Breckenridge Texan

By Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan

It was standing room only at Tuesday night’s Breckenridge City Commission meeting as citizens showed up to voice their opinions about recent water problems in their neighborhood and about the ongoing animal control problems in the community. Others were in attendance to show support for Breckenridge Police Department members who were honored at the meeting.

With all of the seats filled, attendees stood in the foyer of the City Commission Chambers, while others waited in the hallway and in the office of the city manager’s assistant.

The meeting opened with Sam Chambers, pastor at First Methodist Church of Breckenridge, leading the crowd in a deep-breathing exercise before she prayed for peace and love.

Water Problems

In the public comment portion of the meeting, Leslie Howk read a prepared statement that had been signed by neighbors in the Cactus Cove area of Breckenridge on the northwest side of town.

A water line break in the area led to water outages for the neighborhood for most of the weekend.

Leslie Howk spoke at the Aug. 6 City Commission meeting on behalf of the neighbors living in the Cactus Cove area in northwest Breckenridge regarding recent water supply problems in that area. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

“The water situation in Breckenridge, or should I say the lack of at times, is getting out of hand,” Howk said. “It is totally unacceptable to be without water for days at a time just because we’re waiting on parts. We’ve known that our water lines are old and subject to breakage, and when we know that, why aren’t we keeping these parts on hand instead of making people wait for days before the before the problems get fixed?

“The Cactus Cove area has been without water at least three times in the last month. Babies need water to mix their formula. Lack of water becomes a health hazard for, say, one of my neighbors who recently had surgery; they really needed to keep their body clean. It’s kind of hard without being able to take a shower,” she continued. “I personally buy water, bottled water, to drink. But for those that don’t, it’s unhealthy to go without water for a long period of time. And you may be saying, well, ‘Why don’t you just go buy some water?’ Well, there’s people in the apartments that don’t have vehicles. They walk wherever they go. They walk to Walmart, carrying about two grocery sacks at a time. They can’t carry the water that they would have needed, and besides that, they’re on a limited budget.”

Howk suggested that the City should focus on major problems, like the water system, rather than less vital things. “We’re worried about housing, facelifts in the downtown area, recreation, pickleball courts, sand volleyball, new playgrounds, etc. And don’t get me wrong, these are wonderful, and I’m glad we have them. I know we need it to attract new businesses, but if we can’t provide the very essential basics of life on a regular basis, who would want to move here?” she said. “I’m sure there’s some things that I don’t understand when it comes to the budget and city government, etc., but maybe it’s time that we step back and take a long, hard look at what’s not working and how it can be changed.”

“For those in the Cactus Cove area, we want to applaud the workers who worked countless hours in the heat, and many of those into the night and gave up weekends with their families, to make sure that we had water up and running. But Breckenridge leaders, whoever’s in charge, gotta do better,” Howk said to the city commissioners.

Breckenridge resident Marvin Chaney also spoke to the commission about the water problem. “Why can’t y’all warn us that the water’s gonna be off?” he asked. “Nobody warned us. If you’d have warned us, we could at least filled up water in the bathtub and flushed.”

Breckenridge resident Marvin Chaney said he offered to go to Abilene to pick up parts needed to repair broken water lines when water was shut off sporadically to a neighborhood over the weekend, Aug. 2-5. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Chaney also said that he had been told that one of the problems was a part that the City couldn’t get until Monday. He said that he checked with a parts company in Abilene that sells to municipalities in the area and found out that the City of Breckenridge has an account with them. “I told (Mayor) Bob Sims, I’d go pick the parts up,” he said.

In her city manager’s report, Cynthia Northrop addressed the topic, first praising the City staff members who worked over the weekend on the water line repairs. She said that the problem started back in June with leaks in a fire hydrants in the area. When the water was turned off to the fire hydrants, it created too much pressure in the rest of the water lines and created more leaks.

“So it is resolved now, and it’s repaired; it’s done, and the pressure has been checked,” Northrop said. The Boil Water Notice that had been issued on Aug. 2 was lifted on Aug. 6.

The Cactus Cove area residents vehemently disagreed with Northrop’s timeline of when the water was turned off and on in the area over the weekend.

Northrop said the City has a plan to invest almost $7 million through the Texas Water Development Board projects, updating the water system. “There’s still a lot more to do, but there is a plan to do that,” she said. “So we do understand that it is a hardship. We do have our folks working very hard to make sure that we’ve got water out there.”

Also related to the City’s water department, the commissioners approved the first reading of changes to the Schedule of Fees. The changes include slight increases to the water and sewer fees that the City charges. The proposed Schedule of Fees can be seen in the meeting’s agenda, pages 127-135, with the changes listed in red. Commissioner Greg Akers voted against the changes.

