Nixon council looks into raising water rates

NIXON — During its June 12 meeting, city council announced they are considering raising the city’s water rates to help finance a new water pump with a price tag of around $1 million.

Mayor Gladyne Finch said research by the council indicated the city has the lowest water rate in the state of Texas. The city’s current rate is set at $1.65 per 1,000 gallons. The average household uses around 6,000 gallons per month.

The council’s idea is to increase the current rate to $2.15 (a 50 cent increase). The average household would be paying an additional $5.50 per month. Finch said the additional funds will go toward the purchase of a new water filter for the city. The filter costs around $1 million.

“We’re also looking into grants and anything we can possibly put together to help pay for it,” she said.

Finch said a public hearing will be held to discuss the item, then has to be voted on in another council meeting.

The council is also considering holding two meetings per month instead of one. Finch said this may be a good idea as council meetings are getting longer due to additional items on the agenda. The last meeting’s agenda had 27 items, and the meeting took much longer than expected.

“We were in the meeting from 6-11 [p.m.],” Finch explained. “And that was after we had cut some items off the list.”

Finch said the idea is to have a workshop meeting, possibly mid-month, where council can discuss agenda items thoroughly before the next meeting, during which they can make decisions and vote.

“It wouldn’t take as long,” she said. “By the time of the regular meeting we would have discussed the items, we’d know what’s going on and have our minds made up.”

In other business, the council:

• Appointed Patricia Dingler as mayor pro-tem
• Approved public pool being access seven days a week during summer
• Voted to request the official resignation of City Administrator Manuel Zepeda, who has been on unpaid administrative leave since August 2016