The Lockney City Council meeting on Tuesday, February 22, 2022 at the Lockney Community Center. (Ryan Crowe/FCR)
LOCKNEY – The City of Lockney is going to have to spend money to comply with a new state mandate, and while nobody on the city council was thrilled with that news Tuesday morning, they realized it had to be done.
Under a new law enacted during last year’s legislative session, the Texas Center for Environmental Quality (TCEQ) requires water utility systems in Texas to have guaranteed backup power for a minimum of 24 hours following a power outage. Municipal water supplies were given until March 1 of this year to have a plan in place on how they would accomplish that.
Lockney City Manager Buster Poling presented the council with a plan to purchase two stationary backup generators that would be placed at city-owned well sites at an estimated cost of $20,000 each. He added they are looking at also purchasing three smaller, possibly portable, generators to be used to run sewer lines in cases of emergency.
City Attorney Lanny Voss told the council the new law was in response to the winter storm that hit the state in February of 2021, with Poling adding that the TCEQ is pressuring cities to have purchased the equipment and have everything in place or pending approval from TCEQ by July 1.
The total cost expected to the city is expected to run between $50,000 to $75,000 and would be paid out over a five-year period.
The measure passed unanimously.
