capability to the old facility. The plant, though it has modern improvements, was built in the 1920s.

Earlier this year, the city council approved spending $315,000 on developing a Water Master Plan. Grindstaff wants that document in the council’s hands before making any major water infrastructure investments.

Grindstaff’s opponent in the July 2 run-off election, Lane Carter, scoffs at spending the $315,000 for the water master plan, and has repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction with Grindstaff’s alleged tendencies to spend money. This stance plays well to Carter’s benefit, as many observers of San Angelo politics agree that the anonymous flyers created an opening for Carter’s four-vote defeat of Grindstaff in the May 7 election.

The mayor suggested that withdrawing from the SWIFT application or staying in consideration didn’t make one bit of difference, and added, “I don’t like doing things for political reasons.”

“My concern is not political. If you talk to people, they are concerned about the cost. We need to give this some time, and [when] we have a (master) water plan, we’re able to better understand it, and the citizens will understand it.”

Councilwoman Charlotte Famer backed Grindstaff up, saying that there is no chance the city will move forward with DPR this year, and it should withdraw to give other cities a better chance to compete for the funds.

Riley stated that the Texas Water Development Board was very understanding of San Angelo’s political debate over DPR and there would be no retribution for withdrawing now, and it will not impact San Angelo’s ability to gain approval for a loan in later years.

One of Grindstaff’s former opponents in the May 7 election, R.A. Cantrell, took the podium and praised her former opponent’s leadership for effectively killing DPR this year.

“I applaud Liz Grindstaff for her leadership for bringing it to a stop. I ran against her but got ran over by a donkey cart. It took some political courage to do this.

Elizabeth has stopped some of this nonsense and I think we ought to give her a round of applause,” Cantrell said.

The Water Advisory Board recommended the SWIFT application be withdrawn yesterday.

Grindstaff, who asked for the item to be placed on the agenda at the last council meeting, made the motion to withdraw the application. The motion passed 6-1, with Morrison voting against.

The mayor clarified that the motion does not to kill DPR forever. Instead, it just withdraws the application for funding DPR this year.