Street name confusion ends with Council vote
By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com

For the record it is Olivia Street, Lilly Street and Frank Stubbs Drive, El Campo City Council decided last session.

Council was asked to eliminate confusion over the road names during the regular session March 25.

Olivia Street had been recorded on some city maps as Oliva Street, a fact which generated outrage when it began to affect residents of the Isaacson Municipal Utility District recently.

The IMUD encompasses a group of about 180 homes on the city's northeast side purchasing water and sewer service from the city.

IMUD offices as well as the post office, Wharton County Central Appraisal District, Wharton County Elections Administrators office and the 9-1-1 addressing were being effected by the name confusion, IMUD manager Wanda Evanicky told Council.

Mayor Phillip Spenrath asked City Manager John Steelman to make a recommendation on the road name.

"Olivia," Steelman said.

Looking to the IMUD representative, Spenrath then confirmed the district was hoping for the same name.

"You want the same thing? Why are we having this discussion?" Spenrath asked.

City Council has the authority to control street names in the city limits of El Campo as well as the ETJ or Extra Territorial Jurisdiction, the one-mile loop around the municipal boundary.

With the public request for Olivia rather than Oliva, Council saw no reason to debate the issue.

The clarification of street names was approved 5-0 with Mayor Pro Tem Kenneth Martin absent. The seventh City Council seat has been vacant since the resignation of Kyle Smith in late 2007.