BACKED UP
Council eyes infrastructure solutions
By Lori Mellinger editor@bullardnews.com

Left, city crews recently work on Courtney Street on sewer problems. Council members approved last week another project to aid the area.

The city is poised to spend more than $21,000 fixing one problem that could be pervasive throughout the city.

Council members voted unanimously last week to contract out some sewer work to fix a known problem area on Lynch Drive.

Bullard Mayor A.W. Hines said a lack of planning, services and oversight in previous years is to blame for some of the catching up the city has had to do in the past.

"There are areas in the city - and we don't know how many yet - that are filled with bad infrastructure," Hines said.

Recently City Engineer Brian Capps and Utility Director Mark Barker ran a camera through the Lynch Street area sewer with no good news for the council.

"We've found out why our sewer system could be overloaded," Capps said. "When some of the builders were tying into the system, the best we can figure out is they didn't do it properly."

Capps and Barker agreed there was no rhyme or reason to the way homes were tied into the system.

"When we ran the cameras we found a lot of tree roots growing into the pipes," Capps said. "This tells us that contractors were not tapping into the system properly."

Capps said the footage also indicated places where pipes were not fitted correctly, causing gaps which result in groundwater pouring into the main.

Capps also said that standard procedure - when laying a sewer line - is to put the line in a steel casing to prevent erosion of the line and trees getting into the system.

"None of that was done that we can tell," Capps said. "It could turn into a real mess."

City Manager Larry Morgan said the city has suspected there was a problem, and that's why the camera was run through the lines.

"We knew - because of the way it backed up around Lynch every time it rains - there was a problem," Morgan said. "We just didn't know the scope of it until we ran the camera through."

The city is under EPA mandate to update its sewer system, and Morgan knows that a big reason for that is the sewer lines are filling with groundwater causing an overload to the city's sewer system.

"It's not that we don't have the capacity," he said. "It's more that we are processing groundwater, which is something that's not supposed to happen if the correct infrastructure is in place."

Hines said he's not sure how much of the city has this problem.

But for now, the council accepted a bid at its Tuesday meeting to address a portion of it.

The bid, from Wilkins Contracting, will pay for road boring, 65-feet of line, a 10-inch sewer main and two manholes on Lynch Drive and FM 2493.

"Some places should have never been annexed," Hines said. "And since I've been on the council, we've not annexed some who have voluntarily asked - simply because you don't annex when you can't provide proper services."

City governments provide water, sewer and garbage collection, as well as police protection to taxpayers

One of those places, Hines said, was Courtney Drive, where the city recently spent about $6,500 replacing mislaid sewer lines and fixing the street once the lines were repaired.

The lines had to be replaced because sewer backups were a common occurrence whenever it rained.

"This is what happens when a council or city doesn't require engineering studies or inspections," Hines said.

Morgan said he's been fighting the battle since he came to Bullard more than two years ago.

"The council brought it to my attention that the building codes and regulations hadn't been updated since the mid- 1970s," Morgan said.

That began a concerted effort through a committee appointed by the council to bring codes and standards up for building.

Councilwoman Pam Frederick - who ran for office initially because of water problems she was experiencing - said it was a combination of things that led to the disarray.

"I don't think there's complete fault, necessarily, on most of the previous administrations, as much as a lack of knowing what needed to be done and the obstacles to overcome," Frederick said. "That's one of the reasons we really wanted Larry here - it was time we moved Bullard to a more professional form of government.

"I think before now, it was difficult to find willing participants who lived in the city limits - and many of those who did were overwhelmed," she said. "The city has come a long way."

Hines said that as a developer himself, he knows the tricks of the trade and he knows that some developers and builders cut corners.

"My goal when I ran for office was that no house, no plumbing, no water lines, no sewer lines and no streets would be laid without an inspection," he said. And now that's being done.

John Loftin, who lives on Lynch Drive, called the Texas Commission on Environmental Equality - a city regulatory agency - at least twice in as many years because of sewer backups. He finally visited with Morgan about the issue a few months ago.

Loftin, a former mayor and councilman, said he has dealt with inadequate sewage and water with the city for the eight years.

The cause - he said - was Courtney Drive - built behind Lynch Drive.

He said the city tied Courtney Street into the existing line - in effect - overloading the system.

Loftin, however, according to city records served as mayor and councilman around the time this was done.

City records reflect he was in office between 1999 and 2002.

Hines and Frederick both agreed the city takes pains - sometimes to the chagrin of developers - not to annex property unless services are assured of.

"Last year we had a line of developers - many who were angry with us - because we wouldn't immediately annex them," Frederick said.

Hines agreed and said the bar has been raised.

"We now make the developers bring their building up to city standards - which are on par with the City of Tyler's," he said. "And while it's not always a popular decision with them, it's the right one for the taxpayers."

In other action, the city council:

! held a public hearing and approved an ordinance on the zoning of Artesian Meadows;

! heard from the Pecan Valley Property Owner's association on traffic enforcement in the area by Bullard Police Department;

! approved a measure to adopt a tax on tangible property in transit, which would otherwise be exempt;

! unanimously approved the reappointment of Danny Ray as municipal judge;

! approved the purchase of additional property for a new sewer package plant;

! authorized Morgan to get appraisal pricing on each tract of land in the vicinity of Hwy. 69 and FM 344 that would be affected by a proposed sewer extension to Rollingwood Hills subdivision;

! approved the final draft of the articles of incorporation for Bullard's Economic Development Corporation; and

! approved a partial payment to Landmark Structures for Bullard's elevated water storage tank.

Bullard City Council meets the second Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at city hall.

The public is welcome to attend.

For more information, call 903-894-7223.