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Agenda Analysis | Meeting Review | Meeting Documents  | Commentary | Last Meeting A park bench along Spring Creek. This part of the river is city owned. A. Agenda Analysis Creek clean up, item 5: This is the same item from the last meeting. The Council postponed discussion so that the Lions Club, who did not make an appearance, could do some homework on some of the thorny issues of the proposal. Other items: the rest of the agenda is the “stock” agenda seen in each meeting. It was caliche and street debris migration allowed by IC ISD’s construction manager, WBK, in the last go round of bonds (2019) that left the City of Mertzon holding the bag doing the cleanup on Fleming Ave. in front of my property. These are the current caliche piles of the 2024 bond Construction Manager, Gallagher , that are likewise migrating by stormwater to the same location on Fleming Ave. I’m doing a PIA request for Gallagher’s SWPPP, a document required under the Clean Water Act, because I think this sort of caliche storage requires a sediment fence. Construction managers unfortunately dismiss the City of Mertzon because it doesn’t have a regulatory system in place to protect the streets. So, it is up to individual landowners to speak out. If I don’t speak out some part of this caliche will end up in my front yard . B. Meeting Review Here are the meeting documents . Creek clean up, item 5: The Council, try as they did, could not gin up a sufficient number of reasons to support this Lions Club proposal. Several things likely contributed to its demise. First, there is some history of this type of proposal failing in the past. Second, leadership from the Lions Club was not present at the last meeting or this meeting to pitch the proposal. And, third, the club is not helping their cause by their slow start to build the pavilion at Spring Creek. The discussion did, however, lead to a proposed City initiated clean up effort where the City will invite the community to help keep the river area clean each March and September. Sighting in the crossbow. Archery hunting within the Mertzon city limits is allowed, but not a good idea. C. Commentary "At the end of the day we are all here to protect each other's rights and not take somebody's life because we disagree with them. No matter how irritated or aggravated we get at each other, we are still here to respect each other's rights." Mayor Stewart reflecting on the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk. I think Mayor Stewart’s words appropriately point out that we are the shared guardians of one another's protected rights under the Constitution. We have an obligation, a guardianship if you will, to act to protect other's rights. This obligation of guardianship extends beyond speech. It extends to all the protected rights under the Constitution. If your neighbor is being flooded by the government, for example, you should be concerned because what you are witnessing is a "taking" by the government. We are all invested in the government knowing its limits and not taking our neighbors' property. When it comes to speech, the human condition is such that our voice is one of the first things we use to protest authority. Think of your of your relationship with your parents, as an example. This is human nature. But, killing or using violence to extinguish another's voice of protest is wrong and immoral. We are guardian's of one another's rights. We all share in this obligation. That we are in constant debate over those rights and their meaning is a valid exercise that preserves democracy. If debate ever ceases it will be like momentarily being in the eye of a hurricane. The back side will be worse. Copyright 2025 G. Noelke

Agenda Analysis  | Meeting Review  | Meeting Documents | Commentary  | Last Meeting By September 1 there were only piles of rubble and some of the foundation remaining. Looking south. Agenda A. Agenda Analysis Bluebonnet Curriculum and Bible Stories, item 5 : Here is a Texas Tribune article about the approval of the curriculum by the State Board of Education in November 2024. Here is TEA's info on Bluebonnet . Here is a January 2025 joint letter opposing the curriculum sent to all Texas superintendents by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Center for Inquiry, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation . I've never before seen the words "Bible Stories" on a public meeting agenda. I have no idea where this agenda item is going. In light of last month's meetings where I've pointed out that the Board narrowly avoided taking the prayer bait in a culture war promoted by the Texas Attorney General , there are a few things to consider. The ACLU's joint letter in part reads like a Plaintiff's Original Petition against a school district adopting Bluebonnet; the advocacy organizations are searching for cases. (Here's a 2008 press statement by the ACLU about their settlement with Ector ISD when they tried to teach a bible class. These legal prohibitions are not new.) Also, as I mentioned, the law has changed, effective September 1, so that now the District must audio record its board meetings. That audio will now readily be used as evidence for the launching pad of litigation against the District and board members. This kind of litigation will be extraordinarily expensive and will far outpace any kickback TEA gives ($60 per student) to the District for adopting the curriculum. (There are typically around 320 students.) That litigation will also be huge time suck for Supt. Moore and her staff. It will most certainly take time away from her management of the construction that is underway as part of the 2024 bonds. Anytime a school board is willing to join the culture wars (whether it be Ten Commandments in the classroom, prayer time at school, library book banning or the study of Christianity in textbooks), what they are also deciding is that they are willing to roll the dice with their superintendent's time management. That cannot be wise. There are many pitfalls with this agenda item. I am not looking forward to it. 2024/25 accountability ratings, item 6: Mostly B's and 1 A was the unvarnished report given by Supt. Moore last meeting. I have criticized the Board in the past for not doing a better job of instilling a demand for academic excellence. I see this as a two pronged failure. First, the Board has long accepted these accountability ratings for face value. They are what they are. That is, the Board has failed to recognize that they are the public face of an expectation of improvement. Second, the community is not acting as a stimulus in its role to attend school board meetings and explicitly say, "I want my child to get better than a "B" education. I want an "A" for my child and this community." And, as I've said before, the reason the community has not engaged in this way is the Board has intentionally disengaged the community. The meetings held last month , and I predict this one as well, indicate that the Board is choosing to engage the community on religious and culture war issues, not with the quality of education the children are receiving. My expectation is that IC ISD should be recognized as an A school in every category on each campus. And, yes, it is appropriate for the community, even those of us who do not have children being educated there , to expect improvement. The quality of public education is vital to every community's success. Intent to defease, item 7 : Here is the definition of " defease ". If I am correct, then this item is what is necessary to start the legal process of paying off the bonds early. Sounds boring, but it is critically important. The District has issued a lot of bonds (about $71 million over 5 years) to pay for new buildings, and the only prudent way to manage them is to pay them off early. You watch...this gravy train for wealthy districts is going to end one day, and it will be the debt free districts with low maintenance and operations costs that will thrive. The decision on whether to pay off bonds early is a decision of the school board, and there needs to be a community expectation that the Board will aggressively pay down debt before the next bond election. The concept of rolling bonds (a school district always stays in debt) is not sustainable with a tax base on shifting sands like in Irion County. EFB local policy regarding SB 13 (library materials), item 9 : Here is the current local policy EFB (updated in 2024) and here is SB 13 . This whole library regulation effort is about as Orwellian as it comes, in my opinion. Here is what the Texas Freedom to Read Project says about what school boards ought to consider before implementing a SB 13 policy . And, the ACLU of Texas' attorney testified against SB 13 before it became law; that testimony can be found at page 25 of House Public Comments . So, whatever this policy change reflects (it is not available before the meeting), it is already legally suspect and almost certainly will be challenged in court. Long gone are the days of my childhood when my mother took me to the library and trusted the librarian enough to