Water for Clyde

The Clyde City Council announced during its March 27^th meeting that it had entered into an option contract with Joe and Marc Walraven for surface water rights from Lake Fort Phantom Hill. This announcement is the culmination of almost a year of negotiations between the City and the water broker representing Joe and Marc Walraven. The total purchase is for 2500 acre-feet, or 814,627,500 gallons. An acre-foot is a unit of volume commonly used in the United States in reference to large-scale water resources, such as reservoirs, aqueducts, canals, sewer flow capacity, and river flows. One acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons. Ownership of 2500 acre feet means that the City may take 2500 acre feet of water from Lake Fort Phantom Hill each year. Water rights do not expire.

In April 2011, the City Council received a report from the engineering firm of Jacob and Martin that outlined the City’s options for securing a dependable water supply for the City’s future. At that time, the top three options were: securing a groundwater source, wastewater reuse and continuing to purchase treated water from the City of Abilene. The option of acquiring surface water rights from Lake Fort Phantom Hill was not considered, as the water rights were not available at that time.

In May of 2011 Clyde’s City engineer, Ken Martin, alerted the City to the potential of purchasing water from Lake Fort Phantom Hill and the City began discussions with the sellers’ broker, the City’s attorneys and financial advisors. The water source study showed the City would need 338,000,000 gallons of water a year by 2060 to cover all of its existing contractual commitments. With the proposed purchase, the City will exceed all of its water commitments well beyond 2060 and still be able to market approximately 1000 acre feet for sale.

The water rights the City is purchasing are the most senior water rights at Lake Fort Phantom Hill. In Texas, water rights are based on when the rights were secured, with the oldest rights securing the first water out of the lake. In other words, if only 2500 acre-feet are available from the lake, the water belongs to the City of Clyde. The City will be purchasing the 1928 water rights permit issued to West Texas Utilities for industrial use. The permit will have to be changed from industrial to municipal use by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

The City is agreeing to pay $3700 per acre-foot for 2500 acre-feet of water and $114 per acre-foot for 6500 acre-feet of impoundment rights. The total cost of the water is $9,991,000. In order to bring the cost down, the City has already begun discussing selling some of the water rights to other communities in the area who are in need of a secure water source. In addition, the City has also been discussing the possibility of selling treated water to new wholesale customers. The combination of savings from producing its own water, selling some of the water rights and adding new wholesale customers will allow the City to acquire the new water rights and keep rates within the existing structure.

The purchase of the water is the first step, as the City will also have to construct a pipeline from Lake Fort Phantom Hill and make some improvements to the water treatment plant. The pipeline and plant projects will cost an estimated $7 million and take 12 to 24 months to complete. Once the purchase and the improvements are completed, the $2 surcharge currently in place to cover additional water costs associated with buying water from Abilene will go away as Clyde will begin treating its own water again.

In recent months, the City of Abilene and the City of Clyde have been working together to complete this purchase. In March, Clyde had to move forward alone to complete the purchase. As our plans become clearer in the coming weeks, we hope to once again work with Abilene towards a water purchase that will benefit both parties.

 

Destination: Clyde

In 2011, Dean Runyan Associates prepared a study for the Office of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism. The purpose of the study was to document the economic significance of the travel industry in Texas from 1990 to 2010. The findings of the study show the level of travel spending by visitors traveling to and within the state, and the impact this spending had on the economy in terms of earnings, employment, and tax revenue.

As stated in the report: The multi-billion dollar travel industry in Texas is a vital part of the state and local economies. The industry is represented primarily by retail and service firms, including lodging establishments, restaurants, retail stores, gasoline service stations, and other types of businesses that sell their products and services to travelers. The money that visitors spend on various goods and services while in Texas produces business receipts at these firms, which in turn, employ Texas residents and pay their wages and salaries. State and local government units benefit from travel as well, primarily in the form of excise taxes on the goods and services purchased by visitors.

Read the full report HERE

Since Clyde America is not currently a popular tourist destination, you might be wondering what this has to do with us at all…. and I am glad you asked.  In our district alone (District 53 at the time of this study), from 2002 to 2010, travel and tourism supported 4900 jobs, generated $280M in spending, $4.8M in tax dollars and $16M in state revenue. That’s “M” for millions!  If you noticed above, it states that the “industry is represented primarily by retail and service firms, including lodging establishments, restaurants, retail stores, gasoline service stations, and other types of businesses that sell their products and services to travelers”.  Clyde may not have any ‘lodging establishments’ at this point in time, but we do have restaurants, retail stores, service firms, gas stations and service stations. Clyde also happens to be located on one of Texas’ most-travelled interstate highways.  Travel and tourism is very important to the City of Clyde and to our entire region.

