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North east corner of City Park Here's a 2022 photo of City Park as the parking area was being paved. The 547 acre basin shown on a topo map here at # 2 empties all of its stormwater into the 4 barrels (in the yellow circle) that pass under State Hwy 67. IC ISD's engineer and architect acknowledged during the 2019 bond build out that the barrels were too small to adequately handle all the stormwater. The blue arrows represent the direction the stormwaters are flowing as they arrive at the IC ISD football stadium. The field itself is lower than where these waters collide, thus explaining why the field is so vulnerable to stormwater flooding. Below is the meeting agenda for this meeting, and underneath that are my agenda analysis and meeting review . I also have some Commentary on the US Constitution . A. Agenda Analysis 1. Accepting resignation of councilmember and swearing in council members, items 5 and 6: The Council, with the resignation of Ms. Holland earlier this month, now has two vacant seats. Gone but not forgotten Micah Elliot resigned back in May, 2024 . His seat has not been filled since. Then, at the last meeting Ms. Holland resigned. With 2 vacant seats, a Council of 5 plus the Mayor is a governmental body precariously close to not being able to function if there were an absence; a quorum of 4 would not have been present. 2. New Pavilion at Spring Creek, item 8: The river running through Mertzon, Spring Creek, is really the gem of the city. This is an item not previously discussed at a Council meeting, so this will be worth paying attention to. The barrels at HWY 67. Here's a closer view of the barrels. Even if they are replaced with larger ones, as the State of Texas has said it will do eventually, only a few hundred yards further down stream are the barrels that go under the railroad. Those barrels are even smaller than these, and the railroad has never committed to improving them. The best way to manage this storm water is to decrease the quantity at its sources and to regulate current and future growth. To accomplish this the local governments (school, city and county) must cooperate with one another. If they don't it is mutual destruction because they will flood one another. B. Meeting Review. (Here are the meeting documents for this meeting.) 1. Accepting resignation of councilmember and swearing in council members, items 5 and 6:  Daniel Harper was sworn in to fill one of the vacant seats as council member. There remains one seat unfilled. The Council also formally accepted the resignation of council member Holland, who submitted her resignation at the last meeting. 2. New pavilion at Spring Creek, item 8 : Michelle Rushing, Mike Dolan and John Young were present to request that the Council approve a donated 40’x60’ pavilion to be built with Lions Club efforts/donated funds at the river. The Council approved, conditioned on site approval by the City’s engineers. The initial plans can be found at page 3 of the meeting documents . 3. Administrative report, item 8: there’s a lot of interesting things to report on. Two things caught my attention, though. The recently hired part time office staffer will go full time in February. This will free up Ms. Rabenaldt to do more traditional municipal management work. Second, I’m always impressed with Mayor Stewart’s and Ms. Ms. Rabenaldt’s efforts to stay out of TCEQ’s enforcement crosshairs. The City, under previous leadership, paid a hefty administrative penalty to TCEQ a while back for violations at the wastewater plant. It appears that the lesson was learned. Our local tax dollars should NEVER be transferred to the State (TCEQ) in the form of administrative penalties. Commentary : To paraphrase President Lincoln, laws that aren’t enforced are nothing more than good advice. The concept of desuetude , that laws become unenforceable over a long period of their being unenforced, does not, however, apply to the US Constitution. (See reference to Walz v Tax Commission City of New York .) Put another way, that local government has flooded its community for years without landowner complaint doesn’t mean that the Takings Clause of the Constitution is merely “good advice.” Our government never achieves a vested right to flood it’s citizens. The flow of stormwater around the southwest corner of the Community Center. The Community Center (tan roof) is especially vulnerable to the stormwaters that exit the IC ISD campus at 2nd Street and Juanita. The District (via Gallagher Construction and Parkhill) is currently designing a stormwater detention site at 2nd and Juanita that hopefully will limit the flow shown here that threatens the Community Center. The entrance of the stormwaters here is at N. First St. and Duncan. Copyright 2025 G Noelke

Long Grass Country is published in the Livestock Weekly. My daughter’s first column for the Livestock Weekly was published today. Her grandfather, Monte Noelke, wrote a weekly column for the paper from 1961 until 2012 when he passed. Grace has been coming to Irion County and Mertzon since she was a baby. She will no doubt be writing about these parts, but her columns will be varied, as were her grandfather’s. Here’s a portion of her first column: “I write about West Texas not as its authority, nor as the rancher's daughter who worked the day to day. I'm the shadow that extends as the sun lowers into the western horizon, the first generation with one degree of separation from the cowboy. And yet, despite the generational gap, I am ill with the disease filled love affair. I too have succumbed to her dusty seduction.” I’m not going to be re-posting her columns here, of course. I’d like you to go out and subscribe. The digital subscription is not expensive. To start things off, as an intermediary of sorts between these generations, I think it’s appropriate for me begin where my father left off. Below is his last column for the Livestock Weekly, published by the paper the week he passed in 2012. His message is for us all, even today. He is buried in the Mertzon cemetery, a few yards from his great grandfather who landed in Texas at Indianola in 1848. He wrote this article specifically to be published after his death. In all the times I rode across the Bank Hill sitting upright before I became a prospect for the spot of honor, there never was a chance for the deceased on his one-way ticket in the hearse to make one more dance in Angelo, or take one more ride at the ranch .             When we buried Jake Childress way back there, rains flooded the whole country . The pallbearers were halfway up under the funeral home’s awning . Looked like the sides of the grave were going to cave in before the coffin could be lowered . About the time it seemed like the preacher wasn’t going to be able to think of another word, he came over to each of the pallbearers, glared in our faces, pointed to the open grave and said, “That is the real thing, brother . ”             Well, the funeral was the real thing for me, too . Old Jake rode into a horse I hung to at the gate going out of the Clay Water Hole pasture in the Monument trap after a rain about as hard as the one falling at his funeral . We’d crossed a draw deep enough to swim our horses . As I started to dismount, my left foot slipped in the stirrup and a tie rope hung the right leg of my chaps . Jake rode in and grabbed the right rein and the headstall and gave me time to kick loose .             So burying Jake was double the real thing for me . He’s the cowboy I wrote about who pulled an old kid out of another horse wreck, but that’s what a final deadline means . It means it’s time to bury those old stories, too .             Sitting in the office at the ranch, I think better of how to write this final column . Most of my books are shelved there. The pictures of the steady hands at the old ranch, one photograph of the Big Boss standing by his friend Cecil Smith, mounted on a polo pony, are up on the very top shelf . Notebooks filled with letters from old friends are stacked in a row . A gal leg spur of my maternal grandfather’s and a rusty OK spur I found up on the big bluff overlooking the Monument Ranch are in a pile of papers on top of the desk .             The oak desk where I wrote my columns cost 25 bucks and came from Harris Luckett Hardware in San Angelo, when the fixtures of the old store sold in 1962 . The roll-top on the other wall came from a barn on a leased ranch . I paid 30 dollars for it. I spent $600 restoring the desk .             Unless you have eight roll-top desks and that many more chairs for the daughters-in-law and son-in-law to sit on, they are hard to divide in a large family like mine of seven sons and one daughter . I thought about leaving a note if Tom Parr, the wood worker over in Angelo who restored the desk, is still around; Tom might be induced to make my casket out of the desk and solve two problems at once .             Big drawback is going to be convincing Tom the work needs to be turned out in a hurry . Might be possible to anticipate the day of death and start him to work on the project ahead of time like the son did in William Faulkner’s story . I just want to be sure the casket isn’t a rushed-up job without the gold fittings and bronze handles needed to send me away in high style . (One thing different about my bequeaths or last wishes — the usual precaution in protecting the testator by his attorney from claims of unsound mind at probate at the slightest departure from the hithertos and henceforths of legalese, do not apply to a writer who has been in print since 1961 . The and/ors can be omitted in my behalf.)             I worry more what is going to happen to my books than the other stuff I’ve accumulated . Books are shelved and stacked all over the ranch house and overflow to the Mertzon place . All one section at the ranch covers the early New Yorker Magazine era, so important an influence over my education . I thought about selling the collection, then visited the final days of the closing of a big book store in California to face the same editions strewn on the floor rejected at 50 cents a copy . There are a few first editions, a few copies signed by writers I knew or wrote letters to .             Pretty ironic that this will actually be my last deadline . I sure don’t have to worry about the next week .             Every time I came back across the hill from the Mertzon cemetery from a funeral, I planned on writing this column to leave in my bank box to be submitted for the real deadline . Doesn’t matter where the funeral is; my lot over on the north side of the windmill is visible . The boundary of the lot is less than a windmill rod length (20 feet) from the bottom of the tower legs . I have already instructed two windmill men, Possum Martin and Ray Beam, that after I am buried I don’t want rods and pipe stacked over or on my grave . Windmills have been enough of a burden without placing rusty pipes and broken rods on my grave site .             