Following are items on the agenda for Thursday's May 17 meeting of the Board of Directors of the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District. The public meeting will start at 6 p.m. at the Wimberley Community Center. All interested are invited to attend. Click on this link for additional background information on agenda items.
For Discussion and possible action
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| HTGCD region in western Hays County/Click to enlarge |
1) Dripping Springs Water Supply Corp (DSWSC) concerning District Rules (Board President, Jimmy Skipton) – Connection fees, failure to pay connection fees, and suspension of processing permit applications; connection fee update: April 10, 2012 - Meeting with DSWSC’s General Manager and its Board President. Per DSWSC, unpaid water utility connections fees are in the amount of $60,000
2) Dripping Springs Water Supply Permit (Skipton) – DSWSC original 1-year permit application to the District requested 700 AF in 2007; HTGCD Board approved 1-year permit for 300 AF in 2007. A contested case hearing was requested and a lawsuit was filed by DSWSC; in 2012 the DSWSC Board President made verbal request to the Board for a 1-year 1,600 AF (acre-feet) permit; meetings between HTGCD and DSWSC to reach an agreement between 300 AF and 1,600 AF per year; the Board reserves the right to adjourn into Executive Session, Section 551.071, to consult with their attorney
3) Update on lawsuit: Plaintiffs vs. HTGCD (Skipton) – Wimberley Valley Watershed Association; Johanna L. Smith, H.K. Acord, Janet Acord, James R. McMeans and David Glenn
3) Update on lawsuit: Plaintiffs vs. HTGCD (Skipton) – Wimberley Valley Watershed Association; Johanna L. Smith, H.K. Acord, Janet Acord, James R. McMeans and David Glenn
4) 2013 Request for Grant Funding from Hays County (General Manager Rick Broun) – Determine grant funding amount and review information packet for Hays County
5) District Documents (Director Mark Key) – No original paperwork to leave District office
6) Rainwater Revival in Boerne (Broun) – Revival cost of $100 for a booth; recommendation to support event or other local Hays County event
7) Drought Stage Status (Broun) – Monitoring run well levels: north and south of Camp Ben McCulloch; review trigger status, days of flow on the Pedernales and Blanco Rivers; recommend drought stage: Currently in Voluntary Conservation
8) Lower Trinity Project (Director Joan Jernigan) – Status of telemetry for W&L well; update on planned Aqua Texas no. 24 well
9) District alternate representative for the GMA9 (Skipton) – Request that the General Manager, Rick Broun, be the alternate representative to GMA9
10) Hiring of attorney Bill Davis (Director Key) – Aid in the interpretation of existing rules; review and advise the Board once the new District rules are presented
6) Rainwater Revival in Boerne (Broun) – Revival cost of $100 for a booth; recommendation to support event or other local Hays County event
7) Drought Stage Status (Broun) – Monitoring run well levels: north and south of Camp Ben McCulloch; review trigger status, days of flow on the Pedernales and Blanco Rivers; recommend drought stage: Currently in Voluntary Conservation
8) Lower Trinity Project (Director Joan Jernigan) – Status of telemetry for W&L well; update on planned Aqua Texas no. 24 well
9) District alternate representative for the GMA9 (Skipton) – Request that the General Manager, Rick Broun, be the alternate representative to GMA9
10) Hiring of attorney Bill Davis (Director Key) – Aid in the interpretation of existing rules; review and advise the Board once the new District rules are presented
For discussion only
11) Operating Permit Application Five Month Moratorium (Director Ed Pope) – Moratorium to start on May 1 and end on September 30 each year; no permit applications will be approved for the following: Commercial or Public Water Supply
12) Groundwater Management Area (Director Pope) –Discuss research possibilities to formulate a plan of action to create a GMA for the Jacob’s Well and Cypress Creek area
13) Dripping Springs Water Supply Corp (DSWSC) Donations for Austin Film Society, Groundwater Film Project (Skipton) – Correspondence and deliberations of donation between DSWSC and Austin Film Society / VCYES Films / Joan Jernigan
12) Groundwater Management Area (Director Pope) –Discuss research possibilities to formulate a plan of action to create a GMA for the Jacob’s Well and Cypress Creek area
13) Dripping Springs Water Supply Corp (DSWSC) Donations for Austin Film Society, Groundwater Film Project (Skipton) – Correspondence and deliberations of donation between DSWSC and Austin Film Society / VCYES Films / Joan Jernigan
45 comments:
WOW!!!
I bet Ron Kelly sends his attorney (instead of himself).
He doesn't have the stones to show up personally.
1600 acre feet; to sell to Wimberley Water?!!!!!
We need to put a stop to the out of control waste and greed in Dripping Springs.
Please read HTGCD supporting documents.
Mark Keys just recently endorsed Conley. You suppose Conley is engineering this?
Mark Key isn't even in Conley's district. Key should mind his own damn business.
