NEWS
Bowie City Council to discuss Old Bowie Lake Dam
The Bowie City Council will discuss several significant topics when it meets at 6 p.m. on Feb. 10 in council chambers.
There will be a discussion on the status of the Old Bowie Lake Dam and its repairs. Recently divers went to the lake to examine the intact tower and the silt build-up, along with checking pipes and valves to see if it could be drained to make repairs, instead of cutting the dam.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality conducted an inspection on the dam and has referred to the city several needed repairs and maintenance issues. City Manager Bert Cunningham reported to the state agency engineering work alone to do that work were estimated at some $200,000, which the city cannot afford and council members have indicated they do not want to spend. The manager is expected to report on recent activities.
A group of property owners at the lake also have talked with the city manager about other options.
An executive session will be a consultation with an attorney related to the lawsuit Midwest Waste Services, LLC vs. City of Bowie.
The state lawsuit alleges the city impacted its business by “illegally” requiring water customers outside of the city limits to use the city’s trash service.
In the city manager’s report, Cunningham will discuss plans for remodeling the community room for part of the city office staff to relocate. Last month an architect was retained to prepare designs and cost estimates.
Other new business will be the presented of the hotel/motel year-end report for 2019 and a request from Terry Frazier on the use of the Bowie Community Center for the “Pickin’ for the Veterans.
The second community meeting on needs for an emergency room or hospital in Bowie is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 at the Bowie Community Center.
This is the second meeting to discuss these needs following the closure of the Faith Community Health Center emergency room on Oct. 6, just shy of a year of operation. More than 200 people attended that first meeting, where discussion centered on the creation of a taxing district to support any sort of medical facility.
Citizens in the Bowie area are encouraged to attend and take part in these discussions.
The Bowie City Council has moved its Nov. 18 meeting to 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 where three new council members will take the oath of office.
Councilors include Laura Sproles, precinct two, Brandon Walker, precinct one and Laramie Truax, precinct two. After the votes are canvassed and the oaths given, a mayor pro tem will be selected.
The new members will jump right into training as City Attorney Courtney Goodman-Morris provides an orientation and discussion of duties for council members.
City Manager Bert Cunningham will make his monthly report on the following topics: Nelson Street, which opened last Thursday, update on the sewer line replacement project, substation transformer placement and information on medical companies.
A closed executive session on the Laura McCarn vs. City of Bowie lawsuit is scheduled. The suit arose in November 2022 when the city broached selling some 25 acres it owns on Lake Amon G. Carter, originally part of the land purchased for the 500-acre Bowie Reservoir completed in 1985.
McCarn challenges the ownership of the property stating it should revert to the original owners since it was not used for the lake.
This 24.35 acre tract is located at the end of Indian Trail Road surrounded by the lake and the Silver Lakes Ranch subdivision.
One of Bowie’s major thoroughfares, Nelson Street, was reopened Thursday after one busy block has been closed since August 2021 when a section of the street failed.
Construction finally came to an end on Thursday when the street, including the Nelson and Mill intersection were reopened. Mayor Gaylynn Burris, City Manager Bert Cunningham, Councilors TJay McEwen and Stephanie Post, Engineer Mike Tibbetts and Public Works Director Stony Lowrance met at the site Thursday morning and removed the barricades. It only took a few minutes for vehicles to start arriving and drivers were excited to go through on the new roadway.
This section of Bowie has endured flooding and drainage problems for many years and in the summer of 2023 the city council finally bit the bullet and sought bids for the repair work expected to top $3 million. In August 2021 a one block section of Nelson was closed when a large sinkhole appeared on the north side of the street. Traffic had to be diverted including all the school traffic flowing from the nearby junior high and intermediate.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
Top photo – (Left) Mike Tibbetts, engineer with Hayter Engineering, talks with Bowie City Manager Bert Cunningham as they look over the massive drainage project on Nelson Street.
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