I’m not going to say, “I told you so,” because while the statement may be accurate, it is more apt — and important — to say, “I keep telling you.” The question that frustrates me is if the lack of action within the city of Rotan is because no one is listening or because there is no longer anyone with courageous enough ears to hear it.
It was nearly a year ago since I filled this editorial space with a rather critical view of what I felt then was an impressive display of irresponsibility on behalf of the Rotan City Council. Almost a year later, that irresponsibility has evolved into the active concealment of facts, an almost purposeful lack of action, and an embracement of willful blindness so tightly that it champions poor policy while choking the life out of common sense.
During the summer of 2023, I was covering much that was going on in the City of Rotan. City officials were adopting new animal control ordinances, working toward water infrastructure improvements, and recovering from a series of thunderstorms that devastated the city’s downtown commercial area and affected countless residents.
A year later, the council has not had a single discussion about how to assist residents with cleanup after the storm, that is, apart from inquiring about when the city can stop paying for dumpsters. The council did, however, adopt substandard structure ordinances, despite the fact they have shared no discussions about how to shoulder the cost of demolishing those structures once the city obtains ownership.
Street navigation requires an everincreasing level of hand-eye coordination to avoid the potholes that are so abundant and severe, I’m surprised insurance companies are giving Rotan drivers a discount for vehicles with more than 18 inches of ground clearance. Yet the biggest, and potentially most detrimental issue the city faces is its deteriorating water system.
I have written about this in numerous news articles, so I’m not going into detail here. Here's the 30,000 ft view.
Rotan purchases its water from Snyder, which delivers it to the Rotan distribution line to the West. The water splits along the way, delivering water to those residents west and south of Rotan.
Those lines converge at the city’s main treatment plant, where the water is cleaned from its 15-mile journey before simultaneously filling Rotan’s two main water towers, supplying water to the gypsum mill, as well as directly servicing the customers to the north and east of the city through the older DP&R water lines.
Once filled, the towers supply water to the residents in the city limits, and as long as there is water in the tower, the water continues to flow from the taps in town.
As a result, while the customers in the rural areas all lost water to some degree during the recent outage, where those customers on the DP&R lines spent a week without water, the city folk were none the wiser.
However, city-dwellers, as I wrote a year ago, you may not be thirsty yet... but you will be.
Look at the birthdays of the pipes along this system. The cast iron pipe bringing water from Snyder was installed in the early 1960s and has only been addressed in the past few years, and even that was like eating tomato soup with a fork.
I know everyone has slept since then — that is, if you haven’t been sleeping the whole time — but it was because of, then, Rotan Councilman Donnie Mullins that the city submitted the application that earned them the $5 million grant to replace the old distribution line to the west. City Administrator Carla Thornton had recommended the council not seek the grant because submission required a non-refundable application fee.
Thank goodness the council rolled the dice instead of listening to the opposition or Rotan’s water situation wouldn’t look any better than its driving conditions. However, even with the upcoming replacement, the city still has a long way to turn that wheel to keep the city’s grill from scrapping the bottom of the next operational pothole.
The only slightly younger DP&R lines that service customers north and east of town are also deteriorating, requiring frequent maintenance and repairs, and as nostalgic as it might be, the city’s main water tower — the one that so many city residents depend on — predates all those lines by almost 30 years.
That’s a long time for metal to be wet in West Texas, especially when it’s leaking at a cost of $300,000 per year, at least according to the City of Rotan’s 2023 financial report. Of course, instead of earmarking portions of the city’s two-year operating surplus to mitigate water loss, the council simply increased water rates.
And keeping with their historic pattern, city officials are putting about as much effort into repairing the aging water system as they are looking for a certified operator to run it.
The city has not had a licensed operator in more than four years, and after the formerly licensed operator and public works director resigned in February, the council has not had a single meeting to discuss how to fill the vacancy.
Discussion requires purposeful attempts at communication, and when you are being led by a group that only shows up once a month to confirm they have delegated all their authority to their employee, there just isn’t much left to talk about. Although, this could be for the best, since it seems the only ones wanting to see Rotan change reside just beyond its boundaries, and those with the power to change it seem to be too afraid of change.
I am curious if the Mayor and City Council understand the responsibilities of their elected positions? It is a shame they didn't know about the conference going on right now.
Although there is a NEWLY ELECTED CITY OFFICIALS' ORIENTATION July 18 - 19 in San Antonio and another August 8-9 in Round Rock. Call me for details or visit the Texas Municipal League website. Here I will just provide a link https://www.tml.org/27/Resources I know they are not 'newly elected' but I do not recall any of the sitting members going to any training since being elected.
Correct me if I am wrong or send me a text. I don't mind.
Patricia Hurt, Publisher 'Blind faith in others can lead to our own destruction, for in trusting without question, we may fail to see the flaws that can betray us.'