Early City Council met in special session on Tuesday afternoon to address water needs for the City of Early.
According to Early Mayor Bob Mangrum, the purpose of the meeting was to discuss possible actions the city could take to help meet the 50% reduction of water consumption required by Brown County Water District if stage 4 of the Drought Contingency Plan is enacted in the near future.
“Ken and I decided we probably needed to talk through this and be prepared whatever the water board (BCWID) decides, so that we could address it after next Tuesday’s (BCWID) board meeting at our council meeting,” said Mangrum.
City Administrator Ken Thomas stated that the city needed to discuss the possibilities so that action could be taken before it became critical.
“We talked with the water district this week. Our hope for tomorrow is rain, and that the lake will fill up,” said Thomas. “We hope that this (drought and forecasted weather) doesn’t become the norm.”
Mangrum and Thomas discussed the possibilities of wells in the area, including one near Bluebonnet Drive that was used as the city’s water source after 1951 when Early was first founded. The city grew too fast to stay dependent upon this well according to Thomas, who stated that it was in approximately 1959 when the city began purchasing water from the Brown County Water Improvement District and treating it at their own water treatment plant.
Years ago, the city had a contract with the owner of the land where the well is located, which is not in effect now; however, the landowner is willing to consider selling water to the city once again, according to Thomas.
The city also owns a lot which is on Green Tree Circle that also may be a good place for a well, considering other lots within the neighborhood have shallow wells that have been operational for years. This lot, according to several councilmen, stays wet constantly due to seepage of water below the surface, which is promising as a possible water source.
Thomas explained that even if the wells were not enough water to supply the entire city’s needs, it would at least help if Stage 4 of the drought contingency is enacted requiring all municipalities to reduce their consumption by 50% and lessen the dependence on water supplied from Lake Brownwood.
The City of Early is also in a unique position because they continue to have their own water treatment plant that will stay fully operational until the pipeline is completed to supply treated water from BCWID to Early for its citizens.
The council also addressed conservation measures such as possibly shortening watering hours rather than restricting all outdoor watering. According to Thomas and Mangrum, this should be considered because of the economic impact that restricting all outdoor watering would have on the city such as loss of property values if old trees were to perish from the lack of water. If tax values are decreased, this would also impact the City of Early’s budget because of the loss of property tax revenue.
Business needs were also addressed. The council agreed that businesses need water to operate and some businesses, such as the new car wash on Early Blvd., which relies on water but also conserves it by reclaiming approximately 75% of water that it uses. These businesses also mean jobs, which obviously affect the economy.
Thomas stated that conservation is key and enforcement is an important component of that conservation.
“A lot of people are trying to conserve and a lot are still not conserving,” said Thomas.
Although police are not able to write tickets to offenders for overwatering or water waste, they do take pictures to alert the water department about the violations they see, according to Chief of Police David Mercer.
City Attorney Perry Sims stated that the council needed to consider compliance and enforce it. He stated that currently, no fines have been issued in the past year and a half that restrictions have been in place.
“The issue of compliance, setting a fee schedule and enforcing it is important,” said Simms. “It’s not going to be popular.”
The council discussed possible consideration of higher fees such as $250 for first time offenders and $500 for repeat offenders, also increasing the current $25 reconnect fee to possibly 4 times as much.
Wade Walker, Public Works Director, stated that most offenses occur on the weekend when no one is out to enforce conservation. Thomas stated that the City of Early has a metering system that could print out hourly usage, which could possibly be used to help with enforcement. Simms agreed that it could be used as additional proof for enforcement on top of officials witnessing the offenses visually.
“I just think we have to rethink our enforcement policy and enforce it if we set up an enforcement policy. In a year and a half of restrictions, we have not issued anyone with a fine,” said Simms who stated all changes would need to be publicized heavily through the news media, postings around the city’s businesses and through direct mailing.
Thomas stated that some people would be resistant and complain that the increased fines were “just a way to make money. That may happen, but we have got to get some teeth in this.”
One positive note Mayor Mangrum pointed out is that the City of Early is not currently dependent upon water sales as are many cities in Texas.
Councilman BJ McCullough stated that climate change and weather problems are just “one of those things; things change, and we have to adapt.”
At their next meeting, which will be held at 6PM on July 9th, Early City Council may consider ordinances addressing a fee schedule for watering violations, enforcement and how to address the possible stage 4 of the Drought Contingency Plan (which could be implemented by BCWID at their 5:00 PM meeting Tuesday).
Pictured above are council member Joel Johnson, City Administrator Ken Thomas, Mayor Mangrum, and City Attorney Perry Sims as they consider the water needs for Early.
