WaLon K Brinkerhoff serves as the Mayor for the Town of Tropic. In this role, he is a signatory on official municipal documents that shape the safety and infrastructure of the community. His leadership involves managing the town's response to various hazards and overseeing the regulations that govern essential services like water and sewer utilities.
One critical responsibility of the town government is the maintenance of the Tropic Town Emergency Operation Plan (EOP). According to the town's 2019 emergency operation plan, the EOP was developed to establish an effective response and minimize the loss of life and property. The plan outlines several functions, including developing procedures to protect personnel, equipment, supplies, and critical public records from the effects of disasters. It also aims to maintain and ensure continuity of government and other essential services during a disaster. The plan notes that the town is responsible for the continuous updating of the EOP to ensure consistency with County, State, and Federal plans.
The town recognizes that it is faced with the threat of emergencies and disasters, which may include flooding, earthquakes, severe weather, severe winter storms, landslides, hazard material spills, and terrorism. According to the emergency operation plan, the town board would initiate action to activate its Emergency Operation Center (EOC) during a disaster. The town's response is governed by four priorities: life safety, incident stabilization, protection of property, and protection of environment. To manage these incidents, the town utilizes the Incident Command System (ICS), a management system designed to integrate facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications within a common organizational structure.
Beyond emergency management, the Mayor's office is involved in the administration of municipal utilities. In February 2019, the Town Council adopted Resolution #R-2019-1, which increased monthly water and sewer rates for the town. Under this resolution, the monthly base rate for culinary water use is $33.00, and the monthly base rate for sewer service is also $33.00. These minimum monthly charges entitle users to 10,000 gallons of culinary water per month. For usage exceeding that amount, the town applies various overage charges per 1,000 gallons, ranging from $2.50 to $10.50 for water and $1.50 to $9.50 for sewer services.
The management of these utilities is also tied to land use and development. On April 11, 2019, the town adopted Ordinance No. 2019-4 to regulate culinary water and sewer utility connections for new development. This ordinance was enacted because the town was under a moratorium for all new commercial and residential utility connections due to extreme sewer lagoon leakage and limited availability of culinary water. The ordinance seeks to promote the health, safety, morals, convenience, order, prosperity, and welfare of the inhabitants. It establishes that while residential utility connections for permanent living are available for purchase without restriction, commercial developers must obtain satisfactory water rights for proposed developments. Specifically, because the Paria River Drainage Basin is closed to appropriation for water rights, commercial developers must purchase rights or shares from existing water right owners who own water from the Spring Creek source.
What this means for Tropic
For residents, Mayor Brinkerhoff's role involves managing the town's essential safety protocols and utility regulations. This includes maintaining the Emergency Operation Plan to protect property and life, as well as managing water and sewer rates and connection rules to ensure the long-term sustainability of the town's resources and infrastructure.
