Mayoral elections are May 10, and Norm Archibald is seeking reelection by asking the people of Abilene to consider the Cedar Ridge Reservoir.
Archibald served as ACU dean of students in the 1980s and as president of the Alumni Association.
“I have been the mayor of this city since 2004,” Archibald said.
Having served as Abilene’s mayor for almost 10 years, Archibald says he knows what needs to be done for his fourth mayoral term.
He said Abilene needs to move forward with the Cedar Ridge Reservoir which will provide the city with water from the Brazos River. He has been working on this project since 2005 when he made an agreement with the Brazos River Authority. Since then, he has applied for the water right permit through Texas Commission of Environmental Quality, and is waiting on the building permit from the US Army Core of Engineers.
Abilene has three sources of water from Lake Ft. Phantom, Hubbard and Ivy. Lake Ivy is 44 feet below the spillway, and Lake Hubbard is seeing an all-time low. Archibald said that Abilene shares Lake Ivy and Hubbard with six other cities, and we cannot survive with the water from Lake Ft. Phantom alone.
“It is a critical time to build a reservoir,” Archibald said.
Mayor Archibald does not go unchallenged. Robert Briley has served as city council member for six years. He is also running for the city’s mayor.
Briley has not returned telephone calls, but he told KRBC News that he was interested in job creation, and keeping Dyess Air Force base in Abilene.
Archibald said his opponent is missing the main issue in Abilene: the Cedar Ridge Reservoir.
“Job creation and job retention are both very important, but we work on that year after year,” Archibald said. “We have reached the point where we have to work on the permits for the reservoir while still focusing on jobs creation and other issues in Abilene.”
He said if we do not continue to work on the reservoir Abilene may run out of water soon. Once the permits are passed there will still be objections to the reservoir. He said this will require someone who will put the issue at a top priority to ensure the citizens of Abilene will have a water supply.
“I bring strong leadership to the table,” Archibald said. “I am asking the city of Abilene to elect me so I can continue to be that strong voice when we need it the most.”
Mayoral elections will be held May 4th. You must be a registered in Abilene to vote for the city elections. Voting registration closes on February 3rd. For more information about city elections call the elections administrator at (325) 674-1216.
