By Anton Riecher
In a major change of direction, the Devine City Council voted to repair an existing ground water storage tank near Warhorse Stadium for $600,000 rather than replace it at a cost of $2.5 million as previously planned.
On a motion made by District 3 Council Member Jeff Miller, seconded by District 2 Council Member Michael Hernandez, the council voted 4-1 to repair the tank. District 5 Council Member Debbie Randall was alone in her opposition to the plan.
The council spent much of the August 6 special session rehashing the arguments for and against replacing the 72-year-old structure that serves as the city’s largest water storage facility.
Mayor Butch Cook summarized the issue prior to the council vote.
“We have a company that believes (the tank) can be brought back to life and last many years, saving a couple of million dollars,” he said. “And then we also have another opinion that believes we need a completely new one.”
City Engineer J.R. Garcia of Garcia and Wright Engineering made his position against the repair effort abundantly clear. After the tank’s deteriorating condition was noted in recent inspections the city reached out to various tank building companies, he said.
“Almost all of them said that they wouldn’t even touch the tank,” Garcia said. “It’s too dangerous. The structure is unstable.
However, subsequent to the council decision to sell $2.5 million in certificates of obligations last April to fund the replacement of the tank one company has come forward with a $600,000 repair plan to extend the life of the existing welded steel tank at least 30 more years.
The council vote in favor of the repair project calls for the remaining $1.9 million to be invested in other water infrastructure projects. In March, the council voted to enter into a $108,340 contract with McGuire Water of Sioux Falls, ND, to make stopgap repairs on the existing until completion of the then proposed new tank.
In support of his motion, Miller said the experts agreed that years of neglect led to the deterioration of the tank.
“Personally, I feel like if it’s maintained properly after repairs it will last much longer,” he said. “Maybe, when the city’s in a better position 20 years from now” it can be replaced.
Supporting the repair plan, District 5 Council Member Josh Ritchey said it would be worth it even if the benefits were relatively short term.
“Maybe we don’t get another 30 or 50 years out of it,” he said. “Maybe we get another 10 or 20 years. Spread that out to $2 million to $5 million, whatever it inflates to, I feel much more comfortable with that.”
Randall said the tank’s advance age made the repair effort questionable. She proposed proceeding with the new construction in addition to repairing the existing tank to further increase local storage.
“In another seven years I’d much rather have something that’s going to last much longer than just another 30 years,” she said.
Randall said she understood that the new tank had already been ordered and was in the process of being manufactures. But Garcia said he had previously been instructed to put the project on hold with the plans only 70 percent complete.
He presented the council with photographs of the tank interior showing the walls to be rusted and corroded. Some of the corrosion has actually pierced the steel walls.
“You have to remember these pictures are from two years ago,” he said.
District 4 Council Member Josh Ritchey countered Garcia’s argument. The company backing the repair plan said the steel walls were in excellent condition with only minor pitting, he said. But the company agreed with others evaluating the tank that the roof would need much more extensive repair.
Garcia also argued that repairing the tank will mean draining it, leaving the city without a pressurized water system due to lack of other significant water storage.
“I almost feel that it’s an emergency situation,” Garcia said. “You really need a tank right now because you don’t have a backup plan.”
However, Mayor Cook said the company making the repair proposal has devised a backup system that will allow the water system to remain pressurized while the tank is empty.
Mayor Cook said the repair of the tank would have to be rebid at some future date.
During a budget workshop preceding the special session City Treasurer Denise Duffy told the council that the Medina Central Appraisal District had issued the city a no-new-revenue tax rate of $.5277 per $100 valuation. The current city tax rate is $.5553 per $100 valuation.
“Well, actually, that’s encouraging,” Mayor Cook said.
The no-new-revenue tax rate enables the public to evaluate the relationship between taxes for the prior year and for the current year based on a tax rate that would produce the same amount of taxes if applied to the same properties taxed both years.
“It is supposed to be what rate brings in the same amount of tax money you had the previous year,” Cook said.
A quick calculation revealed the voter-approval rate is $.6231 per $100 valuation. The voter-approval rate is the sum of the maintenance and operation tax rate plus a 3.5 percent increase. If the council adopts a rate that exceeds the mandatory tax election rate it must hold an automatic election.
Total value still under protest or not certified is estimated at $9.4 million, Duffy said.
Miller, Ritchey and Randall all stanchly opposed any tax increase.
“We need to show some meaningful improvements before we start asking for significant amounts of more money from folks,” Ritchey said.
Hernandez said that “if we want to better our city and bring more money in we may have to.”
Mayor Cook warned that it is still very early in the budget process for next year.
As a first step in that process City Administrator David Jordan said he is proposing a six percent salary increase for city employees making less than $40,000.
“We currently have 14 employees in that tax bracket,” Jordan said. “There are six vacancies in that bracket.”
Ritchey said he is on record as opposing cost of living increases. However, “pay leveling” may be necessary to attract new city employees.
“Clearly, based on the number of vacancies we have in public works we’re not paying enough to retain them,” Ritchey said.
Jordan also said he would be proposing increasing the city’s minimum wage from $17 an hour to $20 an hour for workers with more than two years on the city payroll.
He also proposed increasing the city’s contribution to the Texas Municipal Retirement System from six percent with a 1½-to-1 match to seven percent with a 2-to-1 match.
A presentation by Frost Insurance agent Ernest Munoz on renewal options for medical, dental, vision and life noted that the city’s loss ratio for employees has stabilized enough that he is negotiating with Cigna Healthcare to limit the expected increase to 10.9 percent. The national average increase in health renew is 18 percent.
During the special session, a motion by Miller in support of a proposal by Jordan to replace the position of city attorney, city engineer and IT specialist with a list of recommended vendors was rejected in a narrow 2-2 vote with Mayor Cook casting the tie-breaker.
District 1 Council Member Ray Gonzales seconded the motion and voted in favor of it while Hernandez and Randall voted against it. Randall said the proposal would invest too much authority in the city administrator regarding vendors to be considered.
Miller then submitted an amended motion allowing the city council to retain authority to add names to the vendors list. This motion passed 4-1 with Randall again opposing the action. The council then voted 4-1 to accept the vendors list submitted by Jordan. Randall again voted to oppose.
Regarding the Devine airport, Jordan announced that airport manager Vickie Pumphrey had resigned and that public works had taken charge of operating the airport fuel farm until a replacement is hired. In other action, the council voted to pay for completed construction at the airport using Routine Airport Maintenance Program (RAMP) grant funds.
The Texas Department of Transportation administers RAMP which matches local government grants up to $100,000 for airport maintenance.