Mayor Robin Mouton affixed her signature Tuesday to her first official document.
But the city didn’t take it easy on her during her first meeting in the center chair. Instead, the council sat through a relatively-long meeting to discuss water-quality issues and the conversion of a reserve truck into a high-water rescue vehicle, two issues that she ran on during her campaign.
“We’re off to a good start,” she said after the regular meeting concluded — some four hours after then-Mayor Becky Ames announced the mayoral runoff election vote canvass and Mouton was sworn into office.
As rousing cheers rocked the council chambers, Ames pinned on Mouton a City of Beaumont medallion, hugged her and gave up the seat she had occupied for 14 years.
Chambers and an overflow room were packed with more than 150 well-wishers, past and present officeholders and surprise guests like Mayor Mary Dennis of Live Oak, a city in Bexar County near San Antonio, who has known Mouton for years.
A reception in the city hall lobby followed Mouton’s swearing in. She used her grandmother Ida Herbert’s Bible. Her pastor, the Rev. Edison Colbert Jr., of Paradise Baptist Church, gave the invocation.
“We celebrate a new mayor, a new beginning and we thank the old administration,” he said.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Mouton said she feels honored by the “community outpouring.”
“I look forward to serving all the citizens of Beaumont,” she said.
One of the city’s longstanding issues is water discoloration, which has been caused in part by varying water pressure across the 877 miles of city water pipes and a later-than-usual infusion to help “burn” away residual chlorine in the system. That work is better done in early spring, said public works director Bart Bartkowiak.
“All cities will have brownish water from time to time,” he said.
“We have hundreds of miles of pipe. We’re trying to flush (the brown water) as best we can.”
The city is working on “directional flushing,” which isolates areas where brown water is occurring to check for leaks and open hydrants. That clears out the system before introducing fresh water. However, the unequal pressure also stirs up sediment left in the pipes, he said.
But the city said the water still is safe to drink.
In fact, city water customers soon will receive an annual report on water quality, Bartkowiak said. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality also inspects Beaumont’s water quality once every three months, and the city operates its own state-certified lab testing.
“We test monthly for chlorine residuals and for harmful bacteria,” Bartkowiak said.
Once the city’s Loeb well, a second water source that comes from Hardin County, is restored to service next month, the water mix should be 70% from the Neches and 30% from the wells. Hayes said that will help resolve discoloration issues.
The city also will start conversion work on one of its reserve brush pickups instead of sending it to auction. The conversion to a high-water rescue will cost about $70,000, but is much cheaper than buying a surplus military vehicle for that purpose, Hayes said.
The conversion will include a lift to help disabled people get aboard and should have clearance to make rescues in about 30 inches of floodwater.
During Tropical Storm Harvey, city fire trucks dispatched for high-water rescues suffered expensive damage because they are not designed for such missions.
Council is off next week and will reconvene July 13.
Dan Wallach is a
freelance writer.