BURTON CITY COUNCIL DECIDES ON LOCATION FOR NEW WATER WELL

  

After over an hour of discussion in a two-and-a-half hour meeting on Tuesday, the Burton City Council chose where to drill a secondary water well.

Councilmembers agreed to put the new well in near the existing one at Burton City Hall.  The decision was needed in order to start environmental clearances at the site.

Earlier this year, the city received a check for $593,800 through the Texas General Land Office’s Community Development Block Grant Mitigation Program.  The council learned on Tuesday, though, that the grant will cover less than half of the most cost-effective option available to pursue for the new well.

BEFCO Project Civil Engineer Bradley Loehr presented a range of options for the council to consider, each with varying levels of infrastructure improvement and cost. 

The least expensive, coming in at roughly $1.5 million, was to drill adjacent to the current well that has been in service since 2012, fix the existing water plant issues and plug an abandoned well.  However, this path would not address booster pump capacity or add another ground storage tank, so the well could only serve an additional 27 meter connections.  Loehr said the cost could be trimmed down to about $1.25 million if the city chose to not fix the plant issues or plug the abandoned well. 

Another option at the city hall site would be to go ahead with larger booster pump capacity and add a second ground storage tank along with the aforementioned well drilling, plant improvements and well plugging.  That cost would be $2.2 million, but the city could potentially serve an extra 227 meters.

Two more options involved drilling a well at the water tower on Washington Street, constructing a pipe going from ground level up into the water tower and providing the benefit of well separation and redundancy with a second plant and tank.  However, the city’s existing footprint does not have room for another well, so it would need to acquire land.

The cheaper option, not pursuing the booster pump capacity upgrades, is $2.9 million.  With the booster pump improvements, it would go up to $3.1 million.

The most expensive option, at $3.7 million, would be to pick another location around town to drill and build a second plant, along with the booster pump upgrades and underground storage tank.

Given cost considerations, the council seemed to prefer the first option presented. 

Kat Whitecotton, GLO Team Lead for Langford Community Management Services, said the city could pursue Texas Water Development Board funding to assist with the project.  However, it may be difficult given the current timeline of March 31, 2026 that the city needs to adhere to with the GLO for the use of the grant funding, though there is the possibility of two one-year extensions. 

Councilmember Paul McLaughlin asked if the city should consider a loan or bond issue.  City Secretary Angela Harrington said the city’s current debt is scheduled to be paid off in 2027.  Loehr also said the city could work to meet the requirements of the project timeline and then opt for a phased approach to fund further improvements when the money becomes available.  

The water well discussion took most of the council’s time on Tuesday, but there were other items of note addressed.  After a public hearing with no comments, the council approved an ordinance to levy a no-new-revenue property tax rate of $0.297267 per $100 valuation.  The rate is made up of $0.045349 for maintenance and operations (M&O) and $0.251918 for interest and sinking (I&S).  The rate is above the previous adopted rate of $0.289790 per $100.

Councilmembers also discussed the city’s waste disposal services contract with Texas Commercial Waste and what the plan should be moving forward as the contract gets ready to renew in November.  Utility Clerk Rachel Belvin said surveys were sent out with the latest utility bills to gauge feedback on how residents feel about the quality of trash service and if they would like recycling to be offered as well.

According to Belvin, 54 residents reported they are satisfied with the level of service they are receiving, with two reporting they are not satisfied.  For recycling, 25 residents stated they would be interested in having recycling bins at city hall, 11 would like curbside bins, two would be open to either, and 11 are not interested in having recycling altogether. 

Belvin said she did not hear much from commercial customers during this survey process, but the city has documented complaints from some of them in the past about the security and condition of their dumpsters and the schedule for trash pick-ups.

Mayor Karen Buck said the city needs to choose a path soon, so that it is not locked into a contract for another three years.  She said if the city does choose to stay with Texas Commercial Waste, it should try to rework the contract to where it can be renegotiated every year.  She also noted that Texas Commercial Waste does not offer recycling services, so those would have to be considered separately.

In other business, the council:

• Voted 3-1 to remove an item for the purchase of a security camera system for Burton City Hall from the agenda.  Councilmember Jeff Eckhardt said with all of the other projects being worked on, including the water well, he wants to get more conservative with spending.  Councilmember Paul McLaughlin was the lone vote to keep the item on the agenda.
• Hired Full Throttle Landscaping to perform brush and tree clearing in a utility easement to provide access to manhole covers along the west side of Indian Creek.
• Approved the purchase of an on-site generator for the wastewater treatment plant using the remaining $11,011 in Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Funds and $13,178 in city funds.
• Hired Gayla Robinson Consulting Services to log and legally dispose of police department items in storage, using $10,500 in seized money as provided by law.
• Approved a resolution authorizing the submission of a Texas Community Development Block Grant Program application for the 2025-26 program.  It also selected Langford Community Management Services as the grant administration services provider to complete the funding application and administer the program if the city is selected to receive funding.
• Approved a proclamation affirming October 1^st as National Night Out.