Waco City Council authorizes Lake Waco phosphorus study, approves street renaming, youth-program standards and park namings
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Summary
At its May 6 meeting the Waco City Council approved hiring outside counsel and an expert on phosphorus-reduction for Lake Waco, adopted youth-program standards, approved a street-name change, authorized property acquisitions for water and sewer work, and approved names for a new park and its amenities.
WACO, Texas — The Waco City Council on May 6 approved several measures addressing water quality, parks and naming, infrastructure acquisitions and routine land-use matters.
The council voted to authorize the city manager and city attorney to retain outside counsel Beverage & Diamond, P.C., and an outside expert to provide advice on “phosphorus reducing mechanisms in watershed into Lake Waco” at an amount not to exceed $325,000 and to execute any documents necessary to effectuate the hire. An unidentified councilmember made the motion; the council then polled and recorded affirmative votes from Fairfield, Rodriguez, Porter Root, Ewing, Chase and Mayor Jim Holmes. Assistant City Secretary Spikes conducted the roll call. The motion passed.
The vote follows an executive-session item posted for possible council action. The motion’s text, as read into the public record, authorized the city to “hire and retain outside council Beverage and Diamond, P. C. [and] an expert to provide advice and recommendations for City Council regarding phosphorus reducing mechanisms in watershed into Lake Waco at an amount not to exceed 325,000 and execute any necessary documents and agreements to effectuate this authority.”
Why it matters: phosphorus loads in Lake Waco affect water quality and downstream uses. The council’s authorization funds legal and technical assistance to examine options; the council did not adopt a specific treatment or construction plan at the meeting.
Other council actions
- Street-name change: The council approved an ordinance to change a portion of 20 Ninth Street (between Clay Avenue and Dutton Avenue) to Ernesto Fraga Street following a public hearing and a plan-commission recommendation. The motion to approve passed on a recorded vote with Fairfield, Rodriguez, Porter Root, Ewing, Chase and Holmes indicating yes.
- Youth-program standards: The council adopted the city’s annual standards of care for youth programs operated by the Parks and Recreation Department, the Cameron Park Zoo and the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, as required under state law (Texas Human Resources Code section 42.0041(b)(14)). Revisions for the upcoming year add the Bledsoe Miller STEAM Center as a program location; the ordinance requires the city to notify parents that the programs are exempt from state childcare licensing. The council approved the ordinance on a recorded vote with the same affirmative responses recorded above.
- Property acquisition for water/waste pipelines (Resolution 2025-319): The council approved a resolution authorizing acquisition — including the use of eminent domain if necessary — of 0.604 acres of permanent land and 0.857 acres of temporary construction easements for water and sewer pipelines generally between 4301 and 5500 Franklin Avenue. The resolution says the work is to place, construct, operate and maintain pipelines and related appurtenances in advance of Texas Department of Transportation improvements to Spur 298 (Franklin Avenue). The motion passed on a recorded vote.
- Park and amenity namings (Resolution 2025-302): The council approved a multi-part resolution naming the new park and several features within the former Floyd Casey area. Approved names include Alice Martinez Rodriguez Park; Gilbert Sanchez Senior Track and Field; Pauline Maldonado Chavez Inclusive Playground; Leonardo Montelongo Senior Pavilion; Manuel Gonzalez Fuente (La Libertad) fountain; and Puente De Jesus De Leon pedestrian bridge. Councilmembers described the action as implementing task-force recommendations to recognize Hispanic community leaders; a councilmember also noted the inclusive park addresses a prior gap in city facilities. The resolution passed on a recorded vote.
- Developer participation agreement (Ordinance, first reading): On first reading the council approved an amendment (No. 2) to a developer participation agreement with WBW Single Development Group LLC (series 137) for Village Lake sanitary sewer basin work tied to the Eagles Landing addition. The amendment upsized wastewater facilities and increases the city’s total contribution by $68,998.92 to a maximum of $611,474.02; the city will pay up to 40% of that total monthly as provided in the ordinance. The first-reading motion carried on a recorded vote.
- Rezoning (Ordinance, second reading): The council held second reading and approved a zoning-map amendment to reclassify the property at 2200 Mistletoe Avenue from R-2 to R-3. The motion to adopt on second reading passed on a recorded vote.
What the council did not do: The council’s votes authorized hires, ordinances and resolutions; the meeting record contains no final project contracts, construction approvals, or engineering designs for the phosphorus work or the Franklin Avenue pipeline relocations. Staff or later council action will be required to implement most of the funded or authorized steps discussed.
Next steps: Several items will proceed to implementation or further administrative steps: staff may execute retention agreements for the outside counsel and expert for Lake Waco; the city manager is authorized to execute documents related to the park namings and property acquisitions; the developer-agreement amendment will return for additional readings as required; and staff will administer the newly adopted youth-program standards and notify parents per state law. The council scheduled additional discussion at a special meeting next week on related naming tasks.