And local mean-spirited, La Ventana resident and patent atty and uber property rights nutjob Bill Davis is going to be their new lawyer, instead of world-renowned water atty Greg Ellis?!?!?
Are you kidding me?
Okay, I just want to know who is writing the screenplay for this farce?
Hey, Loves Cypress Creek
Ellis is so world renowned he got his butt kicked and changed groundwater law for the entire state. He lost, so I guess he is renowned for being a loser.
Bill Davis, mean spirited, nut job??
How about the nutjob who screams from the back of the room in between twinkie bites and Big Gulp slurps.
How about the retired engineers and oil men who suddenly want to "protect" the environment after spending a life time gutting it.
Hypocrisy is more abundant than water in the valley.
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
-MLK
Court decisions come and go and some of the recent ones like Citizens United and EEA v. Day will be proven by experience to be untenable and overturned in due course.
Last night at the HTGCD meeting, that whole mess with Jernigan and the movie she is making was soft-soaped in true small-town, play nice with the old crazy lady style.
Jernigan was apparently out negotiating side deals with not only water companies with pending permits before the water board, but is involved in making a movie for which she claims to need $150K in donations.
If accepting a donation for your side project from a water permitee (for whom you have decision-making power) is not tantamount to a bribe, I don't know what is.
Although she recused herself from voting on DSWSC business later in the meeting, I doubt if she would have if this mess had not become so public in recent days.
My question: How many more side deals are going on with HTGCD board members with entities having business before the board?
I am shocked and dismayed by the lack of ethical behavior and, apparently, guidelines in this sordid affair. Shame on all of them. NOT EVEN a slap on the hand, for Christ's sake!
@ Loves Cypress Creek:
Oddly you juxtaposed this quote:
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
-MLK
With this statement:
Court decisions come and go and some of the recent ones like Citizens United and EEA v. Day will be proven by experience to be untenable and overturned in due course.
No doubt you meant EAA v Day - but you have a very strange sense of justice. EAA stands for the law that a property owner owns the groundwater in place beneath his property and that although government can impose regulations - regulations can go too far and constitute a taking requiring compensation. In particular, a regulation that outright denies the owner access to the water is a compensable taking under the Constitution.
The bottom line is that former directors such as Andrew Backus, David Baker, and others have operated under the misconception that while sitting on the HTGCD board they could adopt regulations or abuse the permit process with impunity to deprive property owners of access to their own groundwater and that property owners would have no recourse for such bad acts.
Much to your chagrin, they were wrong. Justice was served in EAA v Day and it's rather troubling that you believe that a government should be able to take from some under some bogus pretext without compensating those whose property was taken. Interesting that Backus' failed legislation was always designed to ensure his wife could keep her well - but all those other property owners that did not yet have a well should be deprived. The Texas Supreme Court addressed that issue dead on and said "wrong".
By the way, if Backus is such a conservationist then ask him why his "community" doesn't hook up to the LCRA water line running right in front of his subdivision. I'll be waiting for the hypocritical answer as to why he's entitled to be excepted from the restrictions he wants to put on everyone else.
Funny thing, the scheme promoted by Backus was the same wrong-headed position taken by the EAA (which lost). The attorney that provoked that dispute (and lost) is presently the attorney for the HTGCD.
After such a colossal failure, the EAA is now trying to argue that groundwater ownership as decided in EAA v Day should apply everywhere except within the EAA territory! What a bunch of maroons.
Your sense of "justice" is very misplaced. Who do you believe unlawful unconstitutional takings without compensation is "justice" for? This law is not likely to change at all because it was just to begin with.
That last tirade by Bill Davis is exactly why Bill Davis should NOT be allowed to give paid legal advice to the HTGCD.
When looking for a lawyer to represent a wide range of interests, like those of the HTGCD, one really ought to find someone, like Greg Ellis for instance, who can argue a wide range of viewpoints.
The ideological extremism of Bill Davis (a patent atty, NOT a water atty of any kind) gets in the way of open-minded thinking and his brand of "advice" would no doubt be completely dominated by his own personal viewpoint. This is not what lawyers are for and if your own lawyer is so blind to differing viewpoints, he is ill-prepared to anticipate the kinds of arguments he might face.
Bill, like several people pointed out last night, you could donate your time to the HTGCD, as so many others have done and continue to do, rather than try to make a buck off the citizens in the groundwater district spouting your extreme views and with your complete lack of water law experience.
You were asked several times what you would charge, even by the board member who was sponsoring your being hired, and you just could not bring yourself to answer that simple question. One might think that when the question of your possible employment is on the agenda of a meeting, you would have come up with a prepared answer to satisfy that obvious query.
If I am not mistaken, Mr. Backus's main source of water is rainwater collection. As is Jack Hollon's, Linda Kaye Rogers, Jim McMeans and several others who work tirelessly to protect the groundwater around here that they don't even use in their own homes.