ask, "Do you think he is ready for Where the Red Fern Grows?" What in the world happened that has prevented us from trusting librarians so that now we need laws to, in effect, legitimize book banning? You can dig deeper by reading Censorship of school curricula in the United States . To read more on just how terribly divisive this issue can be search for "Granbury ISD book ban". Go. Read. A. Banned. Book. Administrative reports, items 12 a-c : There's so much potential for controversy on other parts of this agenda, anything else important here might get short shrift. Advocacy tip: Always pay attention to this part of the meeting. Closed session and action, items 15 and 17 : topics are a confidential student matter and personnel. The other direction looking north. B. Meeting Review Advocacy tip : If you are monitoring a public meeting, regardless of whether you have spoken during the open forum, the Open Meetings Act doesn't provide you an avenue to have input with board members or staff during their discussion of agenda items. Put simply, the public's opportunity to speak is at the open forum, and even then there is no dialogue. No matter how informal the board and staff get during the meeting, the public shouldn't be joining in their conversation. Exception: If you've signed up to speak on a specific agenda item, then depending on the circumstances there may be an opportunity for dialogue. Bluebonnet curriculum, Bible item 5 : Without discussion, the Board voted unanimously to leave in the Bible parts of the curriculum. (Rey and Carlile absent.) No member of the public was present during open forum. I disagree with this decision. Teaching only about the Bible, to the exclusion of all other religions, is constitutionally defective. End of discussion. That said, to the extent the Board wanted to stay below the ACLU radar on the issue, they handled the matter well. There was no drama, just a quick vote. They knew they were handling something potentially controversial. Their plight was made easier, however, by there not being any member of the community speak up for or against the curriculum in open forum. (I do not speak at IC ISD board meetings because of previously being called out of order by former Supt DeSpain, thus this blog.) In my years of attending Board meetings, the public has never engaged the Board on a curriculum issue. Finally, one reason culture war issues like this one are bubbling up now is that legislators and elected officials are thinking they can get the issue up to the Supreme Court and get a more favorable ruling with its current conservative supermajority. That's not a sure bet, in my opinion. Judges are a fickle group of lawyers. Accountability rating, item 6. Principal Parker gave a very informative presentation, but it was complex enough I can't easily summarize it here. I understand from Supt. Moore that she will be posting the audio of the entire meeting next week, and I especially recommend that you listen to this part of the meeting. Again, no one from the community spoke in open forum about this issue, so it was an opportunity lost to demand improvement. Also keep in mind the law is changing after this summer's special session, so the Governor, the Legislature and TEA are changing the goal posts. Intent to defease, item 7 : My coverage above was correct. This is necessary to have the legal authority to pay down bonds. A good thing. The Board approved a motion supporting their intent to defease. Local policy regarding library materials, SB 13, item 9 : I'm not sure what the exact wording of the policy adopted at this point, but what is clear is that the Board wisely voted to not include the optional school library advisory council found at 33.025 of SB 13 . The stated reason by Supt. Moore was that in such a small community it is hard to find enough folks to serve. That makes sense. Also, my experience is that "advisory councils" end up amplifying the wrong things and feelings get hurt when their advice is disregarded. And, there's no hiding the intent here. SB's 13's larger purpose is about approving a process for book banning. The advisory council's purpose was just that. The better approach is to get to know your child's librarian. Go into the library with your child and give them an opportunity to see you lift up a book to read. That's where good feelings toward books can be engendered. Once the ideas in books are outlawed, we miss the point of a public education. One point, I hope, is that we can promote minds that can evaluate divergent ways of thinking about important ideas. Administrative reports, item 12: Supt. Moore stated that the District had a lot of bids turned in this week for construction of the new elementary. This is significant, bond wise, because this means there is competition among the bidders. Speaking of bids, before the meeting I had occasion to notice that Chad Hines, Gallagher Construction's Superintendent, appeared to be evaluating the interior of City Gym, the location of this meeting. I mentioned to him that that the District had spent over $500,000 for excavation of the gym. Folks need to know just how impenetrable these limestone hills are. I gathered from his reply that he was learning this. I learned it as a kid on the ranch digging post holes for my father. A large expense for the new elementary is going to be for excavation. Closed session and action, items 15 and 17 : I did not attend thru these portions (so I could get in a bike ride before sunset), but will listen in when the audio of the meeting is posted sometime next week. If necessary I will update this item, but my understanding from Supt. Moore that no matter was voted on. C. Commentary Don't be distracted by the culture wars. There's no time for that. Study up on MacKenzie Price in Austin instead. The Board could better spend its time by developing a rural school system for the future that integrates AI but that does not yield to its profit makers and the elected officials beholden to those profit makers. God is not war, and so I do not hold the values of the character the "Judge" in the book I am currently reading, The Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy . The book is banned in places because of its depiction of extreme violence and its statement about the human condition. If you have read the book perhaps you will understand. It is a very difficult read. I raise this because only hours before this school board meeting Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University. I condemn that violence. We all need to condemn that violence. We are a better country than this. Reading a banned book helped me better understand this. My uncle, Walter Noelke , passed in 2024, and he left his considerable personal library, over 8,000 volumes, to be housed in a restored barrack at Fort Concho in San Angelo. The library is still in development and currently available to the public by appointment . Copyright 2025 G. Noelke

Update on September 5, 2025: Read here for more on why this law is a bait. (This page was originally posted on August 24, 2025.) A. The role of the Texas Attorney General's Office in this law should cause alarm B. The subject matter - religious prayer on school grounds - is an incendiary topic for an open forum C. The no vote had a voice, and it was persuasive D. The In God We Trust sign on City Gym This month, at two meetings on August 4 and 12 , 2025, the Irion County ISD Board finally voted against adopting a policy that would have allowed for daily prayer on school campuses, as outlined in SB 11. After several hours of testimony, the vote was 4 to 3. This post will discuss why I find the law particularly problematic and will highlight the comments of board member Ashley Hill, who I believe perfectly articulated why such a policy should be rejected. I will also address the "In God We Trust" sign displayed on the school's new gymnasium. A. The role of the Texas Attorney General's Office in this law should cause alarm From a legal perspective, it is readily transparent that SB 11, first, is anticipated to be challenged in court, and second, that the Texas Attorney General will control the litigation. This means any school district sued will quickly lose control over the litigation and any local policy will become a temporary policy for the courts to amend or invalidate. (Note, at the time of this post the law has not yet been challenged.) Generally, the law requires that " the Attorney General of Texas, on request from the governing body of a school district ... to provide advice on the best methods for compliance, a model consent form that may be used, and defend the school district ... in a cause of action arising from the adoption of a policy" that permits daily prayer time on campuses. Go here for the Senate Research Center bill analysis . More specifically, the new law references the Attorney General at Education Code 25.0823 (e) and (f ). My review of this language and the online legislative history leads me to conclude: The law does not include adequate language requiring the Attorney General to obtain approval from the school board before he settles their case. This