Thousands of travelers pass through our city limits every single day. Let’s list some of the reasons they will stop in Clyde:

-       get gas

-       use the restroom

-       eat a meal

-       visit a friend or family member

-       attend a school sporting event

Clyde has generated revenue from these types of stops for a very long time, primarily due to our fortunate location on I-20.  We do have opportunities though to capture more travelers. For example: by offering good deals that might not be had in Abilene, Blake Fulenwider is able to draw folks out to Clyde.  By offering unique, quality, handmade products, Phil Mintz at Happy Trails is drawing folks to Clyde from across the region.  Smith & Son, Bonterra Blu, Hawk Portable Buildings, and Feathered Star all also offer products and services that appeal to the greater Big Country and beyond.  Specific retail goods and services can very quickly develop a loyal following that will continue to enhance our local economy.

Why do people travel though?  They travel for business and they travel for FUN! They travel to visit historic sites and to attend festivals and participate in celebrations. They travel to relax, to camp, to swim, to shop, to be anywhere but work.  What else does Clyde  (or could Clyde) offer that has the potential to generate “tourism dollars”? We already have a few events in place that draw small crowds from the surrounding areas:

-       July 4^th Lake Fest

-       Pecan Fest

-       Hallelujah Night

-       Lions Club Weekend Basketball Tournament

We have seen these events grow in our own community, and with only a little creative development and a little more advertising, these events have the potential to grow into “destination events.”

Have you ever been out to Clyde Lake after dark? Amateur astronomers would certainly be impressed with what the night sky over Clyde Lake has to offer.  The Bankhead Highway – which runs straight through Clyde – will celebrate its 100^th Anniversary in a couple of years.  That is an historic route that people (tourists!) are interested in. How are we planning to capture their attention as they retrace this route through Clyde?  Bus-trips head west from the DFW area regularly filled with visitors to Texas who want to see “real cowboys”. We have those. Did you know that the City of Mineral Wells has turned the ‘borrow pit’ of a former landfill into a Fossil Park that attracts hundreds of visitors every month? Even though admission to the park is free, those visitors will likely stay for a meal or fill up their cars with gas in Mineral Wells. Those are “tourism dollars” and tourism dollars equal economic development.

Clyde America is a community rich in history, creativity, and entrepreneurialism.  If you can imagine Clyde America as a “destination,” others will see it too.  If you would like to continue this conversation, your ideas would look great in my inbox- estallings@clydeamerica.com

Water Sense

Fix-A-Leak Week is coming up March 12^th to the 18^th. This may seem to be a silly thing to get its own week, but every month the City of Clyde gets calls from water customers shocked at a water bill that has gone from 6,000 gallons to 30,000 gallons in one month. In the last 60 days one residential customer had a bill that exceeded 100,000 gallons because of a leak. Something as simple as an unseated flapper valve in a toilet tank can result in a 20,000 gallon hit to your water bill over the course of a month. A dripping faucet can add up to 10,000 gallons to a water bill. A service line leak adds up fast and, if left unattended, can exceed 500,000 gallons in a month. A 1999 study by the American Water Works Association found that leaks accounted for 13.7% of all domestic water use. For Clyde, that would equal roughly 17.5 million gallons of water a year lost due to leaks.

While leaks are the focus of Fix-A-Leak Week, we can all take steps to reduce our water consumption. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has a drought survival kit and the Texas Water Development Board has a Water IQ guide.

Some of the tips for reducing water use (and water bills) from the TPWD site are:

Inside

• Check your home for leaks: read your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, there is a leak. Repair all leaks ASAP!
• Avoid flushing the toilet unnecessarily by disposing of tissues and other waste into the trash can.
• Take shorter showers and consider buying an ultra-low-flow showerhead.
• Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth or washing your face.
• Store drinking water in the refrigerator rather than letting the tap run every time you want a glass of water.
• Operate automatic dishwashers and clothes washers only when they are fully loaded.
• Start a compost pile as an alternate method of disposing food waste rather than using a garbage disposal.
• Consider installing an instant water heater on your kitchen sink so you don’t have to let the water run while it heats up.
• Defrost frozen food in the refrigerator or in the microwave instead of running water over it.
• Use phosphate-free detergents.
• Choose natural cleansers – borax, ammonia, vinegar, or baking soda.
• Recycle water from your fish tank by using it to water plants. Fish emulsion is a good, inexpensive fertilizer high in nitrogen and phosphorus.