The plots all around the windmill belong to the families I knew in my childhood . Quite a number of the men once traded at the barbershop where I shined shoes in the 1930s . Far as I know they never told on me and I never wrote anything to hurt them . Shine boys hear and see the word from shoelace and boot heel level . I knew, for example, how much dividend the bank and the wool house paid way before the editor of the weekly newspaper, The Mertzon Star .             In those formative years, I got a well-rounded education . The barber’s wife taught me how to smoke cigarettes back in a tin shed where clothes were dry cleaned . The soda jerk at the drug store gave lessons to all of us working downtown how to play half-rack nine-ball at the pool hall for a big cut in the shoeshine revenue and the wages at the grocery store and the filling station .             Things were plenty exciting on Saturdays . One of the most vigorous characters was a trapper, who in advanced stages of intoxication, got down on his hands and knees out in the middle of the highway coming through town to paw and bellow like a bull at the approaching traffic . He’s the fellow I might have written about who leaped from the chair during a shave and shine to chase a pedestrian he wanted to whip, until he ran out of breath from his dissipation . Three days later, he brought back the barber’s apron, paid me for the shine, and gave the barber 50 cents to even up his bead . He may have been the wildest one of all our customers . A few years later, he died a horrible death in a runaway wild horse wreck pulling farm equipment .             Also, we street kids never missed a chance to watch the fist fights around the garage where men shot dice and played cards on a square cushion . (I was never to see a poker game again played on pillow or cushion from an old couch . Worked real well as a portable table.) Election years were exciting times around the barbershop, as feelings ran high, especially for the local races .             Doctor Deal had an office in the back of the drug store building that he leased to his son . Whatever boy swept out the drug store knew exactly how many stitches the doctor took to sew up old so-and-so’s eye from smarting off too loud in front of old such and such’s choice for commissioner . Doctor Deal was a very strict church worker . The times offered few refinements for a doctor to have a painless practice, but he had no mercy for drunk cowboys .             The main lesson I learned from my customers, however, came much later in life . One Christmas when I visited my mother and stepdad’s graves, I read all the names along the way and remembered them coming in the barbershop or parking over at the post office . Over and over I’d heard my grandfather and grandmother say that if you lost or sold your land, you’d be buried in an unmarked grave . But on those visits I made later in life, I realized the abstracts and the stock certificates along with the bonds and bank accounts didn’t make much difference once you were dead .             Takes a lot of nerve to denounce a penny earned is a penny saved, or however the old axiom saws away at the conscience . But try someday to convince yourself out at the cemetery or on a visit to a nursing home that an estate plan is better than a living plan . While you are at either place, take a test and see what is better, the money you gave away alive, or the money you leave your heirs to divide . His Remington typewriter…at sunrise, when he enjoyed writing the most. Copyright 2025 G Noelke

2024 Bond Banner Below is the agenda for this meeting, and below that are my agenda analysis and meeting review . A. Agenda Analysis 1. Pending construction projects and square footage change, items 6 and 7 : These are the bond related items. 2. TASB policy changes, item 10 : My ongoing issue with the District's policy changes is threefold. First, a private association, TASB , drafts them, not the District, and the District appears to have no real involvement with TASB. Second, they aren't published either on the District's website or at the meeting so that if a parent, student or member of the community wanted to comment on them during open forum (before they are passed) they couldn't. Finally, typically board members don't read them in advance of the meeting and, instead, rely on the superintendent's cursory review at the same meeting they are passed. This means there is more often than not no substantive board discussion of what the policy changes mean and board members are clueless about the content of the policies. There's a lot of meat on this bone. Here's a link to the IC ISD policy manual . You might be amazed at what all is in there. Sometimes one can Google the policy update to see if another ISD has posted something online about it. Here are some explanatory notes I found from Katy ISD on TASB update 122 . Here are some explanatory notes on Update 123 from College Station ISD . Look, it could be that only a lawyer could enjoy reading and questioning policies (I do), but alarm bells should be ringing when there is simultaneous board member and public disengagement on policy matters...and a private association is doing both drafting and interpretive comments . Who is really in charge? Are school board members leaders or followers? 3. Closed session and action on closed session, items 14 and 16 : I always highlight this portion of each agenda. The District, as is apparently the case with most school districts, does not have a lawyer present in closed session to make sure that their discussion about personnel is within the boundaries in the Open Meetings Act. This part of the meeting is always a cloudy day if you are for government in the sunshine... or if you are a teacher . The Irion County Community Center is roughly 75 yards away (and slightly higher) from the IC ISD football stadium. The Irion County Commissioner's Court is considering whether to expand or rebuild the Community Center. Read my public comments about that at B1 here . There's good reason to be concerned about our community's self inflicted wound of local government flooding itself: If the impervious cover of the Community Center is expanded, then that additional stormwater will flood the IC ISD football stadium. The improvements made to the football stadium with the 2019 bond funds were minimal at best. See the last photo on this page to see how close it was to flooding just a few months ago . B. Meeting Review Open forum, item 5 : A truly inspired speech was given by an IC ISD student on how to re-purpose the turf at the football stadium once it is removed. He read from his prepared remarks, he was organized and he was concise about what he was recommending. We all recognize in some way that we have a right under the Constitution to petition our government. But we perhaps do not know that the interpretation of doing so to "redress grievances" has been given a broad interpretation. A grievance doesn't have to be a full blown human rights violation. Indeed, as it was here, it was a playground issue - the playground has stickers and the turf would cover them up. "Petition" has broadly been interpreted as a request that government use it powers to serve the interests and prosperity of the petitioner. Best of all, there shouldn't be a petition cop at the door of a school board meeting room telling citizens what they can and can't say in open forum. The general rule is that prior restraint of speech is illegal. (But see 551.007 of the Open Meetings Act for what speech is allowed.) So, kudos to this student for exercising his free speech rights. Read more on right to petition government here . Bond matters, items 6, 7, 9c and 11: a. There will be additional square footage (3,000 to 4,000 sf) added to the elementary design to accommodate potential future growth, at a likely cost of $1.7 million. It's not certain just yet where this money will come from. Hold that thought! b. Demo of elementary will start in mid-March. c. End of January will be when bids are published for construction of the bus barn, Estes Gym and cafeteria expansion. The drainage, detention pond and practice field for band will be a separate phase and those bids will be published in March. The band practice field location has been moved from the west side of the band hall to the east side of the band hall , which appears to explain why there has been a delay on getting the bids out on the drainage and detention projects. This also means that the City of Mertzon and IC ISD have not agreed to the MOU that closes a portion of the street . d. Football field turf and track : The Board accepted a $1.03 million offer from Hellas Construction for new football field turf and track. Here is the offer document . The Board approved Proposal alternatives 1 and 2 on page 2. e. Order of operations: The prayer fence needs some editing: Add " Don't pray for rain". Here's why. Like the build out with the 2019 bonds, the construction at the football stadium is coming first. That construction will start in May/June this summer (2025!) and will take only about two months. The football stadium is the IC ISD property at the lowest elevation, and it is the most vulnerable to flooding. See my topo map on this page . We typically get a summer monsoon in July or August, so the new turf and track are going to be vulnerable right away. Next up, according to the bid schedule as described by Supt. Moore at this meeting, will be bus barn, Estes Gym and cafeteria extension. I still can't report how much additional stormwater will be added to the basin from this construction, but there will be more runoff that will flood our streets, our homes and our new field and track. The next bidding will be the drainage and detention pond and the band practice field. (The timing of the bidding for the elementary and parking lot construction was not discussed.) Time will tell whether the flood control structures should have been built first, not third, to protect our streets, homes and City Park from flooding. And, as I explained to the County Commissioner's Court , I am suspending my opinion about whether the flood control structures will even be built. So, none of this is written in stone. Administrative reports a. Cost of electricity - I've been requesting the District's electricity bill via the PIA for some months now. My reasons are straightforward: One of the school bond reforms that needs to be adopted is that voters need to be informed what the additional expenses to the school's Maintenance and Operations (M&O) increases are expected once bond build out is complete. Those added expenses grow over time! The way these bond packages are presented to voters when they are proposed is that homeowners will not see an increase in the Interest and Sinking (I&S) taxation of their property value . What isn't discussed are the long term M&O costs that the taxpayers will have to bear. How much are we talking? The October 2024 monthly invoice from TXU for electricity for all the District's properties was the highest its ever been at $24,982.28. The same month back in 2006 was $11,330! Of course, electricity was cheaper then, but the District also had less square footage to heat and cool. Electricity for City Gym these days can vary from $2,000 to $3,000 a month! Add to that the expense of maintaining its specialty AC system, and over time the District has placed a huge tax burden on its citizens ...after having told voters before the bond election that they wouldn't see any increase in their taxes for I&S, the pot of money where the payment for the bonds comes from. b. Superintendent Moore's report at this meeting included an update on her work with Ideal Impact , a company that modernizes campus heating and cooling with centralized smart technology. She gets kudos from me on this issue. I was forecasting to her predecessor, Supt. Ray DeSpain, that the District was going to be experiencing high electricity costs for the new gym while it was still being constructed...and he ignored me. I'll be continuing to look at the M&O costs with the 2024 build out. If the District doesn't control its M&O budget, it can't pay off these or the 2019 bonds early. In hindsight that will make the whole rolling bond concept of always issuing bonds to have been one colossal mistake. That is, the District will not be able to pay off its bonds early if it can't afford its M&O expenses . Put another way, the Texas legislature's funding mechanism that permits wealthy school districts like IC ISD to keep its I&S wealth local will have backfired . c. Enrollment is at 203 in elementary and 134 at secondary, totaling 337 students in the District, according to Principal Parker. 