TexAmericas eyes Veal-Gooch for Riverbend representative
The TexAmericas Center Board of Directors will consider appointing Tina Veal-Gooch as their representative on the Riverbend Board of Directors during their regular meeting Tuesday.
Veal-Gooch is the executive director of public relations for Texarkana Independent School District and served on the Texarkana, Texas, City Council from 2009 to 2016.
If approved, she will replace Sean Rommel, who will rotate off the Riverbend board after serving seven years in the position. Riverbend’s legislative statute requires members to sit out a term after they have served two terms. Rommel was appointed in 2012 and his term expires Dec. 31.
Veal-Gooch, who also served as mayor pro-tem, chairwoman of the Intergovernmental Advisory Committee for the Bi-State Justice facility, president of the Junior League of Texarkana and on many other community boards, said she was looking forward to serving the community in this capacity.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to work not only with TexAmericas, but also with Riverbend Water Resources District,” she said. “I’ve been kind of behind the scenes with Riverbend when I served on the city council beginning in 2009. I think it will be a great opportunity to get back involved and to see what we can do to help the area and push for water and do everything we can for the future growth of our region.”
In considering VealGooch for the appointment, TexAmericas Executive Director Scott Norton said when the board began looking at individuals within the community to serve on Riverbend, that she was the clear choice because of her experience and enthusiasm.
“When I talked to her about serving on Riverbend as our representative, her passion flowed through the phone when we spoke,” he said. “I’ve experienced her passion when we both served on the city council in Texarkana together, as our terms overlapped several years. She has given great service to the community has has worked on preserving water rights in Wright Patman for this region and she understands the importance of industrial water being available to our industrial customers for future water use on our footprint.”
Riverbend is a conservation and reclamation district, which provides water and wastewater services to Red River Army Depot and TexAmericas. The district formally represents its member cities of Annona, Atlanta, Avery, DeKalb, Hooks, Leary, Maud, Nash, New Boston, Redwater, Texarkana, Texas, and Wake Village in pursuing additional water rights if Wright Patman Lake is raised to the ultimate rule curve of 228.64 feet, the level determined by the contract the City of Texarkana, Texas, has with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In the past several years, the water resources district has worked to improve water strategies in the area and recently approved a Regional Water Master Plan, which includes a new water treatment plant and raw water line to TexAmericas, along with a new water intake structure on Wright Patman.
“I think she’s about to be a great addition to the Riverbend Board,” Norton said, adding that they were thankful for Rommel’s service. “Riverbend has made so many great additions over the past several years and I think she can help move that forward for Riverbend and this entire region.”
Riverbend Executive Director and CEO Liz Fazio Hale also thanked Rommel and said they were looking forward to working with Veal-Gooch.
“The Riverbend of today was made possible by smart, thoughtful leaders like Sean Rommel,” she said. “While he will be missed, we welcome another community leader, Tina Veal-Gooch. Her background on regional water issues and Riverbend is invaluable. She will be a strong board member as we move into an important implementation phase of water planning in our area’s future and for the future of the state of Texas.”