Water tower capacity, cyber security among top issues for Whitesboro City Council

At the July 2 Whitesboro City Council meeting, discussions arose regarding the progress (and capacity) of the ongoing Elevated Water Tower project. 

City Administrator Julie Arrington had a discussion only with the City Council about the update received from Birkhoff, Hendricks & Carter, LLP on the ongoing city projects. Arrington recommends the city to consider the million-gallon water tank for the Elevated Water Tower project. She said the city currently has 2,875 water connections. Based on the city’s current water storage level, 

Whitesboro has the capacity to serve 3,833 water meters. Arrington said this gives the city of Whitesboro a total of 958 new meters before total capacity is met. Arrington went on to mention all the city has to consider with future developments that will come to Whitesboro. 

If the city moves forward with the one-million-gallon tank, it will add another 7,125 available water meters making it a total of 10,000 total water meters to be available. Arrington said the plant itself is adequate, but what is inadequate are the lift stations. 

“We will be going through this again in another 10 years if we don’t go with the million-gallon tank,” D&C Superintendent Bradley Williams said. “We’re really close. I mean, I know it’s been a long process, but I really feel good about the progress we’ve made over the last couple of days.” 

From a safety and fire perspective, Whitesboro Fire Chief Steve Pinkston addressed the Mayor and the City Council, saying large volumes sound like a good decision for the City of Whitesboro. No action was taken. 

Next, while hearing from department heads, Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Patterson said the Whitesboro Fire Department is in need of hiring an Administrative Assistant. He said he generally focuses on administrative duties 80 percent of the time when, in reality, he should be able to focus more on his other duties at the fire department. 

Hiring an Administrative Assistant would allow paramedics, EMTs and firefighters to focus on their primary duties, therefore enhancing operational efficiency. The position would be an hourly, part-time position. The City Council decided to postpone making a decision on this item until the next council meeting. 

Whitesboro Police Chief Alex Coss said during the cleaning and reorganizing of the evidence room a few months ago, Officer Lew Hatch found war bonds from a World War I veteran and was able to locate a living descendant. Coss said Hatch took it upon himself to do the research and look up some old obituaries. Much research led him to find the descendants of an army man named Joe Porter. Hatch got in contact with the granddaughter of the last owner of the war bonds. The late Joe Porter’s granddaughter, Jennifer Quiroga now has custody of her grandfather’s honorable discharge papers, 30-40 $25 war bonds and a bank ledger. (Read the full story in the July 5 issue of the News-Record.)  

Next, Coss said the Whitesboro Police Department (WPD) will have access to schools and officers for a joint ALERT and Active Shooter training that is scheduled to take place next month. 

The WPD hired a new officer in June. Officer Jerrod Nortman was sworn-in, began his employment with the WPD and began his field training. Coss said Officer Nortman is scheduled to complete his training in July. (Read more about Nortman in the July 5 issue of the News-Record.)

During the citizen presentations portion of the meeting, Grayson County native Tiffany Drake stood before the council to introduce herself as a candidate in hopes of being the next State House Representative in District 62. 

Drake said the top three critical problems that have helped her in deciding to seek this position are public education, affordable housing and the healthcare crisis in rural Texas. 
The public can find more information about Drake’s goals on her website at www.drakefortexashouse.com. 

A second citizen commended the Whitesboro Water Department for fixing a water leak on his property. The citizen said he is a second-generation farmer and appreciates what they do. 

“We are fortunate to have those people around in the water department,” he said. 

Later in the meeting, after much discussion, the City Council approved Arrington to enter into an interlocal agreement with the Texas Municipal League Intergovernmental Risk Pool (TMLIRP) for the purpose of providing cyber liability and data breach response coverage. Arrington said the state of Texas requires municipalities to have cyber security insurance. She provided the council with documents containing the different options to choose from. The council agreed on choosing Limit 3 at the Core Plus level with an annual contribution of $1,250. 

The City Council accepted the petition for Jonathan Weems to annex into the Whitesboro City limits and authorized Arrington to enter into a development agreement for said annexation. According to the agenda, this would place 16.99 acres in the city limits providing for property taxes on the acreage. Weems has requested a change to ensure the agreement is assignable when the property sells. The first public hearing for this annexation will take place at the July 16 City Council meeting.    

The City Council authorized Arrington to enter into a professional services agreement with Hayter Engineering for the purpose of designing a new lift station at the southwest corner of Church and Walnut Streets. According to the agenda, the property around this location will soon be home to an industrial complex, retail complex and about 28 new homes. 

The current lift station is estimated to be 50 years old. It is in need of extensive repair and was not built to manage the additional flow of water mixed with waste matter. Williams said it will most likely be an 18-foot-deep wet well with two pumps in it. It will most likely be south of where the existing one currently is. He said a lot of the work is complicated and the city really needs Hayter Engineering to help with this project.   

“This is another one of these things that we really need to do,” Williams said. “It’s going to bring a lot of development in the southern part of town, I know it will.”

Arrington confirmed the city is still in negotiations with some of the surrounding developers. The estimated costs for the designing and engineering are a total of $71,570 and a ballpark estimate for the construction of the deep-water well is around $740K-$750K.    

Moving forward, the City Council made the decision not to appoint Mark Abernathy to the Board of Adjustment. Alderman Stacey Miles motioned and Mayor Pro Tem Carla Woolsey seconded. 

Lastly, Arrington had a discussion only with the City Council on the budget for the fiscal year 2024-2025 for the Whitesboro Fire Department and the Whitesboro city vehicle garage department.