4. TASB Policy updates 122 and 123, agenda item 10 : These updates were handled as I discussed above at A2 above . Supt Moore during her presentation explained that the District would have to send the proposed policy changes to their own attorney if there was to be any change by the Board. No doubt that would be added expense to the District. However, it is also important to consider the role of the Board. Is the board a doing board or an executive board involved in assisting the superintendent in evaluating and executing policy? One way to answer this question is to look at time management during the meeting. What agenda items do the board spend most of its time during its meeting? This meeting was a perfect example. The Board spent way more time discussing the new football field and track proposal, even going to the extent of physically handing and evaluating the field padding with the vendor, while spending no time discussing the TASB policy updates. I contend that it was the Board's doing of athletics in 2019, as opposed to executing policy (executive management), that caused it to spend most of a $18 million bond on a new gym and football stadium upgrades, while spending no money on classrooms. One solution here might be to adopt future TASB updates in a 2 or even 3 step process. Introduce the amendments one month, adopt them with board review the next month. Forcing a one meeting adoption process for complex policy issues ( and there was lots of complex issue in these updates ) is a lot to expect for the average board member. These are complicated changes that deserve more opportunity to read, comprehend and discuss intelligently. I will be reviewing these changes in the future with a PIA request. 5. Closed session, items 14 and 16 : My schedule didn't permit me to stay through to the end of this meeting, so I did not attend the return to open session at item 16. Supt. Moore has advised me that no action was taken. 6. Attendance : All members were present at this meeting, so attending were Maegin Carlile, Ricky Rey, Ashley Hill, Tony Martinez, DJ Rainey, Taylor Douglas and Chad Koonce. My RadRover bike cockpit view off a cliff’s edge at Seminole Canyon State Park. Copyright 2025 G Noelke

All stormwater runoff in Mertzon runs to City Park, where the Community Center, owned by the County, is located. IC ISD is a stormwater source for the two arrows on the right. An agenda item for this meeting shows that the County is considering renovating or replacing the Community Center. Below is the agenda for this meeting, and underneath that are my agenda analysis and meeting analysis . A. Agenda analysis : 1. Item 12, Goals and timelines, Community Center : As my regular readers know, I typically don't address the goings on at the County Commissioner's meetings. ( Here is my last post involving the County. ) There are two reasons for that - my limited resources (this blog is a solo unpaid gig), and the County's property is not flooding me. Indeed, the County's property at the City Park is at a lower elevation and, like mine, is getting flooded by the same stormwater source as I am: Irion County ISD. So, this particular agenda item touches on a key part of my analysis about how our elected officials are addressing stormwater issues: our government is flooding itself. That is, stormwater from IC ISD is by design directed into city streets, with the acquiescence of the City of Mertzon, and ultimately reaches City Park, where 3 governmental bodies (IC ISD, City of Mertzon and Irion County) all share space. Thus, all 3 are stakeholders in controlling stormwater flooding. 2. Public comment, item 3: Note that the County allows for a 5 minute period per person for public comment. The City and IC ISD, in contrast, allow 3 minutes. The law, Texas Gov't Code 551.007 , does not provide a specific time. It says that the governmental body is permitted to limit the time and that the time must be "reasonable". My experience is that governmental bodies use either 3 or 5 minutes as a standard. I prefer 3 because if I can't say what I need to say in 3 minutes I risk loosing the attention of the elected officials. B. Meeting Review 1. Here were my comments during public comment Thank you for this opportunity to speak.  I would like to briefly speak on agenda item 12 relating to your goals and timelines for renovation or replacement of the Community Center in City Park. This Spring will mark my 9th year attempting to get some relief from IC ISD’s stormwater runoff from their buildings .  I consider this Court a stakeholder because that part of the School’s runoff that passes over my property also floods City Park and impacts County property there. Another part of the School’s runoff drains north down 1st Street and impacts the Community Center parking area. I am here to ask,  as you start this process of Community Center development, that you keep your vision looking uphill to the School and factor in how their stormwater plans, or lack thereof, will impact your potential development.  While the 2024 bonds included money for flood diversion, I am suspending my judgment about whether anything will be accomplished.  Unfortunately, there is still sentiment on the School Board that the School can dump its stormwater runoff onto City streets and be absolved of any sins because the City does not have any stormwater ordinances. The City’s failure to regulate is not a legal defense for the School, however.  This argument by the School is nothing more than a convenient misdirection. There is also sentiment on the Board that there is nothing legally or morally wrong with flooding private property with stormwater runoff. This disregard for private landowners by the Board goes back several decades at least. Maybe it’s born from the fact that the School’s wealth is from the minerals, not so much from residential or rural  real estate.   In any event, every chance I get I remind folks: be good to your neighbors, and don’t flood them because you never know when you will need them. My other request is that you move forward with an appreciation that flooding is a community wide problem. This has been my central message since I first spoke about flooding in April 2019.  Like the School, this Court is also a governmental body. You have the same Constitutional prohibition against taking private property by stormwater runoff that the School does.  So, if you increase the impervious footprint of the Community Center, you should not flood our neighbors in the houses along Oak Avenue.  We are all in this together.  I don’t want my tax dollars to go to an improved Community Center if it means that my neighbors along Oak Avenue lose their homes.  You as community leaders shouldn’t want that either. If we all shared an understanding that flooding is a community wide problem we wouldn’t be in the pickle that we are currently in. All the stormwater that enters my property leaves my property and hurts someone else. My final request is that your plans include the real potential for increased stormwater runoff from future development at the School.  The Texas legislature has made it far too attractive for the School to issue bonds. The School  is going to stay in debt for the foreseeable future.  There will be even more development that will displace even more stormwater after the 2024 bonds are spent. Whether the School’s growth will be sustainable given their M&O revenue is a debate for another day.  In the meantime, this Court should plan, like I am,  for ever increasing volumes of stormwater. Thank you for your time. Topo Map To put my comments into perspective, look at above topo map done by Hibbs & Todd for the City of Mertzon back in 2023. It is showing that Areas 1-4 all drain stormwater into Area 5, which is City Park. I have added the red, black and blue lines showing, respectively, the Community Center, Football Stadium and where all the stormwater for all 5 areas must exit. So, both the Community Center and Football Stadium are effectively in the bottom of a 547 acre basin. The Community Center is owned by Irion County, City Park is owned by the City of Mertzon, and the Football Stadium is owned by IC ISD on land leased to it by the City of Mertzon. If any of these 3 local governments refuses to cooperate on stormwater management, all are assured of being flooded, at taxpayer expense. Regrettably, it is a perfect storm of government flooding itself. Action taken by the Court on Agenda item 12: The Court took an extended break in the middle of the day, and I was unable to return to hear their discussion on the Community Center. When I later contacted Judge Criner by email about whether any action was taken on this item, she replied: " No, it was more of a brainstorming session about the kind of information we might like the community advisory committee to gather from residents. " The County's approach to public comment, item 3 : Before the meeting, I was visiting in the hall with a few Commissioners and the County Attorney, James Ridge. I commented to them that I thought the County was being quite generous during the public comment portion of the meeting by allowing to public to speak a full 5 minutes as apposed to the typical 3 minutes that most governmental bodies give. Mr. Ridge quickly pointed out that the County wanted to hear what citizens had to say and that it was best to give ample time for citizens to make their point. Whether it is 3 or 5 minutes, in my opinion this is exactly the approach all governmental bodies should have. Let citizens say what it is they want to say...unless there is some indication that violence is about to occur . I have personal experience with the former leadership at IC ISD throttling my public comments (refer to this page at Meeting analysis 1 ). The best reason for those managing public meetings to adopt the approach Mr. Ridge is taking is that encouraging input from citizens tamps down their anger and prevents them from becoming principled about their cause. Once a citizen is angered by their government and becomes principled because they sense their speech is suppressed, well, they might start blogging about it. Like I said in my public comments above to the Commissioners at this meeting, I'm almost 9 years into my advocacy to get flooding relief from IC ISD. I'm not close to being done yet because our stormwater flooding is a community wide problem. This blog isn't just about me and the injustice of a school district flooding my property. Copyright 2025 G Noelke

