November Update on AAIBO Activities
Last week was a busy week with three important meeting that I attended on your behalf. On Monday I attended the Planning and Zoning evening meeting where the Commission conducted a public hearing and then an extended discussion of the new Land Use Code. Chairman Tim Rice McClarty led the group through the first half of the lengthy document addressing concerns of the members to proposals made by the City’s planning department with the help of a consultant. As Tim told our AAIBO members in the monthly meeting on the 11th the document is a “Road Map” for the future of Abilene because it details how expansion and future construction will be addressed by the City. The P & Z plans to discuss the remainder of the document at their meeting at 1:30 on Monday December 7th. I urge you to be in attendance if you think the Land Use Code might benefit from your input. If you cannot attend, you might want to voice your concerns by talking to any of the Commission members. Call me if I can assist in facilitating your discussion with them.
Also, on Monday I attended an interesting meeting sponsored by Tenaska. You will hear much more from this company as they progress with their plans to build a coal fired power plant between Abilene and Sweetwater. Business leaders from the Abilene area were invited to hear the company present their plans for the Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Center, as the plant will be called. I found the proposed plant to be an interesting project with several new concepts that the Tenaska representatives claims will be a much more efficient and cleaner way to generate power for our part of the world. The Center, quote, “will be among the most environmentally responsible coal-fueled power plants in the nation.” They also said that preliminary findings show that the project would provide a boost of more than $100 million to the Abilene economy during construction, and more than $1 million annually during each year of operation. Tenaska is asking the City of Abilene to sell them municipal wastewater (affluent-not drinkable water) to cool the plant and there will be a hearing on this at the City Council meeting on December 3rd at 8:30 a.m. This will be an opportunity to learn more about the project and give the City Council your perspective.
Then, on Thursday I attended the City Council meeting and heard the discussion of the Cedar Ridge Dam and Water Reservoir Project. As you read in the news, the original site north of Abilene is not suitable for a dam because of the underlying gypsum rock. The rock dissolves in water and would not hold water in the lake they hope to create. The plan is now to move the dam a few miles south and proceed with the project. The Mayor said he looks at this project as affecting his grandchildren (our grandchildren) because the process is a lengthy one and will take years to develop. He hopes that later generations will look back and thank their predecessors for planning and developing a water source for them years from now.