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Copperas Cove leaders hear strong business, resident pushback at street-fee town halls
Summary
City staff said town halls on a proposed street maintenance utility show broad agreement streets need work but strong opposition—especially from businesses—over proposed commercial fees.
City Manager Ryan Havelot told the City of Copperas Cove City Council on Oct. 6 that the city has held multiple town halls on a proposed street maintenance utility and that public feedback shows streets need more investment but significant resistance to the proposed fees. "The overwhelming consensus is that for commercial, the rates that have been drafted and proposed are, not acceptable to the business community," Havelot said.
The matter matters because the council is weighing a recurring, utility-style fee to fund street upkeep. Havelot said staff has run town halls and met with civic groups; he noted the city’s Pavement Condition Index was 60 in 2022 and has declined since then. He said attendees understood that improving streets “takes resources, money,” but many business owners told staff the proposed commercial fee structure could force some small businesses to close or sell.
Havelot described outreach conducted by utility administration and public relations staff, including four town halls and individual meetings with civic groups. He said staff distributed proposed fee estimates by email to businesses for which the city had contact information and that the most recent meeting was standing-room-only and ran from 6 p.m. until about 9:15 p.m.
Council members who took part in the discussion thanked staff for holding the meetings and said they heard the concerns. Councilwoman Rita Hogan, the council’s liaison to the street maintenance committee, joined Havelot in commending staff and residents for civil dialogue. Mayor Burton said the council will consider the public comments when deciding on a next step.
City staff provided examples of alternate funding ideas that residents raised at the meetings — including use of gasoline-tax receipts or a vehicle-registration fee — but Havelot said those were suggestions from the public rather than council proposals. He told the council that commercial fee caps and how they scale across different business sizes were a frequent point of contention at the meetings.
Council members and staff did not take a formal vote on the street maintenance utility at the Oct. 6 meeting; Havelot and councilors described the session as part of ongoing community engagement and said further consideration will follow the public outreach process.