means the Attorney General, not the school board and certainly not the local community, is in charge of the outcome of the prayer policy in dispute. (The Attorney General could settle the case without the board’s consent.) The key stakeholders of the law (the Attorney General's Office, the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Association of School Boards) did not testify "for", "against" or even "on" the legislation. They were silent. This is a real problem for any school board and local community trying to ascertain the meaning of the law before they undertake adoption of the prayer policy. It will also hamper the court's analysis of the legislative history, making the meaning of the law even more uncertain. Go here and here to see who testified on the bill. The fiscal note with the bill , the required legislative document that explains how much all this is going to cost, is silent on the actual costs. This creates two unknowns. First, no one knows what resources, if any , the Attorney General's office is going to dedicate to the litigation. And, second, because the Texas Legislature theoretically will be the ultimate funding source, no one can possibly know whether the money will be made available in the future for the State to indemnify the school board for "expenses, costs, judgments or settlements." Why would any school board take this sort of funding gamble when the Legislature and Governor Abbott have taken years to come up with funds to pay teacher salary increases, especially when those increases were conditioned on school vouchers? At best, any promise of financial indemnification under this law is a hollow promise. It's just as likely that any school district having to pay for an unlawful policy will have to pay from its own budget, and then seek compensation from the legislature. B. The subject matter - religious prayer on school grounds - is an incendiary topic for an open forum I was frankly stunned when I heard two community members, professing to be of the Christian faith, state during open forum that if Muslims and Atheists were ever to come to the school and want to pray or engage in protest of the policy that the Board could simply revoke the policy "like nothing had ever happened". These transparent prejudicial sentiments are certain to be incendiary among some. Moreover, such an act to repeal a policy permitting prayer in the presence of non-Christians would certainly be challenged under constitutional First Amendment and equal protection grounds. Unfortunately, IC ISD did not have an attorney present at the meeting to distance the board members from these comments, so it remains unclear whether those members who voted "for" the policy were adopting these views. Fortunately for the Board, they failed to adopt the policy thereby these comments are now legally irrelevant. (They do, however, remain as an unfriendly reminder of how some in the community reject others of different faith.) Indeed, I think the prejudices laid bare during this open forum are exactly the conflict the drafters of this law were hoping for, as evidenced by the law mentioning only the Bible without specifying the name of other religious texts. This law is a bait to engage in someone else's culture war; it is someone else's dog whistle to invite the community to start a dog fight and divide folks between "us" and "them". (Who that "someone else" might be could be a large political donor, but that discussion is for another day.) I think it is important to recognize even among the various Christian faiths not all speak in unison about the appropriateness of SB 11. Just as not all faiths speak with one voice about the proselytizing that is arguably foundational for SB 11, not all Christians agree, for example, on displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms. In fact, one of the plaintiffs who recently successfully challenged SB 10, the new law relating to the display of the 10 Commandments in the classroom, is a Baptist Reverend. The judge of that case ( Rabbi Nathan et al v. Alamo Heights ISD ) referenced this quote in his ruling: “When the government puts its imprimatur on a particular religion, it conveys a message of exclusion to all those who do not adhere to the favored beliefs. A government cannot be premised on the belief that all persons are created equal when it asserts that God prefers some. ”– Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackman. The same can be said about the SB 11 policy. How can our Constitution be premised on all being equal if a school board cancels a Christian favored prayer policy once Muslims and Atheists show up and voice non-Christian views? The inequality in such a situation would be a clear violation of the Constitution. C. The no vote had a voice, and it was persuasive Listen to IC ISD Board member Ashley Hill's full statement at the board meeting on my Government in the Sun YouTube Channel . Her comments are particularly compelling. She made it clear that she represented all children and parents in the district, not just her own, and that not everyone shared the same beliefs. Importantly, she stated that a "no" vote did not mean that she was turning her back on her faith. And, she also made it clear that a "no" vote did not mean that anyone's rights were being taken away. One can be of any particular faith — or no faith —and appreciate the inclusiveness of her vote. That's the sentiment that assures adherence to the Constitution, as it doesn’t give favor to any particular faith. Like it or not, that's her legal responsibility as a school board member. D. The In God We Trust sign on City Gym Finally, I want to address one particular comment made during the open forum. One parent invoked the "In God We Trust" sign on the exterior of the new gymnasium built with the 2019 bond funds. She said, in effect, if the school trusts God then that was the only thing needed to pass the policy contemplated by SB 11. And, if the Board didn't pass the policy, then they should just take the sign down because to leave it up would be hypocritical. In fact, back in April 2023 I wrote an intentionally provocative post about the sign . I raised the question: Is my interpretation of the sign sacrilegious or is the sign itself sacrilegious? Indeed, even today my sentiments about the sign are the same. That is, the sign itself is neither holy or sacred. My best guess is that the sign is merely the runner up sign to the disputed sign that was to name the largest financial donor to the gym's construction. What I do know is that at least $150,000 of private donations were made for the gym and the District administration back then never disclosed all the sources to me. What I also know about the gym, something that has taken years of research, is that everyone involved knew that its location was unlawful. There was ample notice provided by me to the leadership of the City of Mertzon and Irion County ISD, their attorneys, as well as the architect and construction manager, that the street and alley where the gym now rests should have been closed with a municipal ordinance, and it was not. It was not closed properly with an ordinance because the legal grounds to do so did not exist. And, just as I predicted before the construction of the building, every time it rains my property takes on the District's stormwater that flows from the building. For sure, I'm at the other end of the spectrum from the parent invoking In God We Trust as a religious affirmation that God favors prayer on school campus. Instead, the sign painfully reminds me of the Commandment " Thou shalt not steal " because the Constitutional prohibition against the government taking private land by flooding, inverse condemnation , is called a "Taking". Every time it rains the District is stealing my property, and as it turns out, the property of some of my neighbors. The wisdom of our nation's Founders, however, is that there is room enough for all of us to see in the sign what we wish, and there is nothing illegal in the expression of that. That is amazing, truly amazing. That said, the In God We Trust sign should not be taken down. We should use it, instead, to continue debating the separation of church and state. September 5, 2025 Update: To further my point that this new law is a bait , look no further than the Texas Attorney General’s Office and its press statement below. This is the equivalent to saying: And school districts, once you pass the prayer policy, I not only want you to start the prayer period with a Christian prayer, but a specific version of a Christian prayer that not all Christian faiths recite. In other words, to the exclusion of all other non Christian prayers, I want you, school district, to initiate this culture war for me. Here is the press statement , and I’ve pasted it below for posterity: September 02, 2025 | Press Release Attor­ney Gen­er­al Ken Pax­ton Encour­ages Texas Schools to Begin Legal Process of Putting Prayer Back in the Class­room and Rec­om­mends the Lord’s Prayer for Students Attorney General Ken Paxton encourages all Texas schools to implement dedicated time for prayer and the reading of scripture, following the enactment of Senate Bill 11 on September 1, 2025. “In Texas classrooms, we want the Word of God opened, the Ten Commandments displayed, and prayers lifted up,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Twisted, radical liberals want to erase Truth, dismantle the solid foundation that America’s success and strength were built upon, and erode the moral fabric of our society. Our nation was founded on the rock of Biblical Truth, and I will not stand by while the far-left attempts to push our country into the sinking sand.”  