The Brownwood City Council passed two resolutions Tuesday to redraw the city’s Ward boundaries after looking at 2010 Census information.
The council executed an agreement with Knight & Partners for redistricting services in February of this year, and Jeff Ulmann of that company was at Tuesday’s meeting and explained the process.
Based upon an initial investigation of the 2010 Census values and the city’s current Ward boundaries, Knight & Partners have indicated a new redistricting plan is required. The current Ward map combines with the 2010 Census data shows a deviation of 33.9% in population when the recommended maximum deviation is 10%.
“Under state and federal law, you cannot have more than a 10% deviation between your largest and smallest districts or wards,” Ulmann said. “We took the 2010 Census numbers and the population of Brownwood came out to 19,288 so you guys were just over 19,000. What we do with that is we take the number of Wards, and you guys have five Wards here, and we divide that by the 19,288 and that is how we get what we call “the ideal district.”
Knight & Partners has designed two proposed maps for redistricting. Plan one shows a total deviation of 3.45% and plan two shows a total deviation of 4.3%. Both plans keep incumbent city council members within their current Wards.
Ulmann said that plan one keeps all of the geographic features relatively intact and maintains a “clean” set of lines. Plan two was drafted to examine whether or not the minority representations in Ward 2 or 4 could be increased, but Ulmann said that the lines are not as clean and still does not achieve a majority/minority district.
The city council passed two resolutions after the presentation. The first is for adopting criteria for the redistricting process and the second is to establish guidelines for anyone wanting to submit a redistricting plan.
The guidelines require a proposed plan to be in writing; to include population, age and race in each Ward; include the entire city; and meet the adopted criteria.
There will be a public hearing on the redistricting plan at a future city council meeting.
Other items addressed by the Brownwood City Council on Tuesday:
*City council authorized the mayor to execute a 20 foot wide easement for Oncor Electric Delivery on Brownwood’s 21.31 acre tract of land located on Round Mountain. This is to feed a communications tower to improve reliability and quality of power.
*Council denied Atmos Energy Corp’s requested rate change. On or about January 31, 2012, Atmos Mid-Tex filed with the city a statement of intent to increase rates within the city. On February 14, Brownwood passed a suspension resolution to allow the city’s consultants to review the rate increase. A settlement will not be reached prior to the June 11th deadline. This denial will prevent the increased rates from going into effect while the parties attempt to reach a settlement.
*City council passed on first reading to establish a loading zone space on West Anderson Street. Good Samaritan Ministries has requested the loading zone for the convenience of their customers when dropping off clothes. An existing loading zone and existing nonconforming handicapped parking space will be eliminated creating four additional parking spaces on West Anderson as well.
*City council mutually terminated public improvement agreements with Brownwood South Hampton, LLC. The city entered two agreements with the company in 2005 and 2006 to build a total of 40 homes. Currently 36 homes where completed with three homes under construction and plans for one other home to be constructed. The 36 homes completed are on the tax rolls at $3,434,440. According to city financial records, the city spent $375,406.96 on the construction of streets, alleys, water lines, and sewer lines. This figure does not include labor and equipment.
*The council approved the appointment of Albert Gomez to replace Ray Frazier on the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.
Below are maps showing the proposed wards in each plan.
Plan 1 Map
Plan 2 Map
