Update – Here are the agenda items for discussion and possible action just received from the District office: 1) Review of Board Meeting Protocol 2) Board & Staff Announcements 3) Public Comments 4) Review action on Hays County Grant Funding for FY2011 5) Review letter from Greg Ellis 6) Review Aqua Texas agreement proposal 7) Review employment opportunities for a part-time staff member/Review and Discuss Current Staff’s Salary and Benefits 8) Schedule Board Workshop for June 24th 9) Future Agenda Items 10) Consider sponsorship of Hays County Rainwater Revival October 9, 2010 - Dripping Springs
Note: The public is urged to attend this important meeting, to ask questions and to get to know the new members of the HTGCD Board. We'll have more comments on the upcoming meeting later.
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Jimmy Skipton
The board of directors of the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District will meet this Friday, May 28, 10 a.m. at Woodcreek City Hall. New board president Jimmy Skipton informed the RoundUp the main order of business will be the grant funding proposal the district intends to present to county commissioners."Right now we need to get the funding thing straight," Skipton said.
Hiring of new staff and possibly addressing an unfinished agenda item from last week's meeting to lift a two-year moratorium on new commercial groundwater pumping permits might also be on the agenda, Skipton said.
The District's co-manager Dana Carmean and administrative assistant Cathy Balch last week announced their resignations, effective Thursday of this week – a big loss to the district.
As for funding, to supplement its small annual budget, the district has relied on grants from a LCRA surface water utility franchise fee fund managed by the county. The county granted the district $100,000 for current year operations and $75,000 the prior year. District officials say they probably will ask for an increase in the grant in the range of $150,000 to $200,000.
"The LCRA money is there" for an increase, Skipton said.
5 comments:
Here is the question - how much money has the County collected from this fee that is supposed to be available to the Groundwater District? If what I am reading is correct, does the County not give all of the money that it receives for this specific purpose to the District? If not why not? Are there reasons why the County witholds some of the funds? May be. But it seems like a legitimate question to ask why the County may not be releasing all of the money.
Does RoundUp have a copy of the "letter from Greg Ellis" that can be posted? I'm curious as to the substance of the letter given its timing with respect to the election.
We do not have a copy of Mr. Ellis' letter. We have been informed he is introducing himself to the new board members, by way of his letter. He is viewed by people in the field as one of the state's top groundwater management and legal experts. Mr. Ellis is the executive director of the Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts (www.texasgroundwater.org). He is currently under contract with the HTGCD to serve as its legal counsel. We also are informed that the district's legal costs are not near as high nor a waste of district funds as some would have the public believe.
Could someone make an open records request and get it posted on this blog to let us see how much their legal bills have been, and what percentage it was of their previous budgets?
Thanks for the heads up.
Now for some info the other direction. The "Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts" is a private corporation. Greg Ellis misrepresented case law, particularly the results of the Day v. EAA cases, while counseling HTGCD and speaking (via cell speakerphone) at HTGCD public hearings. Of note, Ellis provoked the Day v. EAA lawsuit while counseling EAA.
Ellis frequently ends up as counsel representing these member districts in his private law practice. One might question whether the primary purpose of TAGD is to serve primarily as a funnel for business for its Executive Director's side business.
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