Friday, April 26, 2024
When it comes to the city of Grabury’s controversial new wastewater treatment plant, the stakes are high and so are emotions.
The anger level was ratcheted up this week when the county got involved without giving the city a heads-up.
The agenda for Tuesday’s regular meeting of the Commissioners Court included a proposed resolution by Precinct 4 Commissioner Dave Eagle regarding the wastewater treatment plant planned for 3121 Old Granbury Road.
Acting on behalf of constituents who oppose the plant, Eagle called upon the city to “postpone and delay” the project and consider a regional facility instead.
City officials said that a regional facility would take years to accomplish and noted that the county rejected that idea when it was proposed about 20 years ago.
Although the court tabled the resolution, damage may have been done.
“This is how these relationships get tattered,” said Mayor Pro Tem Tony Mobly. “I’m not going to allow (Eagle) to sever the relationships that we’ve worked on for his own self interest.”
At Mobly’s suggestion, city, county and school officials have been holding quarterly meetings in council chambers at Granbury City Hall in an effort to improve communications and foster better understanding of various issues.
Those meetings were halted for a while because of COVID-19, but one will take place at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. The wastewater treatment plant will be discussed, and the public can attend.
Mobly said he headed to the Commissioners Court meeting after receiving a text message about the resolution.
“I had no idea,” he said of Eagle’s proposal. “Sure enough, I’ll be damned if we weren’t right in the crosshairs.”
Coffman showed up at the meeting as well after being alerted.
After several citizens spoke out against the wastewater treatment plant, Coffman took to the podium and stated that he felt “ambushed.” He said he had found out about the resolution at 10 that morning.
The meeting started at 9.
Coffman stated that in his view the City Council should have been informed in advance so that the city could have sent an engineer to the county meeting “with all kinds of data.”
He noted that the proposed plant has already been delayed.
Commissioners with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) extended the public comment period after being asked to do so by state Rep. Mike Lang, R-Granbury.
About 400 citizens submitted statements in opposition. Their fears include negative environmental and health impacts, foul odors, possible raw sewage spills and lowered property values.
Opponents include property owners in Ashley Oaks, Highland Park, Bentwater and Mallard Pointe.
TCEQ commissioners will determine whether the matter should go before the Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings. If that happens – and Coffman suspects it will – that will cause further setbacks.
Coffman told the HCN on Wednesday that the city could ultimately end up having to truck sewage to Fort Worth.
During the meeting Eagle told Coffman, “All this resolution is doing is asking the city to back up, slow down and rethink this.”
He added that he and some of the affected property owners feel that Coffman is taking the opposition personally. At one point he referred to Coffman as “belligerent.”
Both Coffman and Mobly disagreed with that assessment. Mobly told the HCN that he felt the city manager was “right on point” in representing the city’s stance.
During their exchange Eagle reminded Coffman that when the city was moving forward with forced annexations last year that included the Old Granbury Road property, he had encouraged the city manager not to do so since two-thirds of the Legislature had agreed that voters should decide such matters.
Under the law, though, the city was able to progress because the annexation process was already underway.
The annexations were controversial.
If the city receives final approval for the wastewater treatment plant, it will eventually pump up to 2 million gallons of treated domestic wastewater per day into a shallow tributary of Rucker Creek, which flows into Lake Granbury and the Brazos River.
Eagle’s proposed resolution states that “no wastewater treatment facility should be constructed by the City of Granbury until sufficient scientifically reliable data is uncovered to support any such facility with a reasonable degree of scientific certainty.”
However, Granbury officials said that the city worked closely with TCEQ during the entire planning process and went beyond what the state required. The state agency issued a draft permit for the plant in May.
If it is built, the plant will use Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) technology. Treated water will be cleaner than the water currently discharged from the wastewater treatment plant on Water’s Edge Drive, city officials said. That water is used to irrigate the Harbor Lakes golf course.
As required by state regulations, the city began planning an additional wastewater treatment facility in 2017 when its current plant reached 75% of its 2.5-million-gallon-per-day capacity.
Coffman said that only two property owners showed up for a public hearing on the proposed new plant on Nov. 14 of last year.
According to the city, 14 citizens whom the TCEQ determined to be “affected property owners” were notified twice about the project by certified mail.
Eagle said the property owners did not receive the letters.
Precinct 1 Commissioner James Deaver told Coffman, “We’re not against you... We want more information, and I think that’s why Dave put this resolution out.”
Precinct 2 Commissioner Ron Cotton made a motion to table the resolution until city and county officials could discuss the matter further. Precinct 3 Commissioner Bruce White seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously.
As the discussion came to a close, Coffman stated, “We enjoy the good relationship that we have with you. We look forward to continuing it.”
kcruz@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066, ext. 267