Breckenridge Police Department

Breckenridge Police Captain Jay Walker, center, was presented with the Employee of the Month award by Police Chief Blake Johnson at the Aug. 6 City Commission meeting. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

BPD Capt. Jay Walker was honored as the City of Breckenridge’s Employee of the Month at the meeting. In presenting Walker with the award, Police Chief Blake Johnson recounted a recent case that the captain worked on, which resulted in the arrest of a burglary suspect. Based on Walker’s continued investigation, additional evidence was discovered and the suspect was linked to cases in other counties, potentially solving several other crimes, Johnson said.

“Turns out, he was a guy that was supporting … a meth habit through his burglaries, extensive amount of burglaries,” Johnson said. “Even while we were going through the process, he was still hitting houses. So getting him off the street was a huge (benefit) to our community. So like I said, this month, I’m privileged to award Captain Walker with the Employee of the Month for the City of Breckenridge.”

Also during the meeting, Heath Oakley was sworn in as a new officer for BPD. Oakley, a 2017 graduate of Breckenridge High School, previously worked as a police officer in Comanche and Brownwood. In 2022, Oakley was featured in Abilene TV news stories after he rescued a man and three dogs from a fire in Comanche. Click here to read the Breckenridge Texan’s article about the incident.

Additionally, Tuesday night, Johnson presented BPD Officer Drew Boggs with a Life Saving medal for his actions on May 15, when he rescued BPD Sgt. Noah Gray after a wreck involving the suspect in a high-speed chase. Click here to read the Breckenridge Texan’s story about Boggs’ award.

Breckenridge City Secretary Jessica Sutter swears in new police officer Heath Oakley. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Animal Control

The City Commission meeting included an extensive discussion about the animal control situation in Breckenridge. Kathy O’Shields, president of the Stephens County Humane Society, and the police chief spoke about the recent incident involving a cat that was left at Lake Daniel by City employees. Additionally, several other people, including a City Commissioner, spoke about the overall situation.

Click here to read the Breckenridge Texan’s article about that portion of the meeting.

City Budget

Northrop gave a presentation regarding the 2024-25 budget for the City of Breckenridge. There was no action necessary on the proposed budget. Although the proposed budget has not yet been posted on the City’s website, Northrop’s presentation can be seen in the agenda for the meeting (pages 77-106) as well as in the video of the meeting, when it is posted on the City’s YouTube page.

The commissioners approved a Public Hearing to consider the 2024-25 proposed budget on Sept. 3 and a Public Hearing on the proposed tax rate on Aug. 27.

Additionally, the commissioners approved a resolution accepting the 2024 Certified Appraisal roll.

Breckenridge Economic Development Corporation

JB Sparks

At the request of JB Sparks, who was representing the Breckenridge Economic Development Corporation’s Downtown Development Committee, the commissioners agreed to share the cost of a part-time contractor who cleans the downtown area.

The position was created two years ago and has been funded by the BEDC. Now, the City will pay half of the salary to continue the position.

The commission also considered a proposal by BEDC Director David Miller that would have allowed the BEDC to purchase land owned by the Shackelford County Community Resource Center for a planned project involving a hotel developer. However, the agenda item was incorrectly worded, and the commissioners were not allowed to vote on the proposal.

BEDC Director David Miller talks to the City Commission about plans to buy a piece of land from the Shackelford County Community Resource Center. The item was tabled because the wording was incorrect, and it could not be voted on. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Codes of Ethics

Northrop presented a Code of Ethics for the City Commission, which she said is standard for most cities. Additionally, she presented an updated Code of Ethics for the City’s employees.

Before the commissioners could vote on the agenda items, Commissioner Greg Akers requested that the items be tabled until the next meeting so that they could be put on the agenda as Executive Session items to be discussed with City Attorney Eileen Hayman.

The Codes of Ethics may be seen in the meeting’s agenda, pages 48-53 for the Commission’s Code of Ethics and pages 56-65 for the Employee Code of Ethics.

July Employee of the Month

At the July 2 City Commission meeting, Christi Tidrow was honored as the employee of the month. She is the secretary for the Breckenridge Fire Department and the permit clerk.

Christi Tidrow was presented with the Employee of the Month award by Fire Chief Malcolm Bufkin at the July City Commission meeting. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Cutline, top photo: The crowd attending the Aug. 6 Breckenridge City Commission meeting overflowed into the foyer and city offices. Several people were there regarding problems with the water system in their neighborhood, while others were concerned with the animal control situation in the community. Other residents attended for other items on the agenda. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)