Granite Shoals holds final road bond town hall Saturday
By Glynis Crawford Smith
The Highlander
The final Town Hall Meeting for Road Bond Confirmation Education will be held in Granite Shoals from 9-11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 14 at the fire hall on Ranch to Market Road 1431.
At the Granite Shoals City Council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 10, one citizen, Arturo Rubio, made it clear he still wants to know about studies and plans pertaining to the use of the money proposed for the project. That is the purpose of the Saturday meeting being conducted by Granite Shoals Road Bond Education Committee.
In the November General Election, citizens will be asked to reaffirm money already voted for the work.
Rubio noted that the council asked for the $3 million bond approval because the council and the citizenry had been assured that money could be parlayed into a larger, more extensive project through U.S. Department of Agriculture grant support.
Although the grant that would have more than doubled the project's scope did not materialize, the $3 million in bonds can be sold and applied to what has been the number one concern citizens have expressed—street conditions.
Voters, beginning with early voting Oct.23, will be deciding if they are still willing to support that concern. Without the approval, the bonds cannot be sold for roads or repurposed and no restoration work can be done on Valley View Lane, Prairie Creek Road and Phillips Ranch Road.
City Secretary Elaine Simpson noted that a full notice of the election appeared in the Oct. 10 issue of The Highlander and that it would run, again, in the Classified section of the paper today, Friday, Oct. 13. It also can be reviewed on the “Classifieds” page of www.HighlanderNews.com.
Little action came out of the Tuesday night meeting, although the council did appoint Sabrina Byrom to the Parks Committee, defer the presentation of the Granite Shoals Mayor's Award from the Veterans Day Celebration to their Nov. 14 meeting and decide to honor original sprit of the John Rinehart Memorial Award for Outstanding Community Service to honor individuals rather than groups.
Councilwoman Shirley King brought back to the council the question of requirements for fencing materials in Residential Single Family Zoning District (R-1). For months the council has been grooming that Fence Ordinance put forward by the Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z). Between it and specifications for dock construction, they have been schooled on the possible merits of what is commonly referred to as “drill stem” and “flow pipe.”
Martin Mullinix, who addressed the council Tuesday on the durability of pipe supports, is just one of about a dozen residents who have come to the council with concerns about the ordinance that already has been through the revision process. Mullinix began a fence before flow pipe was seemly disallowed and didn't learn of the change until more than 50 posts had be set and he was red-flagged on the construction.
Any change the council recommends would have to go through a new round of hearings at the P&Z but, in this case, the council seems willing to consider a change. City Attorney Brad Young was given instructions to work on clear language for the ordinance.
“I have applied for many permits in Cottonwood Shores,” said King. “They always provide a copy of the ordinance you have to follow...I think that would help all our citizens in Granite Shoals.”
Assistant City Manager Peggy Smith reviewed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) testing procedure that has resulted in water notices that will go out with water bills this month and with several more in the future.
At defined locations in the city's water system, samples are taken quarterly and averaged for comparison with TCEQ and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines. In the case of one by-product of disinfection chemicals, trihalomethane (TTHM), the Granite Shoals average in one quarter was three-thousandths of a milligram (.083, compared to the standard. .080) per liter of water over the prescribed minimum.
Similar warnings went out after the current water plant went on line in 2007 and plants up and down the lakes dealt with the aftermath of that year's floods.
Smith said by product levels inched up following heavy rains in 2016 and the notice residents are about to receive will have to go out until levels are acceptable for four quarters in a row. Line flushing is the immediate remedy for a city like Granite Shoals with special emphasis on dead-end lines and additional monitoring for disinfection by-products.
The detailed information that will go out with the water bills is posted already under “Public Notices” on the city website, www.graniteshoals.org.
