The Aledo City Council addressed several key issues facing the growing community during its Oct. 24 marathon session. A key measure resolved during the three-hour affair will enable City Manager Noah Simon to place and maintain traffic control devices and parking limitations within the Aledo city limits.
The amendment made to Chapter 77 of the Code of Ordinances came following several close calls involving students from Aledo Middle School nearly being struck by automobiles when attempting to cross FM 1187 after school.
Changes to the ordinance will allow the city to be more nimble in addressing opportunities such as this one in a timely manner to help ensure public safety.
The meeting began with Mayor Nick Stanley making a proclamation that going forward, October will be recognized as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Aledo. Stanley was accompanied at the podium by Debbie Buckman representing Freedom House — a non-profit organization based in Weatherford that provides free services such as shelter, advocacy, and counseling to survivors of domestic abuse.
Several discussions relating to the water system in Aledo followed during the official business of the meeting.
First, the council discussed increases in water usage rates that went into effect in October, but residents will not see reflected until their November bill. The council is preparing for an increased number of calls coming in once those bills arrive to residents later in the month.
Next, the meeting shifted gears as a representative from Aqua Metric updated the council regarding the pilot program to install smart water meters on 100 residences across the city. The new meters are not only more accurate as it relates to reading the amount of water being used, but also can alert the city when there is a potential leak.
Another feature boasted by Aqua Metric is the meters give the residents the ability to log onto an online portal to view their current usage and billing in real time, thus, providing residents with more control over how much water they use during a billing cycle.
All 100 meters have been installed with the 90-day pilot program officially underway. Once the pilot ends shortly after the end of the year, the results will come before the council with Simon expected to pitch a proposal for full implementation 30-45 days after the conclusion of the pilot.
The most significant amount of time for the evening was dedicated to a presentation by Chris Ekrut from NewGen Strategies & Solutions regarding proposed upgrades to the current water and wastewater systems in Aledo.
While community growth is generally viewed as a positive, that growth often comes with challenges to infrastructure. Solutions to those challenges often come with lofty price tags. This is one of those times.
Ekrut spent the better part of 90 minutes breaking down where Aledo currently stands in regard to its financial obligations to the City of Fort Worth and the Texas Water Development Board, giving a brief history of the charge rates for water and wastewater in Aledo, and pitching his proposal for what the council needs to do in short order to tackle issues with the current water and wastewater systems.
“We rely heavily on these professionals — these consultants — to come in to advise the council on what they see as our greatest needs in the coming years,” Stanley said. “Looking out here in Aledo, especially over the next decade, seeing the growth trends that we’ve all identified that are there, and that are coming, there’s some really difficult decisions, that as the elected representatives of this community, we’re going to have to make. We’re going to have to make those decisions with as much information as we can get to make a concerted effort to protect this community as we grow; to make sure the infrastructure’s there to deliver to our citizens consistently in a fashion they can have confidence in.”
Among the key points of Ekrut’s presentation were discussions regarding a 10-year span from 2012 to 2021 where the city absorbed rising costs associated with water rate hikes rather than passing on those costs to residents. He also touched on the on-going challenges related to changes in regulatory requirements at both the state and federal levels impacting the city’s water utilities.
The point burdened with the most emphasis from Ekrut had to do with needed upgrades and expansion to the existing water supply systems to meet the rising demand related to the continued growth in Aledo. Ekrut estimated the current cost to expand the water supply capacity to meet the impending demand tallies $3.5 million. As large as that bill seems, it is but a splash in the bucket when compared to his recommendations for the wastewater treatment facilities. The initial proposal put before the council neared $16 million. However, as the cost of materials continues to increase due to inflation rates climbing to 40-year highs over the last year, the latest price tag for the same proposal is now an estimated $24 million.
“As we put more rooftops in Aledo, and more businesses, we must ensure that we can deliver through our utilities. Whether that’s through water, our wastewater treatment facility, electrical grid, fiber internet — all the things that come with the pains of a growing community,” said Stanley. “This is why you see all these people up here choosing to volunteer their time to represent the city. It’s because we’re all citizens here who care about our future. We care that we’re making decisions that provide assurances to our families and our neighbors that this is still going to be a great place to live in 10 to 20 years.”
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