Texas on the left, Mexico on the right , at the Rio Grande in Seminole Canyon State Park. The park entrance is 146 miles south of Mertzon. Below is the agenda for this meeting, and under that are my agenda and meeting analysis. And, read my commentary about this meeting here . A. Agenda analysis Council pay, item 5: We've really got to show some respect for Mayor Stewart, an elected official, willing to state in public that he is considering a pay cut . And, the City Administrator is out there on a limb with the Mayor, as well, because as written she is making the ask. For sure, nothing gets included in the agenda in this instance without both of them being in the loop. Regardless of how the vote turns out (and other council members have resisted in the past), this agenda item shows some real moxie. The rest of the agenda is the stock agenda. That's the Rio Grande on the left just above the cactus, so Texas is in the foreground and Mexico in the background. The trail here is a bit gnarly for biking, but e-bikes are ideal because with their "walk" feature they can carry their own weight on the portions of the trail that are not bike friendly. The nearby canyon views are stunning, on foot or by bike. B. Meeting analysis Council pay, item 5: Upon a deadlocked 2-2 vote, Mayor Stewart broke a deadlock by voting in favor of Council Member Lindley's motion to reduce the Mayor's and Council's pay by $100 per meeting. Thus, the vote was 3-2, and the Council reduced its members' pay by $100 per meeting. Councilman Councilman was the second to Lindley's motion. So, those voting in favor were Stewart, Lindley and Councilman, and those opposing were Holland and Crutchfield. Only Holland voiced opposition to the motion while it was being discussed. See my commentary below. Council Member resignation, other announcements, item 8b: In a surprise move, and in apparent protest to the reduction in pay, Council member Holland resigned her position. See my commentary below. Reward yourself after the trek by driving 45 or so minutes to Del Rio to eat at Julio's at 3900 US-90. They never fail to provide comfort. C. Commentary: I quoted President Jimmy Carter on this page at picture 3 , “The experience of democracy is like the experience of life itself - always changing, infinite in its variety, sometimes turbulent and all the more valuable for having been tested by adversity.” Well, democracy was in its best changing form at this meeting when Mayor Stewart broke a deadlock and voted to reduce the pay for himself and the Council's members. The Council has achieved a degree of selflessness in their leadership by lowering their own pay . Find me an example of that anywhere else in government these days and I'll eat my new "Gov in the Sun" custom cap given to me this Christmas by my daughter! Here is what the community misses out on when it fails to attend these meetings: you miss seeing the instances where democracy works as it should and elected officials act selflessly on behalf of the public . The very ideal of public service - serving the public's interest rather than one's own interests - was tested. And, it was put to the test by Mayor Stewart and City Administrator Michelle Rabenaldt, who as I said above, showed a lot of moxie just by putting the matter on the agenda. The truth is that some folks will serve on a government board for free, and Mayor Stewart is an example of that person. He has said in prior discussions on this issue that he didn't come to the council looking for pay. His actions show that. Another element of this discussion is that there are some, like Ms. Rabenaldt, who don't believe council members should be paid. When challenged by Council member Holland on the issue at this meeting, she did not shy away from her opinion that she did not think that pay was appropriate...but she also said that did not mean that she did not value the sacrifice council members made to serve. Why was less pay promoted now? The gist of the discussion was that more could be accomplished, more than just treading water, in certain priority areas. There is no financial exigency at the City, no misspent money or graft going on. The reduction would just mean that money could be reallocated in the budget to more productive areas. I think there were two other reasons for raising this now, though not stated at this meeting. First, the City's bond counsel recently forced a water and sewer rate hike because the City was just treading water financially . The City needs to do more than just tread water, and this reallocation would in part allow for that. And, second, I think the Council still had some explaining to do from a previous discussion of council member pay that showed in fact the Mertzon City Council was being handsomely paid in comparison to other cities its size . The Mayor and Council pay was just too high, and it was rather obvious. These facts made Council member Holland's opposition to the pay decrease seem rather shallow. Her refrain was that the current pay should be left alone "for the citizens" because reallocating the money elsewhere would be changing how the City is spending its money and change wasn't needed. This, however, was really just her misdirect to avoid openly saying that she would like to continue being paid the same because the money is a nice side gig. (Most council meetings last 1 to 1.5 hours, so the previous pay was sometimes $200 an hour!) Moreover, back in 2020 Council member Holland was a key member voting to close 4th Street for the City Gym , thereby currently hamstringing the City and IC ISD with street and City Park flooding. So, from my perspective her financial legacy as a Council member is more in the red than in the black, by far. Both the City and IC ISD are going to have to deal with flooding from now until that gym is razed for the wrongheaded decision that was made to close 4th Street and locate that gym where it is today. The only other Council member to oppose the pay reduction was Council member Crutchfield, who at first appeared to try to straddle the fence during discussion by saying that he could "go either way" on the decrease. He did not voice any opposition to the decrease during discussion, but ultimately voted "no" along with Holland. Procedurally, when there is a deadlocked council vote the Mayor gets to break the tie. Mayor Stewart did not hesitate in his resolve to approve the reduction by casting the tie breaker. Later in the meeting Council member Holland did not make explicit that she was resigning in protest, but she didn't deny it either by stating some other reason. I commend City Administrator Rabenaldt and Mayor Stewart for their courage to bring this issue forward. I also commend them, as well as members Lindley and Councilman, for making the larger point that their role is one of public service. The very ideal of public service - serving the public's interest rather than one's own interests - was tested. And, the public came out the winner. Explore the uneven ground. Here's the Park website: Seminole Canyon State Park and Historic Site . I've also written about this park in another blog post, with more pictures . We did not see any migrants crossing this trip, if that is an issue for you. Copyright 2025 G Noelke

A portion of the IC ISD campus that is scheduled for demolition. As 2024 comes to a close today, December 31, I think it timely to post some photos of what the IC ISD campus looks like before the 2024 bond money is spent in 2025. At the same time, our country this week is mourning the passing of President Jimmy Carter. My impressionable years in learning about government and politics included President Carter as President while I was in high school at IC ISD. He occupied the Whitehouse post Watergate and at a time when a President’s character mattered. Putting aside party affiliation for a moment, I think most agree that Carter's post presidency has had a positive and lasting impact on our country. So, in that vein, I am including some of Carter's quotes among the photos. His quotes in one way or another touch on points that I wish to make, or have made, in this blog. The photos are not in any particular order, and the quotes are randomly associated with the photos. I anticipate referring to them by number in posts in 2025 and beyond. The photos were all taken on December 30 and 31, 2024. "Increasingly, developed and developing nations are recognizing that a free flow of information is fundamental for democracy. Whether it's government or private companies that provide public services , access to their records increases accountability and allows citizens to participate more fully in public life. It is a critical tool in fighting corruption , and people can use it to improve their own lives in the areas of health care, education , housing and other public services. Perhaps most important, access to information advances citizens' trust in their government, allowing people to understand policy decisions and monitor their implementation ." From We Need Fewer Secrets, his 2006 op-ed. “The experience of democracy is like the experience of life itself - always changing, infinite in its variety, sometimes turbulent and all the more valuable for having been tested by adversity.” “It is difficult for the common good to prevail against the intense concentration of those who have a special interest, especially if the decisions are made behind locked doors.” "If you fear making anyone mad, then you ultimately probe for the lowest common denominator of human achievement." "The evidence shows that investing in women and girls delivers major benefits for society. An educated woman has healthier children. She is more likely to send them to school. She earns more and invests what she earns in her family." "The abuse of women and girls is the most pervasive and unaddressed human rights violation on Earth." "My first public office was as a county school board member. As a state senator and governor I devoted much of my time to education issues. I remain convinced that education is one of the noblest enterprises a person or a society can undertake." (At the signing of the federal bill that created the Department of Education .) “Thoughtful criticism and close scrutiny of all government officials by the press and the public are an important part of our democratic society. Now, as in the past, only the understanding and involvement of the people through full and open debate can help to avoid serious mistakes and assure the continued dignity and safety of the Nation.” “I believe in the separation of church and state. The government has the right to say what happens in a civil case, like in a court house. And religious people have a right to say what happens in a church congregation. They are two completely separate things.” “When people are intimidated about having their own opinions, oppression is at hand.” “But we know that democracy is always an unfinished creation. Each generation must renew its foundations. Each generation must rediscover the meaning of this hallowed vision in the light of its own modern challenges. For this generation, ours, life is nuclear survival; liberty is human rights; the pursuit of happiness is a planet whose resources are devoted to the physical and spiritual nourishment of its inhabitants.” “I’m not in favor of the government mandating a prayer in school because our country was founded on the fact that no particular religious faith would have ascendance over or preferential treatment over any other.” Copyright 2024 G Noelke