Outside

• Use a broom rather than a hose to clean sidewalks and driveways.
• Use a moisture indicator to tell when your lawn needs watering and when it does not.
• Raise the lawn mower blade to at least three inches. A lawn cut higher encourages grass roots to grow deeper, shades the root system and holds soil moisture better than a closely-clipped lawn.
• Plant native and/or drought tolerant grasses, ground covers, shrubs and trees.
• For swimming pools, consider buying a cover to reduce evaporation and a water-saving pool filter.

Hopefully, these tips and the websites will help us all use less water in the future.

Going Green

Even though it is still only February, a unseasonably warm and wet January seems to have fooled many of our lawns into thinking spring has arrived. Throughout Abilene, Clyde, Baird and surrounding areas, the grass is already greener and thicker than it was for much of 2011. Just this week I noticed a few bright yellow dandelions winking at me from across the yard. While the air still feels a little cool for a backyard BBQ, I can’t help but wonder if there is a way for me to encourage and maintain the apparent good health of my lawn through the coming spring, and inevitably another hot, dry summer. What can I be doing now to get ready?

Fortunately, Clyde America happens to be the home of some very knowledgable and experienced gardeners and landscapers. On March 3rd, Clyde, Texas, Inc. will be hosting a Gardening Forum for:

- anyone who wants to learn how to start a garden

- anyone wanting to hone their gardening skills

- anyone wondering how to manage an already successful garden or landscape despite extreme drought conditions

Clyde resident, Terry Coffman, will be speaking. Mr. Coffman has been a landscaper gardener at ACU for the past three years. He is a member of the Big Country Master Gardeners Association, a certified Texas landscape irrigation auditor, and a home gardener for 35 years.  Topics of discussion will include:

- maintenance of trees, shrubs and perennials

- composting

- vegetable gardening

- soil amendment

- water conservation

The Gardening Forum will be held at Callahan Hall, at 209 South 1st Street from 8:30-11:30am. The cost of $5/person will include refreshments, a question and answer time, and a take-home gardening booklet.

For questions about this event or other Clyde, Texas, Inc, activities please contact Leilani Smith by email at leilanica60@yahoo.com

Update: Economic Development

Next Wednesday brings the opening of Resource Care’s new Clyde clinic. The 7500 square foot facility is the newest of Resource Care’s five medical clinics in Callahan, Shackleford and Stephens Counties. In July 2010 the City, through the EDC, invested $170,000 for the the purchase of a two acre tract of land east of the I-20 and Cherry Lane intersection. That investment in Resource Care has created 28 new medical jobs in Clyde. When the clinic opens there will be 3 full time doctors and a licensed counselor serving the needs of Clyde and the surrounding area in a full service medical clinic that will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Even as the clinic opens there are plans to expand the services with two new full-time dentists coming to the facility later this year. Resource Care is also working on the development of an after-school program for Kindergarten through 6th grade students.

Chicken Express also opens in February in the old Dairy Queen. McDonald’s is still on its way. According to their real estate personnel, there are still franchisee issues to be resolved, but they are committed to building in Clyde.

The EDC is set to meet on February 6th and they will be taking a first step forward with the goals of attracting new full-service restaurants, a motel and an outfitter to Clyde. The Retail Coach, the firm that put together Clyde’s demographic and retail leakage study two years ago, will build on its previous work to develop packets for retail and restaurant attraction. There are also two firms that have submitted proposals to conduct feasibility studies for a motel development and the EDC will review their proposals.

Economic development efforts in Clyde benefit everyone. As Clyde grows, additional resources are created for improvement of social and professional services, quality of life projects, and increased average incomes. If you have any questions or ideas you would like to discuss with the Clyde EDC, please contact us HERE.

 

Dear Village, It’s going to Take YOU

One of the City Council’s on-going goals is to provide opportunities for the youth of the community to be engaged in the life of the community beyond the school walls. The process began in November and continued Tuesday night, January 17th. In November representatives from the City, School District, churches and the community met with selected student leaders to begin a dialogue about Clyde and what our youth see as their needs in Clyde. Tuesday night 21 interested students and adults took the next step and began developing the program elements recommended in November. After a brief recap of what occurred during the first meeting, the participants broke into small groups and went to work. The four areas covered were: volunteer opportunities, tutoring programs, job shadowing and mentoring programs.

The VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES work group developed a to do list that included safety and organizational recommendations such as:

• Participants need to be students in Junior High and/or High School
• Adult supervision must be on site throughout all projects
• Saturday mornings most likely time for events
• Safety guidelines must be developed

and programming recommendations such as:

• Assist with household maintenance at the homes of senior citizens and single parents
• Assist with tutoring program

The work group tasked with TUTORING PROGRAMS added more volunteer opportunities for both youths and adults. Their immediate research efforts will include

• Compiling a database of available tutors and subjects
• Contacting area universities for inclusion in potential service projects
• Developing a publicity effort to find tutors and inform people about the program
• It was noted during the discussion that the PALS program in the schools could provide the tutoring group with a model for setting up the program.

The JOB SHADOW group looked at the logistics of developing a program to match students with adults willing to share a day or more of their time to show the student(s) what their job really is. Issues such as how to match the students with the right businesses, how to promote the program and the need to work through the School District were all part of this group’s considerations.

The MENTORING group looked at the complexities of developing a mentoring program. Students told us back in November that they were interested in building relationships with adults. They asked for opportunies to connect with positive role models. This is a program that could be very beneficial to our students as well as our adult community; one that could allow students to be mentored and train as mentors themselves.

This program is still in the developmental stages and if you haven’t been to a meeting, yet, please come to the next one. We will post meetings here on the website and on Facebook. As you can see from the brief descriptions of the work done by the four groups Tuesday night, there will be plenty of volunteer opportunities. Please take advantage of these chances to impact the youth of Clyde and the community.

If you have any questions or want any additional information, please contact me, Roger Nelson, HERE or Erica Stallings HERE.

City Council Goals 2012

In December of 2009 the Council went through its first goal setting session and  established 7 Goals and 23 Objectives. Some goals, such as securing the City’s long-term water supply, were multi-part, multi-year goals. Others, such as reviewing the zoning ordinance, were projects with early completion dates. In January of 2011 the Council reviewed the goals, removed the completed objectives and put 2 more on the list. Of the 25 objectives set by Council in 2009, 8 have been completed and another 10 are either nearing completion or have become a part of the City’s ongoing operations, 2 were put on hold pending the results of other goals and 5 are still left undone.

Since the initial set of goals are mostly exhausted, the Council went through the process of setting new goals Tuesday night, rather than just updating the existing list. The goals of securing Clyde’s long-term water supply and expanding the tax base were considered essential and placed on the 2012 goals list without further consideration. After paring the list of suggested goals down to 25 items the Council scored the remaining items and five new goals were selected. The new goals are:

1. Develop a Parks Master Plan. There were 25 items scored by Council as they considered their goals, 14 of these items relate directly to the Parks Master Plan. The master Plan itself will be another set of goals for the Council, or a Parks Board, to consider in future years.
2. Build Community Activities Center. While a likely component of a Parks Master Plan, this item was very popular with the Council and scored out just one point under the Master Plan.
3. Improve Emergency Warning System. This will look at the outdoor warning system as well as the potential of adding an automated system like Code Red to call and alert citizens of emergency situations.
4. Rehabilitate the Downtown Area. The Council discussed sidewalks, lighting and facades as a part of this project.
5. History Museum. The Council discussed the need to secure a site for a local history museum.

Some of these items fold right in with the EDC’s goals and over the next month we’ll be working to blend the two together. The discussion Tuesday night set a list for the City to begin to pursue, but there are no set answers about how to get from this list to facilities on the ground. That will be the work that fills the next few years. The Parks Master Plan process, building a community center, rehabilitating the downtown and establishing a history museum will require input and assistance from every citizen or friend of Clyde that is willing to help move the projects forward. If you are interested in assisting with any of these things, please let me know, I can be reached via e-mail HERE.

 

Canine Distemper

Last week the City’s Animal Control Department sent a fox for testing for both rabies and canine distemper. This was done after a series of foxes and a raccoon were euthanized by Animal Control Officers, due to their erratic behavior. The symptoms of both distemper and rabies are very similar. Fortunately, the tests came back negative for rabies, which is dangerous for animals and humans. The tests did come back positive for canine distemper.

Distemper is highly contagious, but affects only a limited number of species, including dogs, skunks, foxes, coyotes, jackals, wolves, raccoons, weasels, minks, badgers, otters, ferrets, bobcats and mountain lions. Obviously, most of the species on the list are not typical domesticated pets and our concern is dogs.

Inhaling the virus is the most common manner of transmission; however, the infected animal sheds the virus through all body secretions. The first signs of distemper vary depending on the time since exposure. The fist signs come after six to nine days with a fever spike of up to 105°. Within a few days, the eye and nasal discharge becomes thick, yellow, and sticky. The dog develops a pronounced dry cough. Pus blisters may appear on the abdomen. Vomiting and diarrhea are frequent and may cause severe dehydration.

The second stage occurs two to three weeks after the onset of the disease. Many dogs develop signs of brain involvement (encephalitis), characterized by brief attacks of slobbering, head shaking, and chewing movements of the jaws (as if the dog were chewing gum). Epileptic-like seizures may occur, in which the dog runs in circles, falls over, and kicks all four feet wildly. After the convulsive episode the dog appears to be confused, shies away from his owner, wanders about aimlessly, and appears to be blind.

Like rabies, distemper can be treated with a vaccine. If your dog’s vaccines are out of date, please either go to your vet and get a booster or go to the feed store as they carry the vaccine.

Much of the information in this blog came from a WebMD article on canine distemper. For more information, please go HERE (http://www.caninedistemper.org/) HERE (http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/distemper-symptoms-treatments-dogs) HERE (http://www.windyhollowvet.com/Document/info/Caninedistemper.pdf) or HERE (http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/respiratory/c_dg_canine_distemper?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=canine%2520distemper&utm_campaign=Dogs&gclid=CL7s-ejcu60CFQ3Dtgod1iJoAA#.TwcUzlbnu18)

New Year’s Resolution: Reclaiming Our Youth

In early November representatives from the City, School District, churches and the community at large met with selected student leaders to begin a dialogue about Clyde and what our youth see as their needs in this community. Small towns die because of a lack of vision and a lack of leadership. The Council is intent on getting and building upon input from today’s youth so that they do not end up being our chief export.

The group was shuffled to get a good mix of youth and adults at each table and time was devoted for each small group to develop a vision for the youth of Clyde. What did they want for their hometown? What could be done to make Clyde a community that they would return to after college rather than joining the throng that makes up our main export?

The results for each group were presented one at time and each time we all heard the same things. There were three main goals and comments that were part of virtually every presentation:

• A place for the youth of the community to gather and just hang out, an antidote to the over-scheduling all were experiencing
• More positive interaction between adults and youth, perhaps a structured mentoring or tutoring program
• Opportunities (volunteer and employment) for the youth to be involved in the community, preferably involving school credit

On Tuesday, January 17th, at 6:30pm, the process of making these goals a reality will begin with an organizational meeting at City Hall. If this sounds like something you want to be a part of, please contact me at nelson@clydeamerica.com or or Erica Stallings at estallings@clydeamerica.com and let us know.

Goals for Economic Development in Clyde

The EDC met December 5^th for a goal setting session. This was the first time in a while that the EDC had gone through an exercise like this. The first hour was spent by the Board talking about  the things they would like to see added to or improved in Clyde. The last hour focused on narrowing the list to a set of manageable goals.

The goals are set out in two broad categories. The first category focuses on items that involve attracting investors to Clyde and three of the eight goals fall squarely in this group:

• Attract a hotel/motel – it was the position of the Board that Clyde not only needs to attract a franchised motel operation but that Clyde is a spot that will be attractive to people running such operations
• Attract a retailer specializing in outdoor recreation equipment – the Board considers this an opportunity we currently miss out on due to the number of hunters in the area throughout the year
• Attract full service restaurants – the Board is interested in attracting both national chains and “mom & pop” operations

The second category looks at community facilities/amenities the Board wanted to see in Clyde and five of the goals fit into this group:

• Build pool with splash park amenities – the Board discussed the success Brownwood, Eastland and Stephenville have had with their pools/splash parks.
• Build entrance signage – this project would provide a sense of place for drivers on I- 20
• Promote/assist with development of Arts District in Clyde – the beginnings are already in place for an arts district and the Board is interested in participating in the development of the district as it has the potential to attract new businesses and visitors to Clyde
• Upgrade ballfields – the Board felt the existing ballfields need to be improved and that with better ballfields the community is more likely to host tournaments which bring more outside dollars to the community
• Develop events/destinations to bring people to town and provide jobs – the arts district and ballfield upgrades both could be reorganized as objectives under this broader goal

The next step in this process is to develop specific objectives for each of the goals. That work will be a part of the EDC’s agenda in January.

In case you’re interested, the City Council’s goals can be found HERE.

If you have any questions or comments, please send me an e-mail at rnelson@clydeamerica.com.