Senate Bill 11, passed by the Texas Legislature this past regular session, allows school boards to adopt policies setting aside time for voluntary prayer and the reading of the Bible or other religious texts. The law requires that the board of trustees for each ISD in Texas take a record vote on whether to adopt a policy to implement these periods no later than six months after September 1, 2025. Student participation in these periods requires parental consent. The bill directs the Office of the Attorney General to defend any school district or charter school that adopts such a policy. In addition, the Attorney General is empowered to recommend best practices for implementation. For Texas students considering how to best utilize this time, Attorney General Paxton encourages children to begin with the Lord’s Prayer, as taught by Jesus Christ: The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13, KJV) Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth,  as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen Any school district taking this advice is being baited into litigation that they will never control. Of course reciting this prayer is violative of the Constitution. That is the point! This is a transparent effort to promote a culture war to advance a politician’s career at the U. S. Supreme Court. School districts are being used as pawns. Copyright 2025 G Noelke

Agenda Analysis  | Meeting Review  | Meeting Documents  | Commentary  | Last Meeting This August 20, 2025 flood at the entry to City Park speaks louder than my words about why I am opposing further development of City Park by Irion County. Two inches of rain fell in 20 minutes, meaning Mertzon experienced a 100 year flood in very short order. A larger Community Center in City Park is only going to increase the stormwater runoff seen here. A. Agenda Analysis 1. Meeting time: Note that this meeting is on Sept. 2, Tuesday, not its regular first Monday of the month. 2. Spring Creek clean up, item 5: Perhaps a Councilman will know whether these kind of clean up sponsorships have any staying power. The State does this on some highways, but I never see folks out picking up on those parts that are sponsored. Maybe if the Lions Club agrees to do the "round up" of the businesses and coordinate a regular clean up then this can turn into something permanent. 3. Everything else: Items 6, 7 and 8 are standard agenda meat and potatoes. Once the development of this city block is complete in a few months, 75% of it will be impervious cover owned by IC ISD. All of the runoff from this city block ends up in City Park. But before it reaches there, it must pass over my property. In April 2019 I recommended that the City, Irion County and IC ISD coordinate and come up with a development plan that would not threaten City Park - and local residences - with more stormwater flooding. That coordination never occurred, and one consequence today is that failure is compromising how the community wants to use City Park. B. Meeting Review Meeting documents. Here . Creek clean up, item 5: No representative of the Lions Club appeared, though Councilman Crutchfield, a member of the club, spoke briefly on the intent of the measure. The matter was tabled with agreement that more homework was needed from the club...like what ground rules is the club willing to agree to with the City to make this successful. The rest: The rest of the meeting was standard fare - nothing of note for these pages. My daughter tells me all this rain has made this is a “mast” year for the oaks. Apparently so. C. Commentary Not all is broken with democracy, regardless what we are being told by our state and federal elected officials. An idea for another way to see, perhaps attributable to the writer John Updike, comes to mind: At any moment, an old world is passing, and a new world is coming into being. We have sharper eyes for the fall than the rise because the old world is the one we know. The majority of us know, intuitively, that pluralism - the concept that a diverse set of views can co-exist peaceably in government - is foundational to democracy. ( See my commentary here where I support a community with many faiths. ) That foundation, today, is not the old world passing. That foundation assures that, in time, there will be a civil correction in course. Copyright 2025 G. Noelke

Agenda Analysis  | Meeting Review  | Meeting Documents | Commentary  | Last Meeting Concrete was poured from a concrete boom at the new transportation facility in the early morning hours of August 28. Facing west; tennis courts on the left. Try as I did to discourage this location for the transportation facility, I failed. Plan on this concrete to last a half century or more. A. Agenda Analysis Meeting start is at 6:00 for the tax rate hearing. Budget, tax rate and budget amendments, items 3, 4 and 5: Read these three items together. They establish next year's budget based on whatever tax rate the Board approves. The budget amendments, item 5, are amendments to the current year, 24-25, which ends at the end of August. What are those amendments? Well, the public doesn't know until they are presented, "as presented". Again, I contend that the phrase "as presented" should never be used on an agenda because it does not give adequate notice. SB 12, item 7: I haven't yet done a dive into SB 12. Here is the text of the new law . And here is a bill analysis . One of the provisions that jumps out to me is 7.0611, which on its face requires TEA to draft rules requiring school districts to disclose square footage and acreage of its campuses. Such statistics could be used to show the advantages “wealthy” districts like IC ISD have when using public bonds to retain local tax revenue. The law also has a number of provisions about eliminating DEI. As I've said elsewhere on these pages, these laws in my opinion are all about misogyny and racism. In time there will be a blow back from the insensitivity of these laws. Note: a few days after initially posting, litigation was filed challenging SB 12 . Executive session on personnel, items 9 and possibly 11: I'll cover these below. Dump trucks were unloading all night long, and by sun up it still wasn't done. B. Meeting Review Open forum: no one spoke at the open forum for either the tax public hearing (agenda not posted) or the special meeting open forum. Adoption of the 25-26 budget a. HB 1522 , the new law that requires governmental bodies to post their proposed budget on the internet before the meeting is not yet in effect. This will make a huge difference, because, as I've expressed before, it is impossible to follow along during a budget adoption meeting like this one without access to the proposed budget during discussion. I was unable to understand key parts of the discussion, so my comments here will be limited; next year, hopefully, will be different. b. Deficit budget: The District is running a $412,000 deficit budget, which equates to a $15,000 less than the deficit budget last year. This seems like a big deal, but in reality Supt. Moore is being more transparent than previous superintendents. The District has always, in the years I have been watching closely, been running a deficit. But the administration has not called it so. Kudos to Supt. Moore for calling a spade a spade. As dire as it all sounds, the District is still in the black with around $8 million in its fund balance. There's an audit next month, so more details to follow. c. Increases in the budget are complicated. The line items seeing increases cannot be comprehensively evaluated without the proposed budget in hand. Of particular note: payroll is up $102,000 and insurance up $24,000. d. Calculating revenue is equally complicated: A witcher finding water with witchin' sticks will have an easier time explaining the science of their divining (which boils down to "I believe!") than a school administration can explain revenue from the State on Average Daily Attendance. Just say "I believe!" when the discussion in a meeting like this turns to ADA revenue, because it is mystical and magical for the CFO and Supt. as well. Taxpayers are being asked to "believe". (Side note: I inherited by Grandfather's witchin' rods, so I speak with personal knowledge of the mystery.) e. The constants should cause distress . The pots of revenue are constantly leaking. Income from home valuations are down, and will likely go down further still, because of legislative and voter mandate. Mineral development is down and moving west of the county. Income from investment interest off unspent bonds, the