MARFA — In mixed City of Marfa news, past due utility accounts are once again subject to shutoffs, and the Marfa Activities Center (MAC) pool is unable to open for the summer due to a lack of lifeguard applicants.
Utilities shutoffs
While the city announced it would renew water, sewer and natural gas shutoffs for nonpaying customers back in the fall of 2023 for the first time since they were paused during the coronavirus pandemic, Interim City Manager Kelly Perez said this week that enforcement has not been consistent and the city is now once again renewing stricter protocol.
Utility cut-offs took place last week for the first time since September of 2024, she said. Previous City Manager Andrea Walter brought the issue to the forefront during her brief tenure, and city staff were directed by her and council to take all measures necessary to collect past due utility bills.
Last week the city placed locks on both residential and commercial water meters so that those with past due accounts could not turn their water on. Perez said she wasn’t sure exactly how many people had locks placed on their water meters, but it was well over 100 accounts.
Utility bills are considered past due if they are not received by the 15th of the month. Late fees begin to apply on the 16th of the month. Postcards, or “second notices,” are then sent out stating that if bills are not paid by a certain date, typically between the 1st and 5th of the forthcoming month, utilities will be shut off by the city. Perez said shutoffs took place on June 4th this month, and post cards were mailed out on May 17.
Perez and Mayor Manny Baeza have been busy meeting with many past due customers, she said, helping them set up contracts and payment plans so they can become current on their accounts. She said payment plans typically last six months no matter the past due amount, but can be paid off sooner if possible. She said utilities are being turned back on for those that enter into payment plans.
Marfa Activities Center (MAC) pool
At a Tuesday City Council meeting, city officials announced that the MAC pool will not be opening for the summer due to a lack of lifeguard applicants. “None of us want to have the pool closed, but we’ve tried and we can’t get any applicants,” Baeza said.
Perez and Baeza explained that the lifeguard position was posted online and on social media, and they even contacted Marfa ISD for potential candidates, but in the end only two people applied and they were seeking three or more applicants.
They said they received one applicant for the lifeguard position and one applicant for the pool manager position — the same individual that held the position last summer. Perez said two lifeguards are needed to open part of the pool, with another third needed to open up the deep end. She said they were ideally seeking more than three lifeguard candidates so they could rotate shifts. “It’s really unfortunate, but legally we cannot open,” Perez said.
She said in the future the city might take feedback that the pay is too low into consideration. The city was offering lifeguards $13 an hour, which is less than teens on summer vacation can make at Dairy Queen, for example. “That might be something to think about,” Perez said.
The pool is currently full of water, with the motor running and chemicals being added, and will remain that way for a while due to its maintenance plan, she said. “If you all remember, the pool has a lot of cracks in it, so we finally got it to the point where it’s not leaking a whole lot,” Perez said. “It leaks but once you super saturate the ground around it, it’s not leaking as much.”
