According to City Finance Director Peggy Walker, the increase would amount to approximately 17.6 percent for residential customers and 9 percent for commercial accounts, and would have taken effect in August had the city not joined the steering committee.

“We are recommending the council deny their request based on our preliminary discovery, which shows the increase should be reduced by a minimum of $200 million, and possibly, through additional discovery, actually be able to show cause for a rate decrease instead of this $275 million increase,” Walker told the council, which denied the rate increase by a unanimous vote.

However, according to Walker, the fight is far from over.

“We know they (Oncor) will appeal this decision to the PUC (Public Utilities Commission),” said Walker. “Testimony is scheduled to begin Jan. 13 if we cannot come to a settlement with Oncor before that date.”

Walker said the city of Big Spring won't be alone in its fight, however, as other cities that are participating in the steering committee will standing alongside the Crossroads area.

“Every member city of the steering committee that retained original jurisdiction over Oncor rates will be denying this rate increase,” said Walker. “They will be combined into one docket for the PUC.”

Also during Tuesday's meeting, the council approved the final draft of the ongoing ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Curb Ramp Transition Plan.

The plan, which was devised after several town hall meetings earlier this year, will address the need for curb ramps on city streets and intersections, according to City Attorney Linda Sjogren.

“This final plan has been approved by the ADA Compliance Committee,” said Sjogren. “The plan includes a grievance form, which will also be posted on the Internet along with the plan. I've also added a curb ramp form that people who are not disabled can file to let us know of any ramps they see that need to be addressed.”

With several ramp problems already being targeted by the city's Lancaster Street Bond Project, the city's downtown street repair projects and state plans for Third and Fourth streets, the ADA Compliance Committee identified the following intersections — most of which located near election polling places — as the top priorities for repair:

“We've allocated $25,000 each budget year to reconstruct and repair curb ramps,” said Sjogren. “These are where we feel our highest priorities should be. It's estimated at between $4,000 and $6,000 per intersection — $1,500 per approach. So, with the $25,000 we feel like we can probably do the intersections listed here, and if we run out of money before we get them finished, it will flip over to the next year. If we still have money when we get done, we can add more on.”

The council approved the plan by a unanimous vote. Councilwoman Stephanie Horton was not present at the meeting.

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it