City sets town hall seeking input on all city-related topics

A town hall and special-called city council meeting were set for November to give the public the opportunity to speak on any city-related topics and to provide an update on the city’s water needs.

The town hall meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 608 Elm St. with the purpose of receiving general comments from the public regarding city services. 

“Council previously directed the city manager to develop an agenda item to set this meeting date,” Assistant City Manager Grant Ingram said Thursday, Oct. 10. “This town hall meeting will provide an opportunity for citizens, council members and city staff to engage in productive dialogue on any city-related topics which is offered by citizens in attendance.” 

Following that meeting, a special-called meeting of the city council will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the same location. This meeting will be a workshop focusing on plans for the development of an alternate water supply source for the city of Graham.

“The city manager requested that the city council schedule this workshop to continue our discussions regarding the current and future water supply needs for our community,” Ingram said.

The city council previously discussed a secondary water source for the city in November 2023. During the meeting the council discussed using Possum Kingdom Lake or existing water wells.

The city of Graham entered into an agreement with the Brazos River Authority in November 1985 to make 2,240 acre-feet of water per year available from Possum Kingdom Lake for the city to purchase. The agreement was changed in 1992 to 1,000 acre feet, or 800,000 gallons of water per day.

City Manager Eric Garretty presented in November the estimated cost to build a pipeline from Possum Kingdom Lake to the Graham water treatment plant or build a pipeline to a smaller water treatment facility south of Graham was $100 million. The city makes annual payments to the BRA for Option Water and paid $14,690 for that in 2023.

Two options were presented for using existing water well fields currently under lease by the city and located north of Lake Graham. When operational, the well field is contracted to deliver 600,000 gallons of water per day.

During the November 2023 meeting, the city manager said the average total daily demand for raw water from the city is 3.5 million gallons per day. 

The contract would supplement around 17% of the city's daily demand requirement.

The city was committed to pay $230,000 in well field development costs and currently pays $9,600 per year to lease the well fields. 

Option A was to complete the pipeline from the well field to Lake Graham and discharge the well water directly into the lake to maintain its levels. 

Option B was to complete Option A and then extend the pipeline to the water treatment plant.