Year: 2021

City of Van Alstyne, Texas > 2021

Water System Update: February 19, 2021 8:37am

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The Boil Order is still in effect, however I am confident that by the time of this writing you have learned that our water system is back up and operating. We were able to raise the elevated storage tank water level to 9.5’ last night but have experienced a sizable drop over the past couple of hours. The City currently has no reported water breaks so I suspect the high volume of water usage relates to our citizens waking up and showering, laundry, etc. We are urging everyone to conserve water as we are not out of the woods. Continued high water consumption may result in additional pressure losses.

Our plan is to continue to move water from our underground storage tanks to the elevated storage tank in hopes of getting our elevated storage tank to stabilize at a level we feel will provide consistent pressure. We also hope to to fill our three underground storage tanks that are now at low levels as we struggle to balance the need for water pressure with recovery needs.

Again, we are not out of the woods…. If consumption of water continues at high levels we may experience a drop in water levels to the point of needing to start the recovery process over again. Every member of the City is working hard to avoid this taking place. We would ask that our citizens do their part by conserving water where possible.

Respectfully,

Lane H. Jones – C.M.O.
City Manager, Van Alstyne, Texas

City of Van Alstyne, Texas > 2021

Important Trash/Recycle Service Information: February 18, 2021

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Due to the hazardous roadway conditions sanitation services will be suspended for the remainder of the week.  Sanitation Solutions will start on Monday, February 22nd and concentrate on collections from the prior week and the current week.

Recycle collections will be suspended for the remainder of the week.  CWD will resume collections on Monday, February 22nd for Week B customers.   CWD has not yet determined if any concession will be made for Week A customers who were not served the week of February 15th.

Please check back for updates!

City of Van Alstyne, Texas > 2021

Water System Update: February 18, 2021

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As reported, our water system was heavily impacted by power outages. The impact of shutting down city power supply caused our pumps to stop functioning and well heads to freeze. This action caused our underground water storage tanks to fall to the point of limiting our ability to fill our elevated storage tank (EST) . Without water in our EST, water to your tap was unavailable.

With the power now remaining on, we are working hard to recover. The three underground storage tanks are filling, albeit, not as quick as we would like. Storage tank #1 holds, at capacity, 24’ in depth and currently is at 9’ in depth. Storage tank #2, at capacity, holds 23’ in depth and is now registering at 21’. Our final storage tank holds 24’ in depth and currently holds 12’. All tanks are filling so we are headed on the road to recovery.

The next step in recovery will be to refill the water lines around the city. This process is underway presently. Filling the lines will take time and once complete, we will then move water from all three storage tanks to our elevated storage and create water pressure, restoring pressure to our City. My best estimate of when this will take place is tomorrow (Friday) by the end of the day.

Once pressure is restored, the boil order will remain in place until such time as TCEQ tests our water supply and give the City approval to lift the order. We will be in line with many other municipalities seeking water testing and approvals so this may take a day or two to secure the needed approval.

Citizens should expect the water from taps to look murky as we will be refilling the entire system and stirring up sediment. This will clear in time.

Lane H. Jones – C.M.O.
City Manager, Van Alstyne, Texas

City of Van Alstyne, Texas > 2021

Update from the City Manager: February 17, 2021

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It has been a long few days and I hope each of you have managed to stay dry and warm. My hope is that we are at the last of this weather and that the reports of warmer days are near. To keep you informed of our current status, the following is provided.
Water – Power Outages: Our Public Works team has been working hard to keep our water supply operating. This has been a real battle and one that has allowed the City of Van Alstyne to maintain beyond many of our neighbors. The battle with water pressure is directly related to power outages. Each time the power goes off, our well pumps shut down and freeze. We then scramble to place generators and heaters on the well heads to thaw them out. While this is happening, taps all across the city are dripping with our citizens hoping to avoid frozen water lines in individual homes. The net result, our water storage has dwindled, underground storage tanks have dropped to 5’ – 6’ with normal levels being 24’. This makes it difficult to pump water to our water tower and regulate water pressure. Currently, our water tower has 7’ of water and our pressure is dropping.
In the next few minutes we will issue a boil water notice. This will be sent out as “Code Red”. The cause is low pressure and we at this time do not intend to shutoff our water supply. We will continue operating on a single well, filling our underground storage then pumping the water to our tower to provide pressure. We do not expect our pressure to remain consistent nor do we expect the pressure to be normal until such time as we can fill our underground storage and charge our tower. This is a catchup situation and we are well behind. Once the power remains consistent, we can get the situation remedied.
We are currently in search of bottled water to make available to our citizens. Water, generators, heaters, are all in short supply. Once we have located water, we will notify the community.
Lane H. Jones – C.M.O.
City Manager, Van Alstyne, Texas
City of Van Alstyne, Texas > 2021

Important Trash Service Information: February 16, 2021

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Due to the hazardous roadway conditions and the anticipated storm event Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, sanitation services will be suspended Wednesday, February 17th.  Throughout the day on Wednesday, Sanitation Solutions will evaluate roadways to determine if services are safe to resume on Thursday, February 18th.

For more information on trash services please call Sanitation Solutions at 903-784-0124.
For more information on recycle services please visit CWD

City of Van Alstyne, Texas > 2021

Planning & Zoning Commission’s February 17th Meeting Canceled

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Due to widespread power outages and adverse weather/driving conditions, the Planning & Zoning Commission meeting scheduled to take place at 6:30pm on Wednesday, February 17, 2021 has been canceled.  Public hearing notice requirements make it such that a rescheduled meeting could not take place until March 15th so we will plan for all items to be placed on the March 17th meeting agenda.