By Michael Hutchins, Herald Democrat

As growth continues to come to Texoma, Denison leaders are working on ways to balance the needs of new growth and existing development. New Denison Mayor Robert Crawley has set his priorities from the top seat of city government as he looks toward his first term as mayor.

“It is exciting to begin to learn the process of how the city works and all the various facets,” Crawley said. “It is a very complex entity with an approximately $70 million dollar budget. I am beginning to understand more about the workings of the community and the city and I look forward to continuing to learn.”

“No one really understands the complexity of the city unless you are involved daily with it,” he continued. “It is more than taking care of water and sewer needs for our community. It is a large business.”

Crawley was successful earlier this spring in his bid to become the next mayor of Denison. Crawley defeated fellow City Council Member Brian Hander during the May general elections and succeeded former Mayor Janet Gott, who was at the end of her term limit.

While Denison itself is growing, Crawley said one of the biggest factors in the regional growth is taking place just south of the city. Large tech manufacturers, including Texas Instruments and GlobalWafers are currently in the process of developing more than $35 billion in new production facilities focused on the semiconductor industry.

While Denison will not be the home of these facilities, Crawley said Denison will see an impact from their development. 

“When we have an opportunity like that, our citizens of Denison will have a chance to participate,” he said. “The numbers I’ve seen, about 25 to 35 percent of the citizens in Denison will have opportunities to take jobs at those new businesses that Sherman is bringing in.”

“I think that job creation is the greatest opportunity that we had from Texas Instruments,” he continued.

Beyond creating jobs for existing residents, Crawley said the recent tech boom will also bring attention to Texoma and communities like Denison. This in turn will likely lead to an influx of people moving to the region to take advantage of the new jobs. More residents will lead to increased housing growth, which will translate to an expanded tax base for the city. This base will allow the city to expand its services and amenities, Crawley said.

At the same time, this expanding demand creates a challenge in and of itself as the city expands its services at the same time it has an aging utility system that dates back a century or more in some places.

“Our biggest challenge is to balance that out,” he said. “We have to have the revenues in order to be able to provide the new infrastructure, and I think our city council and our great city staff have done an excellent job in planning out our capital improvements for the next 10 years.”

Crawley estimated that the city will see about $170 million in capital projects and improvements over the next three years. Among the improvements slated for completion is a new water intake facility at Lake Texoma that could double the city’s water capacity when it opens next spring. The structure is also built to expand production over time from about 20 million gallons of water a day to about 50 million at full build out.

“I think the main thing is to do the very best we can as we try to meet the growth but also meet the needs of our existing citizens,” Crawley said. “I think that is going to be a great challenge and I look forward to working on that.”

The city is expected to receive the results of a road survey next month that will give leadership more insight into the condition of area roads and the need for repairs.

Crawley said city crews typically do road and water infrastructure improvements at the same time as it helps lengthen the lifespan of the roads by avoiding road cuts from water line repairs.

Regarding his leadership and role in these projects, Crawley said he plans to take a supportive role and will assist city staff where necessary.

“I think we have just an excellent staff and manager and they are doing a fabulous job in planning for our growth with capital improvement programs and just general growth for our city,” he said.