City Council Briefs

City denies Atmos rate hike

The Olney City Council denied Atmos Energy’s request to increase natural gas rates for local residents and other area cities who have retained an attorney to represent them in opposing the rate hike.

Mayor Rue Rogers noted that the City’s opposition “is more or less a formality” because the utility likely will receive permission from the Texas Public Utility Commission for the rate increase.

“We reject it, and then we deny it, and then then we accept then we get the increase, is how it ends up working but this is just to take formal action saying that we don’t accept the increase, but I don’t know if it really does anything,” he told the Council at their Jan. 27 meeting.

“Most of the cities in our area have also passed such a resolution and I believe that the more cities that do, the more strength it has,” he said.

Water plant update City officials were waiting to hear from engineers formulating plans to rebuild Olney’s century- old water treatment plant, a project that will cost “substantially less … than a brand-new water treatment plant,” City Administrator Simon Dwyer said at the Council’s Jan. 27 meeting.

Engineers and architects from Jacob | Martin toured and photographed the plant on Jan. 23 as part of their mission to design a plant that will last at least another 50 years, Mr. Dwyer said.

The oldest part of the water treatment plant was constructed in 1919, he said.

Monthly reports In December, Olney police reported 36 calls for service, 16 total arrests, 140 traffic warnings, 43 traffic citations, and 11 new open cases. Code enforcement tore down a dilapidated house on Grove Street, and is readying other properties for teardown, Olney Police Chief Dan Birbeck told the City Council on Jan. 27. Olney Police Detective Autumn Thames presented a case before the Young County grand jury that resulted in 16 indictments in a complex case involving child pornography, he said. The OPD also took delivery of its new police vehicles, which are now being fitted with police cameras, lights, radios, badging, and other technology, he said.

The Olney Public Works Department picked up 34 loads, including debris and tree limbs in December, Public Works Director Michael Jacoba said. The department also picked up 13 poly carts, dropped off 15 poly carts, cleared trash on Main Street three times throughout the month, plugged 17 water leaks, and patched 46 potholes until workers ran out of asphalt, he said. Workers mowed the cemeteries, and completed 157 water, sewer, streets, and parks work orders during the month, he said. The elevation at Lake Olney was 1,138 feet, or 80 percent, he said. The city reported 1,624 active water meters, Mr. Jacoba said.

The $13.5 million in bond revenue set aside for the construction of a water treatment plant earned $56,048.69 in December, bringing the bond proceeds plus interest to $13,971,650, City Secretary Tammy Hourigan told the Council at its Jan. 27 meeting. The City hired two new clerks for its front office - Ashlynn Price who formerly worked at Olney Floral Design, and Kimber Marek, who has a banking background and formerly worked in Archer County for the Assessor’s Office, Ms. Hourigan said.

The City of Olney’s ad valorem taxes are “doing very, very well” so far this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, 2024, and are outpacing projections, City Administrator Simon Dwyer told the Council at their Jan. 27 meeting.

“Revenues are projected to do very, very well based on … ad valorem taxes.” Mr. Dwyer said he budgeted $1.2885 million based on five-year projections and data from the Young County Appraisal District. “As of today, we are already at $937,000 so we are almost already at my target and we still have quite a bit of tax to still collect through the ad valorem system.”

He noted that city departments are spending less relative to the 2024 fiscal year. “We are getting more revenue and we’re spending less than anticipated so we’re in a tremendous position. The City Sales and Use Tax Allocation Payments have risen from $405,417 in 2021 to $509,529 in 2024, a City report shows.