NEWS
Unknown expense of raw water pump may hit budget
By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
Members of the Bowie City Council learned just like their own household budgets, the city’s 2024-25 operational budget is facing the higher costs across the board.
Councilors met for a budget workshop on Monday night and threw their questions about the draft proposal that was presented on July 8.
City Manager Bert Cunningham previously said he has slashed more than $300,000 from the departmental budget requests in order to get a balanced budget. However, a large unknown hovers over the finances as the staff waits on engineering estimates to add a pump at the raw water pump station, a directive from the state regulatory agency.
The city budget is broken out into two funds, utility and general. The utility fund, which includes water, sewer and electric, has projected expenses of $12,595,995 with revenues forecast at $12,601,000.
The remaining city departments are in the general fund where expenses are $10,700,890 with revenue projected at $10,705,568. Overall budget operations are expensed at $23,296,885 and revenue projected at $23,306,568. Cunningham said it leaves a small margin of $9,683 maintaining that balanced budget.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
Members of the Bowie City Council will face a brief agenda when they meet at 6 p.m. on Oct. 13 in the council chambers.
Following routine reports and consent agenda items, the council will consider a resolution authorizing submission of the city’s 2027/2028 Texas Community Development Block Grant application to the Texas Department of Agriculture.
Then council members will consider approving Bob Blackburn for appointment as a reserve police officer with the Bowie Police Department.
Following an executive session, the council will discuss and potentially take action regarding the annual employment evaluations and duties of both the City Secretary and the Municipal Court Judge.
After nearly three months of no rain, Mother Nature brought the showers this past week.
Downtown Bowie rain reports varied from 7 to 8 inches, while the Saint Jo area reported a 10-inch total. The city water plant in Bowie reported 5.55 inches on Sept. 30 with 1.6 Oct. 1-3.
Nocona saw a total of 6.31 inches of rain across Sept. 26 to Oct. 3.
On Oct. 6, Lake Amon G. Carter saw a level of 917.39 mean sea level rising to 81.31% full. Just one week earlier the lake was 73.6% full, while one year ago it was 94.01%. The lake is full at 920msl.
Lake Nocona was 73.7% full at 823.02 on Oct 6. One week earlier it was 70.41% full and one year ago it was 92.41%. The lake is full at 827.5 msl.
By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
One Montague County City has joined the battle against any data centers being built in this county and there is a petition drive underway to urge the commissioner’s court to keep data centers out of Montague County.
At a Sept. 28 called meeting of the Saint Jo City Council, officials unanimously approved a resolution stating its opposition to the “siting, permitting, construction or operation of data centers and similar hyperscale computing facilities within the city limits or the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.”
City Secretary Debbie Dennis said several citizens approached Councilor Jack Dunn about their data center concerns and he helped prepare a resolution. The council gave unanimous support.
Read the full story in your Thursday Bowie News.
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