pot that pulled former Supt. DeSpain out of an $800,000+budget just a few years ago, is still a large factor in relief funding. f. What has been offensive, remains offensive: Don't quote me, I don't have the budget, but $7+ million is going back to the State from the mineral revenue. And, the Moak Casey calculation revenue from the 313 agreements (wind farms) remains miserably low. The District got severely burned with budget over projections under the Supt. DeSpain/CFO Robert Helms years, so the budgets going forward are only $100,000 in revenue. In the current year, the budget was helped by income of $214,000. But, even that is miserably low. For a deeper dive, do a search for "313" for my coverage, and also go to the Comptroller's site . In a nutshell, the windfarms were given a sweetheart tax abatement package from the start, so that they pay minimal local taxes. g. Things to watch : According to Joyce Gray, Tax Assessor, there's up to $8 million in value projected to be lost from oil companies glomming onto tax credits for the TCEQ pollution control program. I have my doubts that the planet is getting greener because of this incentive And, the Matterhorn Pipeline was valued at $204 million. The Saudi's are pumping a lot, so valuations are lower. h. The future M&O: When the shine begins to dull on all that was built with the 2019 and 2024 bonds, I predict there will be a financial reckoning. It is going to be very hard to pay for all these capital improvements without an oil boom in the next 5 years. Oil booms happen when there’s expanding economic growth, and that doesn’t seem likely in the near future. Tax rate adoption, item 4: M&O (maintenance and operations): .635 per $100 valuation I&S (interest and sinking): .23 per $100 value Budget amendments, item 5: Let me explain more my frustration with the "as presented" language in the agenda that I discussed above at A2. That language is especially vague, and the meeting minutes are typically as vague. In other words, unless one is present at the meeting , it is impossible to follow the money. This could be easily remedied by an agenda item that simply read, "Discover/Approve 2024/25 budget amendments relating to maintenance, technology, instruction, library, professional development and health services." That said, beginning next month the law requires audio recording of meetings, and someone interested in following the money can eventually get the specifics. Even so, the "as presented" I will continue to maintain is dead air…and rewards imprecision. Accountability, item 6: Initial presentation, no real discussion or presentation. 2024 overall B; Elementary B; High School A 2025 overall B; Elementary B; High School B But: HB 8 is about to change it all, again ! SB 12 and parent rights, item 7 . This merits an open records request. There's a lot of meat on the SB 12 bone. Stay tuned. Closed session, item 9 : There wasn't one. Ironically, the former IC ISD board member who, back in 2020, promoted the purchase of this land for use as a transportation facility is soon to experience more stormwater flooding at his business from this building. His property is in the flood zone. Through the years I have encountered a number of flood deniers, but in time they come around to my way of thinking. It all starts right here with making the soil impermeable to rainfall. Concrete. C. Commentary If nothing is done about street flooding, then the streets and alleys will continue to be used as the aqueducts they were never intended to be by those individuals and institutions with the resources to redirect the flooding off of their property onto someone else. Copyright 2025 G. Noelke

Agenda Analysis  | Meeting Review  | Meeting Documents  | Commentary  | Last Meeting Last week I saw The Fatal Loop by Charles Russell at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. See also Loops and Swift Horses are Surer than Lead at the Amon , then read the 1920 article from the Cattleman I posted below . Public Meeting Agenda A. Agenda Analysis Meeting time:  Note that the meeting time starts at 6:15 p.m. This earlier start time is to accommodate for the two public hearings at items 6 and 7. Should you wish to object to - or praise - the Council's budget and proposed tax rate, here is where you would do it. Executive Session, item 5 : This matter relates to personnel. Typically when this item appears at the same meeting as the budget and tax rate it is to address staff raises. I am not aware of the particulars this year on raises, but my bias has always been that government employees are underpaid. Given the current economy, you can be certain that our city employees are having a more difficult time making ends meet. Adoption of the budget and tax rates, items 8 and 9 : These are the annual agenda items that are required by law to set next year's budget and tax rate. Refer to my meeting analysis on this page for this same meeting for the 24-25 budget and tax rate . A 1920 Cattleman's article about Lake Tankersley and John Ruth roping a wildcat, likely a bobcat, that had killed my Great Grandfather's, W.M. "Mont" Noelke, kid goat. B. Meeting Review Here are the meeting documents for this meeting. Pages 6-11 are important because they are the adopted budget for next year. Public comments, item 4: I spoke, without prepared comments, to ask that the Council's budget include pay raises for City employees. Adoption of the budget and tax rate, items 8-9; The Council met in executive session, as set out in item 5, to discuss personnel matters. They then voted to approve the budget and tax rate without much discussion. The specifics on the tax increase can be found on page 2 of the meeting documents. Contrasting budgets : Since there was no substantive public discussion about how the budget was changing, you'll have to do some digging. I posted about last year's budget on this post , and here are the meeting documents for that meeting . The gist of these documents is that each year the Council is increasing taxes about 3.5% a year so that the City can stay up with its increased expenses. That increase is essentially mandated by law. If the City adopts a "no new revenue" approach, it loses that tax base forever. Quarter horse, 5 months pregnant C. Commentary You can do more than just voting in elections to influence government. As I've said elsewhere on these pages, the governmental body's budget is a statement of the community's values. So, one way to influence those values is to speak up before the next year's budget is adopted. It really takes very little effort. Copyright 2025 G. Noelke

Agenda Analysis | Meeting Review | Meeting Documents | Commentary | Last Meeting Commentary for this meeting: IC ISD Board Did Not Take the Prayer Bait Known as SB 11 The foundation for the new transportation maintenance building began to take shape the week before this meeting. The Parkhill and Gallagher engineers and hydrologists are facing some serious challenges with stormwater distribution at this location. Several private residences are subject to potential stormwater flooding from this new stormwater source. IC ISD meeting agenda A. Agenda Analysis Budget, items 2 and 7 : Local and state government operate on a Sept to Aug fiscal year, so this agenda shows the key 12th hour matters that must take place before August 31. There will be another meeting before the end of the month to approve the 25-26 year budget. Items 2a and 7 are connected as they do a couple things that are connected. First, the Board will start the process of setting next year's tax rate. Second, the Board will do clean up on this year's budget with budget amendments. I have long thought these kind of budget amendment postings that say only "Discuss/Approve budget amendments" like 7 does are inadequate. Taxpayers need more information on where the budget is being changed because that might be where projections fell short...or where the mistakes are found. Supt. Moore and her CFO Kandra Lakey are clearly running a tighter ship than the previous administration, but this is now a $70+ million budget, and no one in the community, other than myself, is monitoring them. More specificity on the agenda language here would clarify what is really happening. Go here to read about this part of the meeting last year. (See meeting analysis 2a ) . And see my analysis here at New budget posting requirements HB 1522, about how this process will change next year. The new laws take effect Sept. 1, so this budget is not impacted. Personal prayer/reading in relation to HB 1481 : Here is 1481 , the new law banning cell phones. I haven't caught up with this issue just yet, but for the moment I am taken back with the idea that our state leadership last session would impose billions of dollars of school security measures on Texas taxpayers to protect against school shooters, do absolutely nothing to limit gun owner rights , and then here take away the best security device ever in a shooting emergency: a cell phone that a child can use to call 911. All the fencing that has been put in place and all the (intrusive) electronic surveillance being implemented are not the end of school shooters, folks. New cafeteria prices, item 9 : My interest here is whether there is a cost increase and how much. My reading indicates we are going into a recession, so I'm sure the costs here are on the minds of lots of folks. Student handbook, item 10 : Will any students be present to say, hey, wait a second? Young people need to learn to question authority, and this matter could be a prime opportunity. Or, if there are any changes made, they may be mundane. I have no particular knowledge about these changes. B. Meeting Review Pending C. Commentary My commentary for this meeting can be found at this page, IC ISD Board did not take the prayer bait known as SB 11 . Copyright 2025 G. Noelke

