City of Conroe finally agrees to provide water, sewer to Willis ISD schools after months of tension

CONROE, Texas (KTRK) — The City of Conroe has finally reached an agreement with Willis ISD to provide water and sewer services to multiple schools.

This comes after more than six months of legal wrangling.

The agreement was only reached after a dramatic meeting where the mayor asked police to clear the council chambers after councilwoman Marsha Porter brought up the Texas Open Meetings Act.

“Mayor, I think this is so important, I’m willing to be fined,” Porter said.

Mayor Duke Coon said the issue wasn’t on the agenda and stopped the meeting.

To understand some of the anger, go back to August of last year.

Willis ISD’s brand-new Calfee Middle School was one week away from welcoming students when its water, provided by the City of Conroe, was shut off.

Willis ISD sued the city, and the City of Conroe filed an appeal.

The county judge accused city officials of using water to take “hostage.”

The dispute got so tense that council members last year even had to hold an emergency Saturday morning meeting just to address angry residents.

The problem, officials said, is that this area is growing so quickly that it doesn’t have the water infrastructure it needs.

These Willis ISD schools in question are not within the Conroe city limits, leaving many to ask, “Should they get Conroe water, which is already in short supply? And at what cost?”

“False accusations were made by County Judge Keough toward the city of Conroe, which escalated tensions and created confusion,” said councilmember Shana Arthur.

At Thursday’s meeting, all lawsuits were dropped, and an agreement was finally passed.

Willis ISD will now pay the city of Conroe $1.86 million for permanent water and sewer service at Calfee Middle School and two other schools being built now: one on M.P. Clark Road for elementary students and the other a ninth-grade school near FM-830 and Highway 75.

“Tonight we should be celebrating a wonderful agreement between ourselves and Willis ISD and not be so petty with our comments,” said Mayor Coon.

But, questions still remain over water productionin Conroe, and how new developments will access that water.

ABC13 reached out to the mayor and council members for this story, but didn’t hear back.

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