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The Middle Trinity Water Conservation
District board of directors met in regular session, Thursday, December
6, at the Dublin City Council chambers with members Fred Parker, Jerry
Fronterhouse, George Bingham, Jerry Hinshaw and Ed Dittfurth present.
Vice Chairman Bingham presided in Chairman Rodney Stephens’ absence.
Also present were MTGCD general manager Joe Cooper, administrative
assistant Sharon Mainord, and field technician Wes Burris.
There were no public comments, and only
four audience members -- three of whom were from area newspapers.
During the manager’s report, Cooper
reported that the advertising campaign for water testing and
well-plugging had produced some positive results.
“We got a pretty good response,” Cooper
said, adding that 30 people had approached the district for water
quality testing, and seven are interested in plugging.
“We’re getting responses to the
advertisements,” Cooper said, “and so I feel like it was a good
investment. I believe it’s a good idea if we do that at least once a
quarter.”
Cooper also noted that he’d provided
Directors with a copy of an article from the Wall Street Journal,
titled “The Big Thirst” which he described as “thought-provoking.”
“It talks about the amount of water used
to produce the alternative fuels such as ethanol,” Cooper said.
One agenda item, described as “Approval of sale of property by Erath
County Tax Assessor-Collector to cover cost of lawsuit and unpaid
taxes” generated a bit of confusion, but Cooper assured Directors that
it was a “routine procedure.”
“Jennifer Carey, the Erath County
Tax-Assessor Collector, delivered a document to me stating that there
is a piece of property on which taxes have not been paid since 1991,”
Cooper said. “They filed a lawsuit, seeking the property, and it’s
been held in trust since September of 2006.” Cooper went on to add
that there had recently been a $10,000 offer on the property, a vacant
lot on Long St. in Stephenville.
“The purchase price will pay for all the
court costs,” Cooper said, “and $6,857.21 would be applied to the back
taxes. They want to get it off the books, so they go to each taxing
authority that would have received benefit from those taxes, to get
approval to sell the property. It’s kind of a routine thing -- it
doesn’t happen very often, but it is a routine procedure. It’s done
under taxation law. I recommend we approve it, and let them sell it.”
Directors agreed, and immediately voted to approve the sale.
Cooper was also called upon to discuss
the next agenda item, “Discussion and possible action relating to
approving financial support for an Amicus Curiae brief to be filed by
TAGD in the case of Guitar Holding vs Hudspeth UWCD #1.”
“I’m asking the board to approve an
expense of $500,” Cooper said, “which would actually be a contribution
towards paying for the cost of an Amicus Curiae brief -- which is a
friends of the court brief -- in support of the Hudspeth Underground
Water Conservation District #1. The Guitar Ranches is suing them. It’s
at the Supreme Court of Texas.”
Cooper said this could be a landmark case
for groundwater conservation districts.
“It’s one of the first cases where a
Chapter 36 District has been sued,” Cooper said, noting that some
groundwater districts were formed prior to Chapter 36 of the Texas
Water Code.
“Some of the power and authority granted
to the water conservation districts, in Chapter 36, are being
challenged in this case,” Cooper said. “So if the ruling doesn’t go in
favor of the groundwater district, it would not just affect them, it
would affect all Chapter 36 groundwater districts. The way TAGD does
this -- TAG being the Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts -- if
your district is being sued, and they seek an amicus brief, that
district pays half the cost, then the remaining cost is thrown to TAGD
and they look for contributions from member districts...to cover the
costs.”
Cooper said that in this particular case,
a retired Texas Supreme Court Justice was hired at a cost of $25,000
to write the brief.
“Hudspeth is paying $12,500,” Cooper
said, “and at least $12,500 is to be paid by the remaining districts.”
Cooper noted that 30 districts had
already approved contributions. “They’ve already collected $17,000 so
right now we have more money than we need for our part,” he said.
“But...we want to be one of those parties that helps, and the overage
will be pro-rated back to us, so our contribution will be somewhat
less than $500..maybe $300. The reason we don’t know what it will be
is that some districts have not had their board meetings yet.”
“Do you know what they’re challenging,”
Bingham said.
“Historical use,” Cooper said. “In
Hudspeth County, farmers and people who have had land under
cultivation, have been using a substantial amount of water...it
appears they’ve permitted about all the water they’ve got, so there’s
not a lot of extra water. But the Guitar Ranches would like to mine
their property and sell their water -- at a handsome price -- but
there’s just not enough water left there, without hindering the guys
who are already using it for their crops.”
After a bit more discussion, Directors
agreed to the contribution, with Fred Parker noting, “We need to all
stick together in this,” and Jerry Hinshaw adding, “We may be in the
same boat some day.”
Among other items of business, Directors:
• Approved the minutes from the November
meeting.
• Reviewed the most recent income/expense
comparison.
• Approved payment of the bills.
• Approved retaining the firm Boucher,
Morgan and Young as auditor for the year ending December 31, 2007.
• Approved a staff/Directors Christmas
party at a Stephenville restaurant Monday, December 17.
Prior to the meeting, seven well permit
applications were approved during a brief hearing. |