Agenda Analysis  | Meeting Review  | Meeting Documents | Commentary  | Last Meeting The north end of the new IC ISD Transportation Maintenance building, shown here with a preexisting barn, is starting to take shape. By design, a cement driveway here is going to send some of its stormwater directly into W. Fleming Ave., a street owned by the City of Mertzon. The City has no ordinances against this. City of Mertzon Agenda A. Agenda Analysis Meeting time : This meeting starts at 7:00 pm, not at the usual time of 6:30 pm. 2025 tax rate, items 6-7 : This is the start of the process for the Council to set the tax rate for 2025-26. Tax Assessor Collector Joyce Gray will be present to counsel the Council on the ad valorem tax law changes made by the Texas legislature this year. Here is what I wrote about this last year; see Agenda Analysis 1 b and Meeting Review at 2 b . Tax Assessor Contract for 25 taxes, item 1 . Dr. Gray's office doesn't work for free, so this matter establishes her office is authorized as the City's assessor collector. B. Meeting Review Proposed 2025 Tax Rate, item 6: The Council approved a proposed 3% tax hike, the max it could do w/o seeking voter approval. Total tax rate will be .852020 for debt and M&O. Three percent seems a lot, doesn't it? But in this budget that is going to only add a little over $8,000 in revenue. Administrative Report, item 7: Agendas, per Open Meetings Act changes, now will posted on Wednesdays. C. Commentary If you wish to complain about your tax rate, then you would have attended this meeting, then attend this meeting and speak during the public meeting part . Copyright 2025 G. Noelke

Agenda Analysis  | Meeting Review  | Meeting Documents | Commentary  | Last Meeting Demolition of the old elementary building is pretty much done but for the cleanup. IC ISD Meeting Agenda A. Agenda Analysis Workshop...What? This agenda has been labeled "Workshop Notice/Agenda". "Workshop" is a term of art used for meetings where the governmental body is studying something in particular, but not taking up a full plate of business. It does connote that the body is conducting public business, though, and since a quorum will be present it has to be posted. The term "workshop" is not found in the Open Meetings Act. Discuss/view elementary plans and designs, item 2: I don't have any particular details here, but as you can see from the above photo the relevant portions of the school are demolished. My guess is the Board and Supt. Moore, possibly with Gallagher Construction and Parkhill present, will be tossing around design options. What else can they do? This is a great example of a 1 issue agenda. They are limited to the elementary designs and plans, and that is the sole issue. As a practical matter, boards regularly stray from their agendas and discuss other matters. They shouldn't, but they do. That's one reason why I stress that the public should be present at every public meeting. Without the public present, the agenda becomes meaningless and the governmental body fails to function for the public's interest. Lastly, it's up for debate under the wording of this agenda whether they can do a formal vote. I won't bore you with the arguments at this point. Aerial of the new transportation building. There's lots of jack hammering going on there this week. All the noise caused a flashback of just a few years ago when excavation for City Gym took weeks and weeks...and cost the District over $500,000. This building is on a much smaller scale, but it is still jackhammering into solid limestone. B. Meeting Review This meeting was for the purpose of having the Parkhill representatives advise the Board about the plans and designs already agreed upon by them and IC ISD administration and staff. While the Board perhaps could have exercised some veto power, at this stage of the process, Parkhill was clearly trying to not open up any plan or design changes. Parkhill's folks attended via zoom. This meeting verified that IC ISD has saved and will be using the 3 steles I blogged about earlier . Those steles have me stele curious, and I am finding them elsewhere. Here's a stele from the old Genetics Building on the Texas A&M campus in College Station... C. Commentary This review of the plans for the new elementary reminded me that IC ISD is about to enter the modern era in terms of state mandated safety plans and features intended to minimize the impact of a school shooter. I continue to have some reservations about these sort of safety designs because the cost statewide is literally in the billions of dollars. I don't think folks have fully realized that the vast majority of those dollars are being collected through local ad valorem taxation that wasn't put up for a vote. Moreover, these costs are going to be ongoing. All the while, the state Legislature and Governor Abbott have done nothing of substance to implement gun control. Our state should do both. We should implement both safety design changes and better gun control. ...and here is a stele from the Ag Building at the Iowa State University campus in Ames, IA. My read of the words behind the skull is "Dedicated to Education". Copyright 2025 G. Noelke

| This page is being updated. First posting August 4, 2025. | Deer fight even when resources are plentiful. Ample grass and forbs, plenty of water and unlimited acreage with low fences isn't enough to keep these two apart. I've seen such fights live and up close, and it is surprising how vicious they are. City folk feeding deer up close are risking the sharp front hooves you see here. Photo captured by my game camera. Here are some new Texas laws effective Sept. 1, 2025 , related in some way to open government. Response to the Public Information Act requestor , HB 4219 : This new law is undoubtedly one of the most significant open government protections that has come around in decades. I will be doing a deep dive on this bill, so stay tuned. In the mean time, read it - I've linked it above. School board meetings must be recorded , SB 413 : Education Code 11.0621(c) and (d) were amended to require school boards to record each regular and special board meeting. The new provision also makes the recording available under the Open Records Act. This means the recording should be available "promptly" after the meeting. Here is my suggested language for a PIA request: "Please provide me a digital copy of the recording of the ____ISD board meeting held on ______, 2025. I am not requesting any recording of the closed session part of the meeting". Recordings of closed sessions, if done, are not subject to disclosure unless a court releases it. The new law doesn't address an executive session recording, but save time by not asking for it. You won't get it. I began audio recording school board meetings - and posting them on the internet - in the early 2000's. In time, that school district began to do video streaming, and many districts, including IC ISD (briefly), followed. Making audio recordings mandatory is a real plus for open government. It is also inexpensive; a school district can send you the file in a simple email, and they really shouldn't charge for it. (Though they can if they want to.) Minutes for school board meetings, also SB 413 : The new law at 11.0621(a) and (b) provides that the minutes have to show the attendance, what was voted on, how each member voted, and they must be posted on the district's website not later than 7 days after the meeting. I'm a bit confused on the seven day timing. Minutes have to be approved by the Board to become official, and the board can't approve minutes via email after the meeting to satisfy these provisions because that would be an unposted meeting and thereby be illegal under the Open Meetings Act. Read these provisions closely as there are two 7 day requirements. Seems to me the only safe way to read it is to interpret it as meaning "unofficial" minutes, because it is otherwise illegal to vote on them, officially, within 7 days without calling another meeting. Someone will help me explain this in time, I'm sure. Time of posting, HB 1522: out with that pesky 72 hour notice, in with the much easier 3 business days. See 551.043(a ). A regular school board meeting on Monday night should be posted by the Tuesday before, by my read of the Texas Code Construction Act. New budget posting requirements, HB 1522 : The Legislature has made it easier for taxpayers to understand a governmental body’s