A construction erosion fence on the IC ISD campus, Nov. 2021. IC ISD initially failed to do a Stormwater Prevention Pollution Plan ( SWPPP ), a requirement of state and federal law with construction projects larger than 1 acre, when it started Phase 1 construction with the 2019 bonds. Their position, via their architect and construction firm, was that the first project site, the cafeteria kitchen, was less than an acre. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) said, no, it was larger than an acre; and they said all of the proposed construction site (including the gym), regardless of phasing, counted toward the 1 acre anyway. These are federal laws enforced by TCEQ on behalf of the EPA. I am dumbfounded by the Board's continued resistance to these laws and issues related to stormwater flooding . It's a lose-lose situation for everyone - the District, Parkhill , Gallagher , and our community - to disregard these laws. The blue erosion fence above was required as part of the SWPPP ultimately required by TCEQ. In the background you can see that the roofing was not yet complete on the new gym. Below is the agenda for this meeting, and underneath it are my Agenda Analysis and Meeting Analysis (pending). A. Agenda Analysis 1. Location and Time: The Administration has moved to 5th Street, but this meeting is still at the usual Board meeting room on 3rd Street. The meeting is on Wednesday at 6:30. 2. Pending construction projects, item 6 : This agenda language is too vague. One purpose for my critical analysis of agenda language is to publicly question whether the language is specific enough so that the community knows to question what the Board is up to and is voting upon . Consider the following about Mertzon and Irion County that make this an unusual public education environment. First, no one from the community attends school board meetings, including parents. Second, there is no Fourth Estate (local media). Third, the Board does not stream its meetings or post recordings of them online. And, fourth, races for school board elections are largely not competitive. So, the Board and Administration generally gets to operate in private . It historically has tended toward being as cryptic with its agenda language as it deems fit. Understandably, the Board and Administration desire as much independence from the community as necessary so that they can accomplish their goals. The problem being, however, is that there is an entire body of law just on specificity of agendas . So that I avoid writing a legal brief here, go no further that the District's own board policy BE , where it is stated, " Agendas for all meetings must be sufficiently specific to inform the public of the subjects to be discussed at the meeting, setting out any special matters to be considered or any matter in which the public has a particular interest ". (That's the Cox Enterprises v. Austin ISD Texas Supreme Court case, and its progeny.) I have already asserted for the previous agenda on this page at B.1.c. (where the Board first used similar agenda language) that the Board was voting on bond construction projects not previously disclosed to the voters prior to the bond election. (Estes Gym rehab and Field House addition.) As I try to interpret the language for this agenda item, item 6, I'm in the same quandary as I was in for agenda item 8 for the November 8 meeting: which construction project are they going to vote on? And, for this agenda, add the question: what specific "bond purchasing" might they vote on? Does the public have a "particular interest" in the kind of detail I am asking for here? Yes, and it's called preventing community wide stormwater flooding that is destroying both private and public property. The remedy for future agenda items like item 6? It's easy and would cost nothing. The drafting just needs to identify with more detail the specific bond project or part of bond project being approved. Not only will this kind of specificity alert the public about what is going on, it will help keep the Board, Administration, staff, private donors, Parkhill, Gallagher and the myriad of subcontractors honest . I spent an extraordinary amount of time following the money spent on the 2019 bonds, up to and including winning an Open Records dispute with the District (See OR2022-17229 ) in which the District tried to keep secret the name of one of its large donors to City Gym . (At the time it appeared to me that private donations were being solicited by Board members and staff in order to get the gym or parts of the gym named after the donors. But, it was impossible to tell from the agendas or during the meetings where the money was going!) My experience analyzing the spend down of the 2019 bonds teaches me that one of the best ways to keep everyone honest is to openly disclose where the bond money is being spent as it is being approved by the Board at its board meetings. The Board clearly needs to be more specific in its agendas. 3. Administrative reports, agenda item 8 : Highlighting this is a given - this is always a portion of the meeting that should receive focus. Here's a thought for the future, though: maybe an "Music" or "Music and Arts" ought to be added to these reports. A fair portion of the 2024 bond funds is going to a new marching field for the now 3 time State champion IC ISD marching band. Maybe its time the District play to its strengths outside of its passions for athletics? The only time there is band representation at Board meetings is when they are recognized. 4. Dyslexia handbook, agenda item 9 : I was educated at IC ISD during the dark days before Section 504 and when the District had no affirmative legal obligation to screen for dyslexia, as it does now. One obvious advance in public education is that the Board has to approve the dyslexia services the District provides to students. They have to do it annually, and its a good thing. 5. Present and discuss new football field/track: The flooding of the football field and track by stormwater coming from the IC ISD campus' impervious cover, paid for with public bond money, is the crux of my argument that the District is flooding itself. No funds should be considered for a new field and track until Parkhill makes public its data from its surveys of the area. To be specific, the following is the data I have requested several times in my PIA requests to the District: A copy of the following  survey results and all accompanying interpretations done by ParkHill or any of its agents or contractors: A. Lidar survey, done in August 2024. (Previously asked for in August and September, 2024.) B. Topography , done in October 2024. The Board should not repeat the mistakes it made with the 2019 funds where Phase 1 funds were spent first on its lowest elevation property at the football field and Phase 2 funds were spent later at higher elevation property, the campus, where the new impervious cover created more stormwater runoff that flooded the lower elevations . Thus, part of the solution to objectively evaluate whether the Board is throwing good money after bad and continuing to flood itself at the lower elevations is to evaluate Parkhill's Lidar and topography surveys. 6. Closed session and actions, items 13 and 15: I highlight these each meeting as a reminder that matters can only be discussed in closed session if they are specifically allowed in the Open Meetings Act. An exception has to exist. Last month in Santa Fe I saw these required postings for stormwater (SWPPP) and municipal construction permits at the site of a new Georgia O'Keefe museum. What I have been asking IC ISD and the City of Mertzon to do is not extraordinary. Federal laws apply and municipalities in all states have ordinances that protect citizens and serve the greater good of the community. Asking my local government to not flood our private and public property is simply not a big ask. One policy reason to have these laws and to require compliance is that flood remediation for both private and public property is extremely expensive. B. Meeting Analysis 1. Pending construction projects and/or bond purchasing, item 6 : The Board voted to approve the purchase of a medium sized bus with bond money, though the dollar amount was not discussed openly during the meeting. As a continuation of my analysis above , I think the Board should be transparent about the dollar amount of the purchase or construction at the time of the motion. They appear to be relying on meeting notes provided by Supt. Moore, and the public doesn't have access to those during the meeting. No one will know whether those notes become part of the official record of the meeting. In addition, a more frank and open discussion of the cost creates accountability of the Board members, especially in that rare event down the road that the budget gets blown up, as happened during the previous administration . Yes, that happened. 2. Present and discuss new football field and track, item 5: Asst. Principal/Athletic Director Morrow lead this part. No vote was taken, and the discussion was about the kind of field and track surfaces to use. For the first time it was publicly disclosed that bond money would be used for these improvements. I'll be revisiting this issue later, as a central criticism I had of the 2019 bond package is that the lions share of the money was spent on athletics and no classrooms were built. The 2024 bond pre-election community meetings clearly kept the plans to continue with the athletic facility build out on the down low so as to not trigger, pre-election, this criticism that the Board's emphasis is on athletics. There was no discussion about the history of the track and field to flood from stormwater, and there was no discussion about the potential cost, including the cost of flood remediation. Artificial turf has to specially cleaned when it floods. Coincidentally , this week I learned that one reason the great Notre-Dame Cathedral could be re-opened this week after that terrible fire is that they had an exact digital 3D of the interior because Lidar had been used before the fire. ( See also here .) Our community now has this kind of data, accurate up to a few millimeters, of the basins that flood the football field and track. Yet, it is not being discussed during Board meetings, and my repeated efforts to get access it via the PIA have all failed. (I am not stopping, though.) What I learned with the build out of the 2019 bond funds is consistent with the build out of the 2024 bonds: the architects, engineers and construction firms (the Parkhills and Gallaghers ) know or have access to quite precise data that will inform our community the degree of stormwater flooding that will occur before the ground is even broken for the construction. This is a travesty. They, Parkhill and Gallagher, aren't members of this community, and they, like Jeff Potter Architects and WBK Construction before them, are going to leave this community as soon as that final bond fund check lands in their company account...and they will never be heard from again. 