Weatherford Municipal Utility Board Regular Session – May 29, 2025

The Weatherford Municipal Utility Board met in regular session on May 29, 2025, at Weatherford City Hall. Board members approved the prior meeting minutes, approved consent agenda items, authorized a Northeast Water Improvements design contract, and received an emergency pipeline repair recognition and a water system update. Public comment urged continued funding for the Lake Weatherford Trail.

Presentations & Proclamations

• Staff Recognition: Emergency Raw Water Pipeline Repair. Water Utilities Director Rick Shaffer introduced operations staff and reported that plant operators detected a loss of about 5,000 gallons per minute between the Lake Weatherford intake and the water treatment plant.
• The failure was an approximately 6-inch by 8-inch oblong hole in a pipe buried about 13 feet below the surface, located near a previous repair more than 30 years old; corrosion was the suspected cause.
• Crews excavated to about 18 feet, and welders completed repairs around 1:30 a.m. after installing a 12-inch band around the pipe. Customers were unaffected apart from a Facebook post asking customers to be mindful of water usage.
• Shaffer said the ongoing plant expansion will add a second pipeline into the treatment plant, eliminating the single point of failure.

Consent Calendar

• Approved the minutes of the April 24, 2025, Municipal Utility Board meeting.
• Approved consent agenda item 6a, authorizing expenditure to renew the annual support contract and monthly services for the outage management system (OMS) and related technologies, totaling $97,350.
• Approved consent agenda item 6b, authorizing the City Manager to execute a pole attachment agreement with AMG Technology Investment Group, LLC, dba Nextlink Internet.
• Approved consent agenda item 6c, authorizing procurement of equipment maintenance and repair services from Legacy Contracting LP, dba Control Specialist Services LP, through an interlocal agreement with the City of Midlothian, in an amount not to exceed $75,000.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Larry Colvin, 819 South Alamo, president of the Weatherford Mountain Bike Club, read a letter endorsing the Lake Weatherford Trail.
• Colvin said the club, a Texas 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has worked with the City of Weatherford since 2006 to build and maintain soft-surface trails at Quanta Hill and maintains 20 miles of single-track trails on about 300 acres in Weatherford, Willow Park, and Alita.
• He expressed support for the Lake Weatherford Trail as part of the proposed East Parker County Trail, also called the Epcock Trail, a 26-mile bikeway connecting trailheads, and encouraged the city to move forward with funding for the Lake Weatherford Trail.

Discussion Items

• Northeast Water Improvements Design Contract: Staff requested authorization for a professional services contract with Teague, Nall, and Perkins, not to exceed $237,100. Public Works Assistant Director Bill Smith said the project will replace water lines along Elm Street, Brush Street, and 4th and 5th Streets, and upgrade a transmission line section from 18-inch to 24-inch pipe.
• Smith said design is expected to take about eight months, construction about six months, with completion around September 2026. Funding is allocated in water utility rate revenue, and a construction contract is expected in February.
• Water System Update: Rick Shaffer reported year-to-date rainfall is about 107% of normal, with no significant drought conditions in Parker County, while West Texas remains in drought.
• Shaffer said Lake Weatherford has risen about two feet in the past month and is at just under elevation 893, about 81% capacity. He projected no need to purchase or pump water from Lake Benbrook this fiscal year, though the city may run one Benbrook pump in August or September to use tier-one free water.
• In response to board questions, Shaffer explained the projection charts incorporate reclaimed water from the water reclamation facility and lagoon site, and model Benbrook pumping in scenarios where the lake drops to 888.

Future Agenda Items

• Staff noted a letter regarding the April 26 Take Back Meds event, the 21st such event, which collected over 500 pounds of unused medicine.

Key Outcomes

• The board appointed Zack Smith temporary chair for the day because the chair and vice chair were absent.
• The board approved the April 24, 2025, minutes and the consent agenda as a body.
• The board authorized the City Manager to execute the Teague, Nall, and Perkins design contract for the Northeast Water Improvements project.
• No formal votes were taken on the water system update or public comment. The meeting adjourned at 12:27 p.m.