THE SPECTATOR: COUNCIL NEEDS TO FOCUS ON BIG ISSUES

  

Sometimes you just have to tune out all of the noise and focus on the most important things.  That’s the advice I would give to the members of the Brenham City Council right now.  While the recent drag show in downtown has been drawing everyone’s attention, there are much, much bigger and more important issues facing the City. 

The lawsuit with the City’s gas supplier during the “big freeze” of ’21 is still unresolved.  Although I’ve heard rumors of a settlement, the lawsuit filed by the former Brenham Airport operator is still hanging out there.  And then there’s the mess that was made with FEMA over the repairs at the City’s water intake system at Lake Somerville.  Just those three issues alone are consuming millions of our tax dollars, and who knows when they will be concluded.  But there’s another problem that is even larger.  The City’s water treatment plant is close to being at its maximum capacity, and there’s no room to expand it at the present site.  As fast as new homes are being built inside the city limits, it’s imperative that a solution be found, and soon.  The cost of a second plant to treat the water we get from Lake Somerville is exorbitantly high.  A better and less expensive option is developing a groundwater source by drilling water wells.  That’s because ground water requires very little treatment…basically just some chlorine…to be safe for drinking.  Drilling water wells would also give the City a second source of water in case anything ever happened to the supply from the lake.  Water is the key to continued development for the City.

So Council members, don’t be distracted by the noise of other issues like people complaining about the recent drag show.  A show that you legally could do nothing about under present law.  I know you want to listen to everyone’s concerns and opinions about it, but you have much bigger decisions to make about issues you can actually address.  And for those members of the public who are still insisting the City take some action, I implore you to take your message to the State Legislature, where there are bills being considered to address drag shows.  No matter your stance on the issue, the Brenham City Council is not the group to lobby until there is a law in place.  As you can see, their focus should be on issues they can actually do something about.  They’ve got quite a few on their plate.

And that’s the way it looks to this Spectator.