Tarrant Regional Water District board member Paxton Motheral and Tarrant County Commissioner Manny Ramirez were named new board members to the Trinity River Vision Authority.
Their appointments make a full board for the Trinity River Vision Authority, the agency tasked with receiving updates from partners involved in the $1.6 billion Central City / Panther Island flood control project. The board had not met since December due to board vacancies.
In their July 15 meeting, water district board members approved the appointment of Motheral to fill the seat long held by James Hill. The position has been vacated since Hill, who did not seek reelection to the water district board after serving for eight years, left the board in May.
Ramirez replaced former board member Roy Brooks who retired earlier this year. Ramirez’s seat expires July 2029.
“We appreciate Commissioner Ramirez for stepping in,” said Leah King, water district board president. “This impacts his district pretty significantly, so this is a natural addition to the board.”
The water district board also approved the reappointments of Fort Worth City Council member Carlos Flores, water district general manager Dan Buhman and city development director Bob Riley for the Trinity River agency. Their appointments are for four-year terms.
The Trinity River Vision Authority needs at least three board members, not to exceed seven members, in order to be considered a full board.
The seats occupied by Buhman, Riley, Flores and, previously, Brooks were set to expire by the end of July. Hill’s seat was set to expire in April 2026.
Board documents show before the July 15 reappointment, City Manager Jay Chapa filled one of the two vacated seats.
The Panther Island board will convene to discuss with its president, G.K. Maenius, to determine his continued interest in the role, Ramirez said. Maenius has served as president since the agency’s inception in 2006.
“(Maenius) has an incredible amount of historical knowledge that’s very valuable to the entire process and (Central City flood control project),” Ramirez said.
Ramirez said he looks forward to helping the water district advance in the construction of Panther Island and the flood control project, especially when it comes to funding and mobilizing stakeholder support.
“That project is going to have an incredible impact on the broader community in the broader area,” he said.
Buhman and Maenius did not immediately respond to the Report’s phone calls requesting a comment.
The reappointments of the Panther Island board come after their most recent meeting in December.
Board meetings scheduled for February and March were cancelled due to failure to form a quorum, water district spokesperson Matt Oliver told the Report earlier this year. A governmental body must have the majority, or over half, of its members in order to meet, according to state law.
“The Trinity River Vision Authority Board wanted to have all the director seats filled by local partner representatives before the next meeting,” Oliver said in a statement.
In mid-2022, the Panther Island group moved to meet bimonthly. That year, the board also redefined its role as an advisory body to the Central City project by receiving updates from project partners, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the city of Fort Worth and the water district.
Board members plan to discuss potential changes to the structure and administration of the group, Ramirez said. Board members will devise an agenda to regularly convene in their next meeting, set for July 31.
Nicole Lopez is the environment reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at nicole.lopez@fortworthreport.org.
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