During Tuesday morning’s meeting of the Brownwood City Council, City of Brownwood Director of Public Works Henry Wied introduced members of the Water and Utility Billing Departments and announced the completion of the Automated Meter Reading System.
There are more than 8,000 residential and commercial water meters with the City of Brownwood, which began installing automated readers in November of 2013. In February 2021, Council approved a capital expenditure in the amount of $908,000 to allow the Water Department to purchase and replace the remaining 3,850 meters, which would complete the automated reading system. On Jan. 16, 2025, the Utility Department finished installing the last of these meters.
“This project will allow staff to read meters with one employee in three days instead of two employees in 15 days, provide more accurate meter readings, provide water usage data that can be provided to the customer, potentially go to one month billing which could reduce the annual bad debt, will be 75% more efficient in time, and will allow staff to notify customers they have a water leak,” Wied told those in attendance.
Also Tuesday, Council took steps toward closing Hawkins Street between Second and Third Streets for Howard Payne construction. HPU currently owns the parcels on both sides of the section of Hawkins Street requested for closure. An appraisal was completed on Jan. 13, 2025, and the market value of the section of Hawkins Street was determined to be $19,000. Howard Payne has agreed to pay the City for the appraised value along with the appraisal fee of $1,500.
The purpose of the street closure is to combine the two HPU owned properties for expanded parking and seamless connectivity between the two parcels.
If in the future HPU decides to build over the closed portion of the street, then they would be responsible for costs associated with the relocation of city water lines that currently exist in the section of Hawkins requested for closure. There are also city water and sewer lines present in the alleyway between the Second and Third Street that the city would retain an access easement for. HPU would be responsible for coordinating with other utility companies for any other utility lines or easements that may exist or be needed.
The Council added an 18-month clawback provision to the proposal where if construction falls through for Howard Payne after that amount of time, the City can repurchase the roadway.
Prior to approving the first reading of the ordinance, Lessley Moseley, who resides at 608 Third Street, questioned the closure as it would prevent access to the alley due to their being only one current opening to that alley.
Mayor Stephen Haynes informed Moseley that a resolution regarding access to the alley would be determined before the matter is brought back before the Council for second and final reading.
Council on Tuesday also approved the rebuild of a 2008 Pierce Fire Engine from MHC Kenworth in the amount of $35,128.37.
Pricing was obtained from MHC and their rebuild cost was $35,128.37 and the complete replacement was $62,897.19. The MHC has a warranty of one year for the rebuild and two years for the complete motor replacement. An additional quote of $32,512.53 was obtained from Siddons Emergency Group in Odessa for the rebuild with a 30-day warranty provided.
Council also approved City Manager Emily Crawford to sign a professional services agreement with STV to assist the City of Brownwood in applying for the Texas Department of Transportation’s 2025 Transportation Alternatives Grant.
The City of Brownwood applied for the TxDOT Transportation Alternatives Grant in 2023 and made it to Step 2 of the process, in which the City was in competition with 465 other applications from 304 unique entities, totaling more than $1.7 billion dollars in funding requests. The City of Brownwood was not selected in the 2023 round of funding. In the Brownwood TxDOT District, however, the City of Coleman was selected and awarded $4.9 million dollars for 1.75 miles of new sidewalks.
The City wants to apply for the TA Grant again, and plans to submit a similar scope as in 2023. The project is new pedestrian sidewalks that connect the Downtown District with commercial corridors on Main and Commerce, the Event Center, and Riverside Park. The draft map includes about 2 miles of sidewalks. Some revisions to the scope are likely, such as connecting the new Health Department location on Booker Street.
The estimated cost of the improvements in 2023 was $6.1 million dollars, while the fee for the professional service is $37,942.50 which would be paid out of the Planning and Development budget for Engineering Services.
Also Tuesday, 35th District Court Judge Mike Smith and Jonathan Harvey from the Center for Life Resources made a presentation regarding the Sequential Intercept Mapping Workshop that will be held at the Brownwood Event Center Feb. 27-28.
The purpose of the workshop is to identify opportunities to better address the needs of individuals with behavioral health needs in the community. Using the Sequential Intercept Model, this meeting will convene local justice and behavioral health stakeholders to inventory existing local resources; identify gaps in programs and services; prioritize opportunities to increase diversion, access to treatment, and coordination among local agencies; and develop community-wide action plans
On the consent agenda, Council approved on second and third/final reading a 100 percent exemption from ad valorum taxes for qualifying childcare facility properties.