3. Administrative reports, item 8: Superintendent Moore's report mentioned the following: a. She and staff have done a tour of the Wall ISD special ed facilities run by Small Schools Coop . (Special Ed funds from Washington are potentially on the chopping block given a campaign promise to abolish the Dept. of Education. So, this is an area to watch.) b. Bond construction update: planning stages still, and portables are currently being delivered. Coming up are meetings for construction fencing and elementary school "saves". (The steeles on the front of the elementary , flooring of the old gym and other things are being listed as things to not to be destroyed but kept for part of the new construction.) Raising the building won't start until about March 1. c. Home inspections - the new property recently purchased at 612 W. Fleming is under rehab. More on this property later. d. Next board meeting is on Wed Jan 15, location unknown. 4. Discuss/approve dyslexia handbook, item 9 : The Texas Dyslexia Handbook , published by TEA, was updated in Aug. 2024, so the District's handbook had to be approved to be consistent. This is a fascinating and ever changing area of the law. An important change is that now dyslexia is identified as a specific learning disability. A child will qualify for Special Education under IDEA if they have dyslexia AND need evidence based reading instructions. This means federal money kicks in, there's an ARD and potentially an individual education plan specific to that child's needs. Specific IEP's are a lot of labor for school districts, but they potentially have HUGE benefits to the child. If the child is going on to higher education, that IEP can be used by him/her to require their college to provide those or similar services. So, when I speak to parents about learning disabilities I tell them to get as specific of a plan as you can in primary school because your child may need that in higher education. There may be around 7 students at IC ISD that are identified as dyslexic but who have already been provided reading instructions, so do not have to go into SPED under this year's handbook. Their parents might want to reconsider that because they potentially will get more protection from discrimination later on with an IEP than a 504 plan. (But, there's also the stigma of special education to contend with...) The Board's treatment of the new handbook at this meeting was about what one might expect. Some members failed to even read it ( and one said so !) , while others indicated they had and were appreciative of the efforts that went into it. The handbook was approved by the Board, but without any discussion. The District's page for dyslexia is here . As an aside, my first memorable "No, you can't do this, you aren't smart enough" relating to my own education was at IC ISD. My IC ISD high school principal smirked at me when I told him about my low SAT score. His smirk burns me to this day, but along the way it provided me with some fuel, like a good breakfast bar does when one is on a long hike, to accomplish a few things. So, it is critically important that board members try harder when they approve this manual. Any lack of concern from the Board about learning differences can send a terrible message to the administration, staff and ultimately to students. I'm a firm believer that how the school board feels about learning differences is how the entire school feels. Diversity in learning skills means diversity in thought. The lack of uniformity is what makes education worthwhile to us all. Thankfully we are not all the same. 5. The following update was posted on Dec 18 and was cross posted on this page : Tournament parking:  The IC ISD Billy Barnett Hoops Classic set for Dec. 27 and 28 2024, once again makes painfully transparent the achilles heel of City Gym : parking and flooding . ( Read more about Barnett here .) To his credit, former Mertzon Mayor Bill Taylor (before he got his ears boxed at this hearing)  tried to get the District to address the parking problems for the gym before the gym was built. Former AD Jacob Conner  and Supt. Ray DeSpain  ultimately failed to alleviate the parking pressure by constructing a new parking lot that I have labeled the GMPL . Even that parking lot was not enough, so part of the 2024 bond funds will be used to pay for the destruction of the current maintenance barn and construction of a new parking lot in its place. ( See the photo on this page .) Watch these pages for my posts on the additional stormwater that more parking at City Gym is going to add to our community. More flooding is a certainty , and it will be substantial because the GMPL could be doubled in size. I have personally notified Supt. Moore of these concerns. Expansion of the GMPL is a huge mistake and will lead to additional flooding at the football field. Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe, Nov. 2024 Stormwater management, including snow melt management, takes all forms. The week before we arrived Santa Fe NM was blanketed with a foot of snow. During the early part of the melt each rain gutter at the Palace of the Governors had these galvanized tubs underneath so that the melt would not splash on the vendors and so the flow would enter the street, owned by the City of Santa Fe. Unlike the City of Mertzon, however, the City of Santa Fe has an underground stormwater management network of pipes to redistribute the stormwater runoff. Here is the EPA's page on Santa Fe's stormwater management , a plan especially notable because of its adoption of green infrastructure concepts. Copyright 2024 G Noelke

A topo/utility line map done for IC ISD as part of the 2019 bond build out. This topo/utility map was paid for with public funds and obtained by me via the PIA back in 2022. The map highlights one problem with the potential MOU between IC ISD and the City of Mertzon to permanently close the street for the 2024 bond build out: the streets are thick with water, waste water and electric lines. Is it in the public interest to transfer the surface to IC ISD when there are public underground utilities? A public hearing will have to be held. The closest precedent for such a hearing is this one, where I argued that closing 4th Street was not in the public interest because of the flooding it would cause . I lost that argument , and the City turned over 4th Street to IC ISD, thereby worsening the same flooding problems IC ISD is trying to remedy today. Below is the agenda for this meeting, and underneath that are my agenda analysis and meeting analysis . A. Agenda analysis: 1. Proposed franchise fee ordinance 8.03, Rural Waste Management, item 5: In a prior meeting, Ms. Rabenaldt stated that one of the trash pickup services, RWM, had not applied for a franchise license with the City. Here are the related franchise ordinances on the City's website. Question: can the City pass new ordinances that will collect franchise taxes or fees from Parkhill, Gallagher and the construction contractors who necessarily must use the City's street for construction of the 2024 IC ISD bond build out? The photo below explains the importance of this question. Juanita Street, Mertzon, in Feb 2022 between 5th and 4th streets, facing east. Prior to the completing of the IC ISD tennis courts on the left in 2016 , this street was literally a one lane dirt road. At the time of this photo the roof was being installed on the new gym at the far right. All the construction from that build out, and its continuous flooding, demolished the paving. The City of Mertzon should not be on the hook for IC ISD's growth when these streets are destroyed as this one was. Here is a photo of the street when it was being repaved, at IC ISD expense . These costs should instead be incorporated as franchise fees to be paid by those who profit from the bond money. Alternatively, IC ISD should commit to street rehab costs as a part of their promises to the community prior to any bond election. There will be significant damage to city streets as part of the 2024 bond construction. B. Meeting analysis 1. Here are the meeting documents for this meeting. 2. Approved, items 5 and 6 : The Council approved the ordinance for franchise taxes, as well as the interlocal agreement. 3. Lesson learned, Administrative report, item 8 : Under a previous administration and council leadership, the City let fester TCEQ deficiencies at the waste water treatment plant. If memory serves, the administrative penalty for that mishap was north of $100,000 and caused the City to go into debt to pay the penalty. The current leadership has wisened up to TCEQ's enforcement authority. The current plant is limping along to new upgrades next year to be paid for by bond money. As the Council is faced with ongoing repairs, it is clear from their discussion that they do not intend to ever get in TCEQ's crosshairs again. Maintenance is still being done and paid for to avoid TCEQ's enforcement authority. 4. What's going unsaid ? In the "What's not on the agenda...or...What is left unsaid?" department, IC ISD was not mentioned at all during this meeting. Significant street closure (partial and permanent) issues and possible detours are looming in the next 2 to 3 months. According to Supt. Moore at their last board meeting, the initial stages of demolition of the elementary school will start in January, and the District is currently evaluating construction fencing. Mum's the word, it appears. parking 5. Tournament parking: The IC ISD Billy Barnett Hoops Classic set for Dec. 27 and 28 2024, once again makes painfully transparent the achilles heel of City Gym : parking and flooding . ( Read more about Barnett here .) To his credit, former Mertzon Mayor Bill Taylor (before he got his ears boxed at this hearing) tried to get the District to address the parking problems for the gym before the gym was built. Former AD Jacob Conner and Supt. Ray DeSpain ultimately failed to alleviate the parking pressure by constructing a new parking lot that I have labeled the GMPL . Even that parking lot was not enough, so part of the 2024 bond funds will be used to pay for the destruction of the current maintenance barn and construction of a new parking lot in its place. ( See the photo on this page .) Watch these pages for my posts on the additional stormwater that more parking at City Gym is going to add to our community. More flooding is a certainty , and it will be substantial because the GMPL could be doubled in size. I have personally notified Supt. Moore of these concerns. Expansion of the GMPL is a huge mistake and will lead to additional flooding at the football field. 6. Who was not present: Council member Holland was not present at this meeting. The Council is precariously close to not having enough members present to not conduct business for lack of a quorum. If any of the remaining members, Stewart, Councilman, Lindley or Crutchfield, are absent while Ms. Holland is out there will not be a quorum. The playground/practice field in 2021 on the IC ISD campus at W. Fleming and 4th Street. WBK was the Contractor for the 2019 bonds projects. This is the field shown flooding in my recent photo here . Prior to the 2019 bonds, this area was also used as a practice field for the football team. The field did not flood until 2016 when Juanita Street was paved and the tennis courts were completed. Based on the nearby oak groves and the topography, I think it is likely the area was at one time (early 1900's) a dry creek with native live oaks...probably removed by IC ISD for it to become a play area. Copyright 2024 G Noelke