proposed budget. See new 551.043(c) . Why you should care: I’ve said previously in these pages that understanding the budget is the best way to understand community values . So, for example, if our government leaders are comfortable with flooding citizens, then their budget will reflect that, Constitution be damned. These changes require a taxpayer impact statement and a copy of the proposed budget. More is needed, but this is a start. Personnel Matters Veto, HB 2520 : Gov. Abbott vetoed without a stated reason a bill, HB 2520 , that would have made it unlawful to discuss, in closed session, operational issues that generally impact   a class or group of employees, including changes in the duties or   compensation of a class or group of employees . This veto is a significant loss to open government. My experience is that boards rely to heavily on the personnel matters provision; more of these discussions should be public, particularly as they relate to salary. The public needs to know about these very discussions, and it is a dark day now that Gov. Abbott has vetoed this bill. More open government slaughter by veto, notice specifics, HB 2520 : The legislature passed the following provisions that were critically needed for open government: (b) The notice must include an agenda for the meeting that is the subject of the notice that: (1) is sufficiently specific to inform the public of each subject to be considered in the open portion of the meeting, including any matter: (A) that is special or unusual; or (B) in which the public may have a particular interest; and (2) describes any subject to be considered in the closed portion of the meeting, if applicable . Governor Abbott wrongly vetoed this language as well, and without a stated reason. Why you should care: current agendas are almost always too vague. I’ve seen the works, from an agenda that wasn’t clear about a school superintendent resignation (Ray DeSpain) to last month’s City of Mertzon’s posting that failed to specify they were closing an alley with an ordinance. More specificity in agendas is a must, and I can't imagine why Gov. Abbott would be so opposed to this sort of sunshine. Pending. Copyright 2025 G. Noelke

Agenda Analysis  | Meeting Review  | Meeting Documents  | Commentary  | Last Meeting The first floor of the IC ISD main building at one time housed 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades. The 2024 bonds will pay to convert it from a library to the Administration’s offices. Agenda for this open meeting. A. Agenda Analysis Audit presentation, item 5: The City undergoes an annual audit, and the auditor will present their findings at this meeting. Attending audit meetings gives one an unofficial license to both complain - and praise - your local government. Closing/Abandonment of Block 152 alley, item 6: I don't have a clue where this is going. Irion County ISD updates and tree trimming, item 7: I'm thinking there will be more bond construction updates here, plus a request to trim limbs down at City Park. Update on sewer/water projects, item 8: Here's the bottom line - Hibbs and Todd hasn't tended to these projects until a recent visit with Mayor Stewart. The projects are 12-18 months behind schedule, and in view of the current Trump tariffs this delay could prove costly. Here's what Mertzon and Sherwood looked like around the time the Mertzon Central School was built in 1909. This is now Hwy 67 facing south. My Great Great Grandfather Ferdinand Noelke attended the grand opening of Hargraves, which is now Hargraves Gone Wild. The First National Bank building is now the County library, named posthumously for my father, M.B. Noelke, Jr. This photo is part of a 35 postcard set featuring historical photos of Irion County available for sale by the Irion County Historical Commission. See Joyce Gray in the Tax Assessor's office. B. Meeting Review Here are the meeting documents , the audit , and the two audit letters . Closing abandonment of alleyway, Block 152: So, after 3 years or so of advocacy, the City has acknowledged that a state statute mandates that a municipal ordinance is required in order to abandon or close an alley. Here the Council passed ordinance # 4.01 ( meeting documents pages 2-4 ) that closed this alleyway. I covered this issue extensively at the last meeting here at B.3 . I will be doing a City Gym redux in the near future, as this issue is key to my longstanding argument - and wholly ignored until now - that the IC ISD gym was unlawfully placed at its location because the City of Mertzon (under different leadership) failed to legally close the alley that the building now sits upon. IC ISD (under different leadership) failed to secure the closure and abandonment of the street and alley with an ordinance. Stay tuned for more. Irion County ISD updates and tree trimming, item 7 : Dr. Jessica Parker, (identified by me as Principal Parker on my IC ISD pages) made a request to trim certain trees around the stadium. Notably, she echoed comments at the last IC ISD board meeting that ants have started to carry off the pellets at the new field. The District apparently has had to have the field sprayed to treat the ants...and will have to continue to do so or potentially lose the warranty on the new field. Watch for more on this issue in the future; I attended the IC ISD board meeting when Hellas made their pitch for the contract and they omitted disclosing anything about the pellets also being ant food. You might remember the following scene at City Park when the field was being redone a few weeks ago: Is Thermo Vegetal ant food? Update on water and sewer projects, item 8: It was readily transparent that Hibbs & Todd dropped the ball on these projects. The requests for approvals to TCEQ and the Water Development Board have not even been submitted to them yet, and those should have been done months, if not over a year, ago. Again, these delays could prove costly because of the impact of the Trump tariffs on construction materials. The economy is, if anything, uncertain at the moment. I will be watching for additional updates on these projects at future meetings. Audit presentation, item 5: Here is the audit for the 2023-24 fiscal year , and here are the two accompanying audit letters . There are problems, but the City is operating in the black. Demolition is mostly complete at IC ISD, with the old gym, pictured on the right, remaining. Abatement for asbestos has to happen even during demolition, and IC ISD paid Jupe Environmental $15,686 to remove window caulk with asbestos in it. Asbestos was used in window caulking from the 1950's through the 1970's. C. Commentary In time, I will be doing a City Gym redux page on the the significance of the new ordinance closing the alley that was passed at this meeting. (At the moment, I'm under deadline drafting PIA questions, while also trying to find a damn e clip that flew off the axle of my lawn mower into the weeds, bringing a halt to my mowing.) While you wait, here's my commentary, at C, on a new Community Center at City Park . Copyright 2025 G. Noelke

Agenda Analysis  | Meeting Review  | Meeting Documents | Commentary  | Last Meeting Aerial of the Community Center and City Park, looking northeast. Duncan Street is the street in the lower right corner. OK Wolfenbarger field is in the background. Agenda for this meeting A. Agenda Analysis 1. Community Center Area Walk Through on Duncan Street, item 7: This meeting item merits attention for two reasons. First, as covered before, any new Community Center construction is going to impact City Park significantly, not the least of which is as a possible source for more stormwater runoff and another flood source for the IC ISD football stadium. Second, the agenda is a good example of a "roaming" meeting that has to be posted under the Open Meetings Act. That is, when a meeting changes location (here starting at the Courthouse and going to Duncan Street) and a quorum of Commissioners are present and official business is being discussed, then the change in location has to be posted on the agenda. This means that the public can also attend this part of the meeting because it too is an "open" meeting. You can tag along and listen in if you wish. 2. The time of the walk through: When the Court will be at the Park isn't listed, and if I am able to find out about when they will be there I will post it here. 3. Other examples of posted roaming meetings: The IC ISD Board did one some months back when they were evaluating what campus renovations were needed. And, years ago when I represented the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, I was involved in two. One was a tour of the Harris County Jail, which was posted as an executive session because of security reasons. The second was in Laredo when the Commission met for a meeting, then crossed over the border into Neuvo Laredo to eat at a restaurant. On occasion you'll see a governmental body posting a meal, and the reason is because of the Open Meetings Act requires it. To be clear, the Act turns on whether official business is being conducted, regardless of the location, and whether a quorum is