Mineral Wells water loss not as severe as feared, engineer tells council
Published: Sat, 12/09/23
Mineral Wells water loss not as severe as feared, engineer tells council
Weatherford Democrat
Glenn Evans, Weatherford Democrat
MINERAL WELLS — The home of Crazy Water is not leaking as much water as was feared, and an engineer pointed out ways to bring water loss down further during a report to the city council on Tuesday.
"I think the message here is you guys don't necessarily have a massive water loss problem," consultant Ty Riebe said, after noting "a steep increase in the trend" of water loss in 2021 and 2022.
Data gathered by the Fort Worth-based Garver Engineering showed annual water loss hovering around 150-200 million gallons from 2015 through 2020. But it spiked to 275 million gallons in 2021 and 375MG in 2022.
However, Riebe pointed out the accuracy of the meter at the Hilltop Water Treatment Plant dropped from 99.5 percent to 90 percent in those two years.
Revised numbers placed Mineral Wells on par with comparable Texas cities of Mount Pleasant and Lumberton, the Garver study showed.
Riebe also recommended steps to reduce the loss that is occurring. They included placing a booster pump to boost circulation of water at Fort Wolters.
Built when the site was an active Army base, the water distribution network has to be flushed of chlorine residue because so little water moves through pipes that are much larger than the industrial park there now needs.
Public Works Director Scotty McKennon also told the council the North Rural Water Supply Corp. will install an intake at Fort Wolters that will add more flow to the lines to reduce the need for so much flushing.
Council members had asked Garver to see if hidden water leaks were occurring underground anywhere in the city's 510-mile water line network. Company officials had resisted that idea when hired, and on Tuesday Riebe said such a probe could cost $1 million or more.
His presentation came about halfway through the overall study, but council members agreed with Mayor Regan Johnson's suggestion they put further action by Garver on hold until February.
The council on Tuesday also accepted long-range planning documents for the Parks and Recreation Department and for the city as a whole.
Both are expected to go up on the city's website sometime next week.
The comprehensive citywide plan lays out goals for housing, street use, commercial and industrial development and other elements of city life.
It begins by projecting the city's population will reach 34,150 in the next 30 years.
"It's coming this way whether we like it or not," Mayor Regan Johnson said, taking a shot at Weatherford where her grandson had asked if he was looking at the future of Mineral Wells. "And I said, not if we do our job right."
The plan reimagines neighborhoods in a cluster development format. That's where homes are grouped more closely together to free up open spaces for recreation and preservation.
So-called mixed-use centers would offer different housing options close to goods and services people use daily. Such centers typically have two-story or taller buildings with residents living on upper floors and shops or offices at street level.
The study recommends no building along the slopes of the Palo Pinto Mountains that bisect the city, to preserve Mineral Wells' "natural character."
And it focuses on further development of four districts — the Wellness District with the hospital campus on the west end of town, downtown, Mineral Wells Regional Airport and Fort Wolters.
It recommends the latter be redeveloped as an "employment center" with housing options "including critically needed workforce housing" along with retail shops.
The plan envisions "a campus environment" with green spaces and a connection to adjacent Mineral Wells State Park.
"This is not the last step," consultant Tony Allende said, recommending the council hold a workshop to lay out priorities from the plan. "The next question is, what do we do with it. There are so many options that you can take advantage of now that you have a plan."
City Manager Dean Sullivan said department heads will undergo training after the February workshop.
"This will become a very important tool in budgeting," Sullivan said. "What you see is not static. That's probably one of the reasons those (past) studies wound up on the shelf is, 'OK. What do we do now?' "
The parks plan, like the citywide plan, relied heavily on resident input, with surveys taken online and at local events such as the Crazy Water Festival.
"We have a lot of spaces that can be utilized but not necessarily built on," Mayor Pro Tem Doyle Light said, adding some vacant land could be used to improve drainage that menaces city streets during rain storms.
Parks and Recreation Superintendent Carrie Stevenson liked a recommendation to create more "pocket parks," which can be one square block of smaller like the half-acre Zappe Park downtown.
"Those pocket parks are great," Stevenson said. "Those are smaller and don't cost a lot of money to do."
The parks plan recommends building on an existing walking trail network.
It also lays out renovations to West City Park and its ballfields.
And it lays out ways to fund improvements.
"It's a very well laid-out plan," consultant Tony Allender said. "The other beauty of the Parks Master Plan is it gives you options."
The council on Tuesday also took the following actions:
—Joined the gallery in a standing ovation for Honorary Council Member Harrison Owen, 11, who gaveled in the meeting. The son of Chad and Lynsie Keeton is a sixth-grader at Travis Elementary where he is student body president and a member of the cadets.
—Reappointed Richard Kidwell and Eugene Waddy to the Palo Pinto County Municipal Water District No. 1 board. The council also appointed Kelly Strain-Rawlings to the panel, which governs Lake Palo Pinto. All three have two-year terms.