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Residents, conservation group urge Manor to protect Wilbarger Creek as wastewater siting continues to draw concern
Summary
Members of the Wilbarger Creek Conservation Alliance and neighbors urged the City of Manor to prioritize conservation of the Wilbarger Creek corridor and to reconsider proposed wastewater infrastructure near the creek, citing wildlife habitat, recreation potential and downstream impacts.
Members of the Wilbarger Creek Conservation Alliance and nearby residents told the City of Manor at its council meeting that the corridor along Wilbarger Creek is a regional natural asset that should be preserved and that proposed wastewater infrastructure near the creek could threaten that resource.
Conservation Alliance member John Beal said Wilbarger Creek “is beautiful, wild and unspoiled,” and described the area east of downtown Manor as habitat for species including beavers and river otters. He asked the council to weigh downstream effects when making development decisions.
Pamela Fowler Dickerson, who said her family has lived on Cottonwood Creek since 1939, told council members she and other residents received notices from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality about a proposed wastewater treatment plant and asked the city to consider alternate sites closer to Highway 290 and the developments it will serve. “We would like to invite you out to the park … and feel confident that together we can come up with a solution that will be a win‑win for the Manor community,” she said.
Anne Brokenbro, who described running a working ranch in the Manor extraterritorial jurisdiction, said the alliance and partners have preserved more than 2,000 contiguous acres along Wilbarger Creek and hope the area will eventually become a greenway and large regional park. She said county and land‑trust partners have funded much of the preservation.
During the public comment period, residents who identified professional experience with wastewater planning urged caution about siting treatment facilities near the creek. Tom West, who said he has worked as a mechanical engineer designing wastewater treatment plants, told council members that such facilities are “noisy” and “have a fair amount of heavy traffic,” and urged the city to explore other locations. A resident who said he manages industrial wastewater facilities reviewed permit capacities he had seen for upstream plants and warned that multiple discharges into the tributary could strain the system.
City staff acknowledged the community’s concern and said the matter will be discussed further with technical staff. No council vote or new policy was adopted during the meeting; the record shows public presentations and comments only.
What happens next: Alliance members asked to return to council with technical details at a future meeting and invited council members to visit preserved sites to see the corridor firsthand. Staff indicated the city will continue project discussions with developers and with regulatory agencies that review wastewater discharges.