The City replaced the plastic fence with this metal wire and T posts in their continued efforts to keep folks off the street. Here are two agendas, with my agenda analysis and my meeting analysis underneath. Also, here is some of my commentary on the Preamble to the Constitution and how it instructs us during this time of government reform. A. Agenda analysis The December 2 meeting is one that I have described elsewhere as a "stock agenda". There is no new business for this meeting. That said, the "Administrative Report" is often one of the most informative parts of the meeting. And, the "Daily operations update" is when you can learn about the physical plant operations of the City. Always worthwhile. Folks don't know how complex running even a small city is until you regularly listen to this part of the meeting. The November 25 "Special Called" meeting - A "special" meeting is just one that is not regularly scheduled and is for a specific purpose. First Amendment priority: Note that in both types of meetings (special and stock where there is no new business), the Council has still has to have a section of the meeting dedicated to "public comment". The Open Meetings Act makes this a requirement for all public meetings. Our laws give special priority to citizen free speech, and that priority exists for all public meetings, including school board meetings. (You tend not to think about this until the 1st Amendment is taken away from you!) B. Meeting analysis 1. December 2 meeting: a. Here are the meeting documents for this meeting. b. No new business: As stated in my agenda analysis above, the agenda showed there was no new business at this meeting. The Council did approve several meetings worth of minutes, and I always recommend reading minutes of meetings to get a sense of what government does . After that, read my comment below for what government is supposed to be doing. 2. Nov. 25 meeting: a. Health Ins, item 5: The Council voted to reduce its costs for employee health ins. by moving to TML Health. b. Waive the pay, item 6: Council members and the Mayor get paid for attending meetings , and they have an understanding among them that for very short meetings they will not ask for pay. This meeting was about 5 minutes long, and the motion to waive the pay was made by Councilmember Holland, a strong proponent of keeping council member pay. I'm pleased to see the Council stick to their understanding that they would use their discretion and not charge taxpayers for brief meetings. Commentary As our country goes full tilt this January in Washington toward all sorts of governmental reform, along with our state legislature beginning its next biennium at the same time, I think it worthwhile to reflect on our Preamble to the US Constitution . "We the people" means it is our preamble, our constitution, our law. The language goes, in part, "We the People of the United States, in Order to...promote the general Welfare..." Now, stop right there at the word "general". My legal training compels me to look it up and write a brief on it with full legal citations. (I used to do a lot of that kind of writing!) But, I think you already have in your mind what "general" means. And "Welfare"? I think "well-being" is close enough for these purposes. Remember this about our Constitution: it was written before our two party ideologies were enshrined in our national zeitgeist . The drafters were looking for a way to make government function for the well being of all . Not a few. Not the wealthy. Not the poor. Not Republicans, not Democrats. All. Everyone. The Constitution of the U.S. obligates our elected representatives, from the President down to the level of our school board members and our city council members, to look out for the well being of all of us. It is, on its face, an impossible ideal to achieve. At best, the well being of all is aspirational . But, the language is enshrined in our Preamble...when political ideologies were not enshrined in the very same document. So, ask yourself, if government has this lofty goal of looking out for the well being of all of us, at the same time, how is it doing at this goal? Then ask yourself, if you are a dissatisfied citizen, what are you doing about it? And ask yourself, if you are part of our government, whether your are a groundskeeper or you hold an elected office, what are you doing to achieve this goal? You might be thinking, "I can't achieve that goal," and my response is, "That is the point". You have to keep trying. We all do. That is the profound obligation our Founders placed upon us all. Here is more reading about the Preamble , if you would like to mull this over some more. I hope you will. Copyright 2024 G Noelke

This photo is the view from my front porch. What you are seeing is a moving river of stormwater extending from my front yard, across Fleming Street, and into the IC ISD playground. There is a mathematical formula that is used to determine the amount of runoff from impervious surfaces. Before the passage of the 2019 school bonds, I used that formula and publicly made a point to IC ISD, the Mertzon City Council and fellow citizens that this degree of flooding would occur if they proceeded with construction. I was ignored, and I have had to continue to speak out because the new 2024 bonds are being used to redistribute even more storm water into this same basin . Regretfully, this photo makes my point that I am correct. All of this water ends up at City Park where IC ISD, the City and the County all share public land - making this an unfortunate example of government flooding itself. Below is the agenda for this meeting, and underneath that are my agenda analysis and meeting analysis. A. Agenda analysis See my meeting analysis below. I have incorporated my agenda analysis into the meeting analysis. One of the first things I said to Supt. Moore when she began to study the drainage issue was "follow the gravel". The huge volume of water from a storm like the one on November 7 moves large amounts of sand and gravel from higher locations. This is because the streets are improperly used as aqueducts for the District's stormwater. That gravel is what builds up the shoulder and retains the stormwater on the pavement. Here is an example of the previous clean up by the City . Of course, what does not stop here is washed onto my property, without my permission, shown in the background. B. Meeting analysis 1. Design and construction, agenda item 8 : After a discussion with Parkhill's Chip Whitlock , the Board approved these plans to go out for bid, via Gallagher , to construct the new transportation and maintenance facility at the intersection of 5th and W. Fleming and to construct the addition to the field house at the OK Wolfenbarger stadium (football field) for additional storage. Commentary on this vote: a. Stormwater: I have actively discouraged the District from building the facilities at 5th and Fleming because the proposed facilities will add even more stormwater to the basin that is already flooding, shown in the photo at the top of this page. I have also proactively requested and not yet received the topo and lidar data already created by Parkhill that will help verify the additional quantity of stormwater that will be added and where the drainage will go. Moreover, I have published this website to substantiate and inform the community that the stormwater created by the the Districts capital improvements flood city streets, private property and our public park. Yet, notwithstanding all of these efforts, one can readily ascertain from this discussion at this meeting that there is still resistance on the Board to addressing stormwater. "I heard we weren't doing anything with that!" one board member blurted out when the issue was being introduced by Mr. Whitlock. Mr. Whitlock carefully replied, "We aren't but we are." This kind of "we aren't but we are" response by Mr. Whitlock, an agent of the District, regretfully confirms my opinion that has been brewing since the community committee pre bond meetings in April 2024: it would not be the Board who would protect our community from stormwater. Rather, it would be the District's agents - the Parkhill's and the Gallagher's - who would do so out of legal necessity . As I said publicly to the City Counsel last month, to date since 2016 not one school board member has publicly or privately to me expressed an ounce of concern that my property, our streets or our City Park was being flooded from District stormwater. Their silence on the matter continues to be.... deafening . What progress on the issue that might still occur, however, turns on governmental immunity and liability insurance coverage. Even the Mertzon City Council (who like the Board still has members resistant to solving stormwater flooding) has come to its senses that governmental immunity is not a bullet proof defense, as evidenced by their closing the flooded portion of W. Fleming. City council members can't intentionally allow city streets to be used as aqueducts and expect to be individually protected under the Texas Tort Claims Act. Likewise, a school district and its board members can't rely on governmental immunity when they knowingly dump their stormwater in such a way as to endanger children and flood the community. The District's argument that once their stormwater enters the street it is the problem of the City of Mertzon is not a legal defense . Just ask Parkhill and Gallagher whether their legal counsel are willing to bet on their liability insurance carrier covering a claim where there is a sea of evidence that the District is making the flooding worse with its new construction. The fact remains that Parkhill and Gallagher have to comply with stormwater law as well. They know well that their own liability insurance and the District's Tort Claim Act immunities will not be a guaranteed protection, so they, Parkhill and Gallagher, have the economic incentive to get this right… in spite of a board member's thoughtless comment, "I heard