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Sewer plant opponents protest in Lorena, Texas(Waco Tribune-Herald (TX) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sep. 3--Residents along Bull Hide Creek thronged to the Lorena City Council on Tuesday evening to protest that city's part in a regional effort to build a wastewater plant along their stream. Meanwhile, 12 miles away, the project moved ahead without opposition, as the Waco City Council quietly passed a $1 million engineering contract for the plant. More than 70 people showed up at Lorena City Hall, far more than the building could handle. Most stood in the parking lot while a handful spoke to the council, reiterating their objections and complaining that city officials would not place their concerns on the agenda. Emerging from the meeting, Bull Hide Creek resident Felipe Reyna gave a fiery speech to fellow opponents and the media. "I'm here to tell you that apparently the mayor, city council and city manager of Lorena have not read about our First Amendment rights," he said, adding that he was considering a federal lawsuit against Lorena for not putting the item on the agenda. "This is a violation of our constitutional right to petition for redress of grievances." Reyna, whose day job is state appeals court judge, blamed Lorena for sewer problems that have led the town of 1,700 to join the Waco Metropolitan Area Regional Sewer System in plans for a small plant at Bull Hide Creek. The plant also would serve part of the city of Hewitt and take the strain off the central regional plant on the Brazos River. "Why does Lorena have a sewer problem," Reyna asked rhetorically. "There's nothing wrong with the sewer plant in Lorena. The problem is there's not competent management of the sewer system. ... No one here knows how to operate a sewer system. The problem is human error." Officials with Lorena and the regional system disagreed, saying the Lorena plant is at the limit of its capacity. Lorena has a moratorium on new building permits and is under order by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to tie into the regional WMARSS system by February 2010. Hewitt also is considering a temporary moratorium on housing pending the construction of the Bull Hide Creek plant. The regional sewer system is a partnership among Waco and its suburbs and is administered by the city of Waco. On Tuesday, the Waco City Council awarded a $1 million engineering and design contract for the Bull Hide Creek plant to Lockwood, Andrews and Newnam of Waco. Lorena City Manager John Moran expressed surprise that the Bull Hide Creek plant opponents chose to protest in Lorena on Tuesday. "With the Waco City Council making a decision of that magnitude, why are they here and not there?" he said after the Lorena council meeting. Construction on the Bull Hide Creek plant isn't likely to begin until the regional system has a permit from the TCEQ. To get that permit, the applicant will have to go before state administrative judges for a contested case hearing and then get approval from the TCEQ's board. The commission will hold a public meeting on the project at 7 p.m. Sept. 18 at Lorena High School. Opponents of Bull Hide Creek sewer plant say it could foul the creek's waters and lower the property values of their homes. "It's the look, the smell and the property values," said Robert Michna Jr., whose family of five lives near the creek. "Me and my boys go and walk in it and swim in it. We won't do that any more if they build this." Reyna and other opponents suggested that Lorena should just expand its current sewer plant, and let the WMARSS system expand its central plant to handle Hewitt's needs. Questioned about the cost of such a proposal, Reyna responded, "My proposal is this: Stay away from Bull Hide Creek," he said. "You have a problem. It's not our problem. You solve it." Tom Ray, engineer for the project, said Lorena doesn't have enough land or money to expand the plant, and studies have shown that the satellite plant on Bull Hide Creek is the most cost-effective way to deal with sewer demand in southwest McLennan County. "The cost of Lorena doing an expansion here would be $1.5 million to $2 million more, plus operation and maintenance costs," he said. Moran said expanding the Lorena plant would increase Lorena's sewer bills from $30 a month to $75. He said the order by the TCEQ requires his city to join the WMARSS system. "That's our trump card," he said, pointing to the order. Moran and Ray stood outside after the meeting until dark, talking informally to media and Bull Hide Creek plant opponents. Meanwhile, back in Waco, the Waco City Council made several other big-ticket decisions Tuesday night, including a $3 million contract to Mazanec Construction to build the first phase of the Waco Mammoth Site project. The council also approved keeping the tax rate at 79 cents per $100 valuation. During an afternoon work session, the council heard a report on the Lake Waco Comprehensive Study, a $1.8 million study that concluded that the lake's algae problem cannot be cured without improving dairy waste disposal practices in the North Bosque River watershed. To see more of the Waco Tribune-Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.wacotrib.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Waco Tribune-Herald, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |