‘An infrastructure crisis.’ Granbury’s growing pains are at center of mayoral race
An unexpected opening for Granbury mayor has spotlighted ongoing debates over how the city should respond to pressures posed by rapid growth, including the prospect of a lengthy legal battle over a new sewage plant.
Shortly after being arrested for driving while intoxicated for a third time, longtime Mayor Nin Hulett submitted his resignation in early May.
The Tuesday special election to determine who will lead the city southwest of Fort Worth attracted four candidates: retired airline captain Charles Nangle, former council member Tony Mobly, retired businessman Jim Jarratt and businesswoman Joanie Keays.
The winner will remain in office through at least November 2022, when Hulett’s term expires. Mobly resigned his council seat to run for mayor, leading to a race between candidates Richard Hoefs, Steven Vale and Cathy Reid.
The surprise election has opened up a rare opportunity for new leadership in Granbury, according to Victoria Calder, a psychologist and leader of Granbury Fresh, the group of Hood County residents who came together last summer to oppose the city’s proposed wastewater facility.
“We have a change in leadership from multiple levels of our city structure that could create a different set of solutions,” Calder said. “It certainly is a game changer and a potential opportunity for people to do the right thing and to base decisions on facts. We have some really good candidates who are inclined to do so.”
Granbury leaders and residents agree the city of about 10,000 needs infrastructure improvements to meet demand in Hood County, one of the fastest growing counties in the U.S. Those efforts include expanding wastewater treatment services and finding ways to relieve traffic congestion on U.S. 377, the highway that runs through the city.
But there is significant disagreement over how Granbury should move forward in addressing those challenges, according to Mike Lang, who served as the area’s Republican state representative for two terms before stepping down this year. He now serves as chief executive of Blue Shark Media, which produces podcasts and videos focused on Hood County politics.
The impact of sewage capacity issues has been immediate. Members of Granbury’s city council voted unanimously last December to pause all new development in the city’s eastern corridor for four months. That moratorium was extended until October, and will likely be up for another extension vote in the fall.
“We’re at a point now where we have these huge issues with wastewater and we’re over capacity with our lift stations,” Lang said. “That should have been handled years ago. If you’re late to the game, then you’re already behind the ball.”
Plant gets initial approval, but long path ahead
The city’s proposed sewage plant would discharge up to 2 million gallons of treated wastewater per day into a tributary of Rucker Creek, which flows into Lake Granbury and the Brazos River.
City spokesperson Alex Southern did not respond to a request for comment, but previously told the Star-Telegram that the plant is the solution to providing “the wastewater services a growing town like Granbury so badly needs.”
Last year, Calder and other leaders rallied more than 400 households to submit comments and participate in a September public meeting with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Their concerns included the impact of wastewater effluent on water quality, increased risks of harmful algae blooms and decreased property values.
Earlier this month, Granbury received notice from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that its permit application “meets the requirements of applicable law.” But, as the city’s announcement acknowledges, that decision “does not authorize construction or operation of any proposed facilities.”
Now, Calder and other residents opposed to the facility have a chance to request a contested case hearing, which is similar to a civil trial in state district court.
Calder declined to comment on Granbury Fresh’s specific legal plans, but has said in the past that the group’s attorney is prepared to file for a hearing if necessary. Any hearing requests would be taken up by the commission, which must determine whether Hood County residents could be personally affected by the plant’s construction.
“It’s a long shot, but the city could certainly withdraw (the application) at any point before a contested case hearing,” Calder said. “I would hope that any new mayor or new city council member would consider it.”
City Manager Chris Coffman has continued to support the project. Granbury officials have told the Star-Telegram they are not exploring other options, including a larger regional treatment plant that they say would be too costly.
“Unfortunately (a hearing) is almost a certainty in cases like this, and is a shame because it doesn’t help anyone and only drags out the process by months and sometimes years,” Southern said in April.
Candidates respond to infrastructure challenges
At a candidate forum hosted by the Hood County Republican Club, the four candidates for mayor responded to concerns over the future of the sewage plant and development moratorium in Granbury. Mobly, who voted in favor of the moratorium twice, said many residents have asked him why there isn’t a plan B for expanding wastewater treatment capacity.
“I will stress this: This is actually plan C,” Mobly told the audience, referring to previous attempts to expand the existing sewage plant. “We got a response to comments (from the TCEQ) and they stated that the city has gone above and beyond to address all of these concerns.”
Jarratt and Nangle both criticized the city’s “land grab,” which involved annexing land for the new sewage plant, and argued that waiting for the issue to resolve itself is untenable. The city needs to pursue a short-term solution that could resolve the moratorium, such as expanding the current treatment facility or acquiring new land that is more suitable for a plant, Nangle said.
In a candidate questionnaire published by Blue Shark Media, Keays wrote that the proposed site off Old Granbury Road is clearly “extremely controversial.” The community can’t wait years for the legal battle to play out and needs to seek out other solutions, she added.
“However, before making an informed decision, I would need all of the information gathered about the expansion of our wastewater facilities,” she wrote.
Beyond the sewage plant, the race will determine how Granbury handles the development of an expansion and improvement plan for U.S. 377, which has become a logjam for commuters from around the Fort Worth area, according to Nangle. Jarratt, who says the city is facing an “infrastructure crisis,” pledged to work with the Texas Department of Transportation to “ensure our priorities don’t fall by the wayside.”
Regardless of the election’s outcome, one of its byproducts is that residents are learning more about their community and holding elected officials accountable, Lang said. He hopes to be part of informing voters through Blue Shark Media, which has attracted more than 2,000 Facebook followers.
“I think we’re seeing that influence of the public already, just being aware of what’s really going on,” Lang said. “The public was thinking that the people in charge, our elected officials, would do the right thing all the way through, but somebody dropped the ball. You can’t just pick it right up. It’s gonna take a long time to see results.”