we weren't doing anything with that!" b. Stormwater Plans are pending. Mr. Whitlock confirmed that the plans for the stormwater retentiion/detention structures would be complete and to Gallagher in the February/ March timeframe. Our community should recognize that if the plans are in this stage of development then Parkhill should already have data on how much stormwater is coming down the respective two basins AND how much the new construction will add to the basins AND where they anticipate redirecting the water away from new buildings. The two structures will be at the corners of 2nd and Juanita and along W. Fleming and 4th streets, assuming they are finally built. (The board member's comment above is reason enough to remain circumspect about the District's actual intentions.) c. There's more than enough bond money. Another part of this discussion underscores that the $53 million bond will be more than enough to accomplish the publicly stated goals of the bond, plus more for the unstated goals . The vote at this board meeting included additional storage to the field house at the football field, a project which was not disclosed prior to the 2024 bond vote. In addition, funds are planned to be used to redo the bleachers in Estes Gym, also not disclosed to voters. Keep in mind that in 2020 dollars City Gym cost $9 - $10 million, so the 2024 bond dollars could theoretically build 4 to 5 new 30,000+ square foot gymnasiums. All this is to say that the $53 million of bonds means that the District is sitting on a lot of money . There is more than enough bond money to successfully tackle stormwater. "Successful" includes building stormwater projects that can be scaled with future school bonds. Remember, there have been bonds in 2013, 2019 and now 2024. Expect more capital improvements on the campus again in 2029, if not sooner, because in 2025 the Matterhorn pipeline should be fully appraised by the appraisal district. c. Location, location, location: This discussion also revealed a possible change in location of the proposed marching field from the west side of the Band Hall to the east side of Band Hall. One might wonder whether the City and the District have come to any agreement on the MOU to close 3rd Street. There have been no agenda items on the City's meeting notices addressing this issue after this meeting , so there is reason to believe the District is moving forward without the City. Coincidentally, the east side location was once voted on as the alternate site for City Gym . Its attraction then, as now, is that any construction would be on property already owned by the District and would not require a street closure. Had the Board moved forward with this alternate location back then it is quite likely that this blog would not exist 2. Retention Stipend, item 11: The Board approved fall retention stipend of $1,500. I'm sure they are grateful for anything, but remember the Legislature and Governor totally failed them in the last biennium. And, school vouchers are regretfully almost a certainty for 2025. 3. Audit Report, item 7: I intend to further review this item once I look at the actual audit report. The District has a new auditor, so there is reason to look it over. 4. Closed session, items 14 and 16: The Board did not vote on any items coming out of closed session. As to the items discussed in closed, I am aware of no specific exemption in the Open Meetings Act that would permit a closed session for 14. b. Track Equipment / Co Purchase. I don't know what that is, but given the budget debacle by Coach Conner under the previous administration concerning track equipment it is worth paying attention to. 5. Everything else : As stated earlier, I did not attend this meeting but reviewed the audio after I did an open records request for it. I may amend this page in the future. With winter upon us, below is a video reminder of what W. Fleming Street is like when its shoulder is not properly maintained. This makes my point that it is not in the public's interest to dump stormwater into City streets. Stormwater dumping makes our streets unsafe, especially when the ground freezes. Finally, down stream, this football field photo shows the debris line from the November 7 storm. Any more rain and the field would certainly have flooded. Copyright 2024 G Noelke

March 27, 2023 ICISD stormwater flooding my property See my November 10 2024 Update to this page . I pulled the comments below that I had made in 2022 to the City Council out of archives because they became relevant to these 2023 comments . Board Member Ashley Hill was the sole vote opposing the alternate gym location when its current 4th street location was not initially approved by the City of Mertzon, and she (along with former board member Wade Miller) successfully swayed the Board and the City Council to reconsider so that the gym now sits on 4th Street.  (Had the Board and City been satisfied with the alternate site, I would not have standing to complain.) George Noelke Comments to Mertzon City Council April 4, 20 22 Last night’s rain was about a half inch according to my rain gauge. And we had a little bit of rain last week as well. My guess is that we’ve had less than an inch of rain since November, 2021. This drought has been an opportune time to put a roof on a 30,000 sf gym on a hill. But, even last night’s brief rain is large enough to foretell the future of flooding on our streets and on my property. Increasingly, I am witnessing larger amounts of stormwater on my property with smaller amounts of rainfall. In other words, there is more runoff. It is easy to see where the construction gravel at the gym construction site is entering the street. It is also easy to see how the gravel caliche base is being washed out of the potholes and construction ditches along Juanita Street. That gravel is entering 4th Street and washing down to my property. WBK is not sweeping up the construction site or the streets. Both Juanita and Fleming streets have standing water in them today. This is your responsibility. Last month marks the 6th year anniversary since I first contacted the District and protested their flooding of my property. Six years. And the problems only seem to get worse. My father, Monte Noelke, handed me a pearl of wisdom when I was going to high school here. He said, “George, remember this: It sure is easy to start a fight, but it is damned hard to get out of one.” The City Council, remember, reversed its own decision and then worked hand in glove with the District to help reverse the school board’s decision on the gym location. The board approved gym location on 2nd and Juanita (a location that would not have flooded me) to its current location (where it will flood me), was made possible only by the support of the City Council. The City and the District, therefore, chose to start this fight. You shouldn’t have done that. I can’t let either the District or the City forget that the District had an approved site that would not have flooded me. I can’t look away and pretend water doesn’t flow downhill. Now, 6 years into my protests, we not only have worse flood and road safety issues to contend with, the City has an undocumented easement through my property and an unknown sewer line location. There’s even more stormwater, and different parts of my property are eroding because of the construction site gravel that has built up on the shoulders of Fleming. As I said before, the problems are mounting in complexity and number. My father was right. It’s damned hard to get out of a fight. One way, though, that you can start to work the City out and begin protecting our citizens is to begin regulating construction so that new construction is not allowed to dump storm water into our streets. Thank you for your time. November 10, 2024 Update: While listening to Taking Charge: The Johnson White House Tapes, 1963–1964  by Michael Beschloss, I came across a conversation between LBJ and McGeorge Bundy, the U.S. National Security Advisor. LBJ made a strikingly prophetic statement about the Vietnam War: “It’s damned easy to get into a war, but it’s very hard to extricate yourself if you get into it” (Chapter 3, 18:21). I’m not suggesting that this dispute with IC ISD is comparable to the Vietnam War; rather, my father’s advice reflects the lessons of his era and his practical understanding of conflict resolution. Copyright 2023-2024 G Noelke

THIS MEETING HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED UNTIL NOV 12 BECAUSE OF A LACK OF A QUORUM . In order to distribute the stormwater away from the proposed new bus barn, IC ISD will need approval from the City to use this alley as aqueduct. The height of the brick wall shows the degree to which the District had to change the course of the natural course of the stormwater when the tennis courts were constructed in 2014. Below is the agenda for this meeting, and underneath that are my agenda analysis and meeting analysis : REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MERTZON CITY HALL MONDAY, November 4, 2024 at 6:30 p.m. AGENDA 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. OPENING PRAYER 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE/SALUTE TO THE TEXAS FLAG 4. PUBLIC COMMENTS Persons wishing to address the Council will be called at this time. Speakers must sign up on provided list before meeting begins. Speakers are limited to three minutes. DELIBERATE, CONSIDER AND/OR TAKE ACTION ON ANY OF THE FOLLOWING ITEMS: 5. IRION COUNTY ISD AG PRESENTATION (a) ICISD students will be here to practice a presentation for a fall competition. 6. COMMUNITY WIDE CLEAN UP (a) Discuss and consider setting a date for a fall community wide clean up. 7. ADOPTION OF LOCAL POLICY FOR PROHIBITED TECHNOLOGIES ON PERSONAL DEVICES (a) Discuss and consider policy for installation and use of prohibited technologies on personal devices used to conduct state business. 8. EMPLOYEE PHONES (a) Discuss and consider supplying all employees with work phones. 9. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT (a) Approval of minutes. (b) Other announcements. (c) Review/approval of financial documents 10. DAILY OPERATIONS UPDATE (a) Updates on daily operation 11. ITEMS FROM THE COUNCIL (a) Items for future agendas. (b) Other announcements 12. ADJOURNMENT A. Agenda analysis 1. IC ISD Ag Presentation, item 5 : This is an annual presentation by the Ag students as a mock presentation in preparation for their advocacy competition. Feedback is provided by the council members on how they might improve. It's a great opportunity for students to interact with their local government. I'll report below on their topic - it changes from year to year. 2. Employee phones and prohibited technology on personal devices, items 7 & 8: The prohibition of technology part of this is mandated by state law. As to the supplying employees with work phones, this is a new initiative. I suspect this is connected to the upgrade to the new digital water meters. In any event, a monthly stipend for phone use might be a less costly solution than paying full price for phones and phone plans. IC ISD provides a stipend to its superintendent each month for her cell phone. B. Meeting analysis: 1. Pending