present. Sometimes a governmental body will post social gatherings like meals just to be safe in the event the members discuss public business while they eat. 4. Contrast a roaming meeting with a roaming quorum: Technically, members who meet in less than a quorum and then meet with other members deliberately to avoid a quorum violate the Act because they are conducting what is called a roaming (or walking) quorum. That is different than having a meeting that changes location. There is nothing problematic about a quorum changing locations, so long as the location is posted, in advance, as it is here. For more on the prohibition against roaming quorums, see Texas Government Code 551.143 . The Community Center is the building on the right. B. Meeting Review Below is the map the Commissioners' Court considered during their roaming meeting. Map of City Park and nearby area in Mertzon The Court met in the caliche parking lot immediately south of the current Community Center. Commissioner Nanny was absent. In brief, they held a frank and thoughtful discussion about where to locate a new Community Center. The consensus was to locate it it in the caliche parking area south of the Community Center. See the green and gray rectangle in the map below. Consensus location of new Community Center. This is my revision to the Court's map. Nothing was voted on at this point, so this is merely my guess, nothing more. Their thinking appears to be to make the western part of the current Community Center pad an outdoor pavilion, and turn an eastern part into parking. Some of my additional observations: - The County's architect is considering a size even larger than recommended by the Community Committee proposed a few weeks ago. While attending that meeting, I recall that the current building is about 6,000 sf, and the proposal from the Committee was 12 to 15,000 sf. From what I heard at this meeting, the architects are at 20-24,000 sf. This raises the question: How much does the Community really need? The Court at this meeting was rightfully trying to grasp the size of the building. My experience now with two bond issues at Irion County ISD is that the design team will definitely start with "this is more than how much you can afford" instead of "this is what you have told us that you need". - Arena : Again, heads up to those wanting to protect the arena, if you want to save the arena you are going to have to use the arena. Judge Criner favors keeping it as a cultural standard for the community, and I agree. But, here is the reality: while there was no mention of this use for it at this meeting, in time I think the arena will be used for parking . There is not enough parking in City Park as it is now during big events, so a larger events center is going to place more demand upon the local neighborhood streets. When those citizens start complaining I predict it will be pavement time for the arena. - Stormwater - I learned something during the walk - the space between the current community center and show barn is itself acting as a drainage ditch, yet another sign of drainage problems in the area. Kudos to Judge Criner for her sweat equity; she's put in the hours herself to shovel out the oak leaves in between the two buildings. This raises the question whether an outdoor pavilion with cement pad is even feasible. Adding another larger impervious structure, without taking away the current center, is already going to add even more stormwater runoff. Note - the Lions Club is already donating an outdoor pavilion at the river, so one has to wonder about how many are needed. - Water catchment - the Court seems united it conserving and using stormwater from roof runoff, but I think only Commissioner McManus understands at this point how limited that system will be. My rule of though, math aside, is that 1 inch of rainfall on 1 square foot of metal roof amounts to .60 gallons of water. (I collect rain water at the ranch to water dove and quail, and, unfortunately too many skunks and raccoons.) So, whatever the dimensions of the roof, it is going to be a LOT of water. By law the architect is required to plan the roof drainage for a 100 year flood. Here is my post for what the architect calculated for the new gym and why I am so persistent about IC ISD protecting our community from the stormwater coming from its campus . The new gym is roughly a 30,000 sf facility. So, while I can say the Court at this meeting thankfully showed some real appreciation that they are going to have to address stormwater, I don't think their design team has yet made the math clear to them. No water catchment system can be sized large enough to keep the lower elevations (football field) from being flooded in a serious storm. -Parking: another reason to continue to take this bull by the horns is the potential for folks to park in the shade in flood prone areas. The City and County need to coordinate on safe street parking for large events. Again, there are some lessons to be learned from the new gym given the stormwater flow design with parking at a lower elevation. I was the only person from the public present during the walk through. Take nothing I say above as the gospel truth. Verify for yourself by contacting a member of the Court. Be a citizen and engage. 2. Budget and salary workshop, item 6. I attended a portion of this part of the meeting. There are two things to note. a. Inmate housing. First, as I've mentioned elsewhere, one significant advantage Irion County has as compared to most other Texas counties is that its small population size has allowed it to transfer inmates to the Tom Green County jail, rather than managing and paying for its own jail. This inmate transfer is not without costs, and each year the Commissioner's Court sets the budget for the Sheriff's office, including the amount to house Irion County inmates in Tom Green County. Judge Criner stated in this meeting that Tom Green County was raising its daily fee for inmates from $8 a day to $50 dollars a day, a significant increase. During this meeting, after registering their initial shock at this increase, there was immediate consensus among the Court that even with this increase the fee was still cheaper than running their own jail . The Court is spot on correct on this point, and the community has them to thank for their fiscal prudence when it comes to inmate housing. b. Salaries. The discussion here was confusing enough that I can't provide a sentence or two on who is in line for a pay raise and for how much. In any event, nothing was finalized because this was a "workshop", and workshops are intended to air out the difficult issues. That said, I can say this much: this Court cares very much about how much to pay County employees and how to do so equitably. They also clearly understand the current cost of living pressures everyone is under. As I have said in other posts related to the City of Mertzon and IC ISD, citizens don't get good government if the leadership is too tightfisted with salaries. This workshop was a good sign that the Court cares about what folks are paid. Taxpayers should come to expect regular budget increases for salaries, with an understanding in the vast majority of situations government employees are seriously underpaid. Aerial of Community Center (tan roof), facing southwest. The caliche area is the consensus location for the new center, though no formal vote has been taken by the Court. C. Commentary Find another Location for the New Community Center Only 10 days before this meeting our state experienced the devastating Central Texas floods . That same weather disturbance visited nearby Tom Green County, only 30 miles away in San Angelo, where there was up to a foot of water overnight. What our community and all its elected leaders at Irion County, Irion County ISD and the City of Mertzon now know is that all stormwater dumps into City Park. Yet somehow we have determined that City Park is the community's "center". I think it is not financially prudent, and indeed dangerous, to continue to develop City Park for community purposes. There's every reason to believe the flooding problems are going to worsen through the years, and I don't think any of us have to be a trained hydrologist to understand this basic fact of nature: water always wins. That is a very expensive fact...if it is ignored. I recommended to the IC ISD board back in 2019 before those improvements to the football stadium were made - with taxpayer dollars - that they should find another location for the stadium. I regret that they did not take my advice then because had they done so at least half of today's problem relating to the Community Center expansion wouldn't exist. IC ISD has every reason to be concerned that a new Community Center will wipe out their improvements at the stadium. Similarly, my recommendation now is that Irion County should not build its new Community Center in City Park . The Commissioners' Court should search out higher grounds and go for where it is dry and more spacious. Our "center" should not be in a place that is known to flood, no matter how beautiful the oaks. Copyright 2025 G. Noelke