This is about our natural beauty and our environmental health and not some personal quest for protection from the law.
I believe that those who live here now should be treated with some deference over imaginary populations the developers and their political minions are always trying to attract to come live here so they can exact a steep profit building roads and homes.
Housing expansion (what some like to call "development") should be tied to water availability and should be viewed as a detriment to a community if such projects threaten to overstretch the existing water supply.
Golf course expansion should be laughed outta town.
If Backus' main source of water is rainwater then what was his standing to initiate a contested case with Radiance last year? (being a whiner doesn't count)
If McMeans' main source of water is rainwater then where is his standing to file suit against the district? When he loses the ill-advised suit he'll be on the hook for attorney fees. The district will be able to go after any one of the defendants for the full amount - it's at least $20,000 now (Greg Ellis doesn't volunteer his time)
Growth will be over 100% for this area over the next 50 years. Suspect we'll hit the 100% mark way before that. Subdivisions starting up left and right. Not your "choice".
Those that "live here now" don't get any greater right than anyone else. If you feel that strongly about it then leave or die. Problem solved.
To whoever said, "If you feel that strongly about it then leave or die. Problem solved."
Tacky.
Limiting growth into areas that cannot handle that growth is a great idea and one whose time has come.
This could be done any number of ways if our elected officials were not usually in the service of the developers and others who make money off of growth.
Population increases are not inevitable. Nothing is inevitable and if realtors were more honest when showing potential buyers land and homes in the dry areas of this state, like Hays County, people would move some place else.
This is just a business plan and like any business plan, it can (and no doubt will) change.
"Those that "live here now" don't get any greater right than anyone else. If you feel that strongly about it then leave or die. Problem solved."
What a great thought that reflects my own. You no growth people are the most selfish individuals I have ever seen. You are like spoiled children! I have to believe you are a small minority of hateful liberals using many pseudo names.
The HTGCD meeting was full of the usual nasty suspects all spewing the same liberal garbage they always do when they get in groups. SC, RS-B, and others can always be counted on to come to the aid of their rep. Joan for taking a bribe from that dictator up north.
The Commissioners Court does not have to approve every subdivision that comes seeking approval.
No beginning date was set for the look-back in records concerning Dripping Springs Water Supply Corporation (DSWSC) at the last HTGCD meeting. I agree with Al Broun that 2003 is the logical date.
I also agree with Mark Key (and that's unusual for me) that HTGCD shouldn't fine DSWSC -- or at least not fine them harshly. It's true that the former HTGCD Board did not resolve the issue of a permit for DSWSC, and now that DSWSC is finally applying for a permit, let's just get on with it.
I don't think DSWSC should be permitted as much groundwater as they are asking for, however. Their use of groundwater up to now does not point to the need for a big increase, and they are getting great volumes of surface water from West Travis County Public Utility Agency (LCRA water from Lake Travis).
Trust me, us "liberals" do NOT approve of Joan Jernigan's bribery.
It was Jimmy Skipton whose responsibility is was to deal more harshly with Ms. Jernigan, and he chose not to.
That her behavior was deemed fine remains troubling to many of us, conservatives and liberals alike, as if the water had a political party.
Why is it that you view "liberals" as those wanting to conserve water and "conservatives" as those willing to let the aquifer be pumped dry?
Labels are not very useful here.
I don't think the DSWSC should be fined, they should simply pay up what they owe in legitimate fees and then stop asking for massive amounts of water.
Dripping Springs wants it both ways: they want to suck both the aquifer and Lake Travis dry in their quest to become another Round Rock or Leander, you know, just another faceless suburb of Austin.
Once our beautiful land is paved over and covered in ranch style tract homes and strip malls, no one will even remember what was there before. That should make you property rights nutjobs happy, right?
Those of you who don't even own land or have money invested in these questionable expansion projects, what in the world are you fighting for? Your masters?
The "bad guys" here are a few board members of the DSWSC.
Jernigan is not paid by the Austin Film Society.
Jernigan is not employed by the Austin Film Society.
Jernigan gets 0% income from AFS or DSWSC.
Jernigan did not receive any money.
Emails show DSWSC board members targeted Jernigan.
The folks seeking to malign Jernigan are the same ones that oppose action against David Baker. Baker's WVWA filed suit against HTGCD and claimed to be particularly harmed by the granting of the WSP permit - which Baker voted against while on the HTGCD board. Baker already admitted that more than 10% of his income comes from WVWA. If WVWA is particularly harmed as alleged then there is no doubt Baker committed multiple crimes by failing to abstain from voting and failure to file a disclosure affidavit disclosing his interest in WVWA. The only people that should be ashamed here are the hypocrites that divert attention from Baker by trying to make this mole hill into a mountain.
I refuse to vote for anyone who puts out such slander as Conley put out about Brannon in his latest mailing. If you are going to make such outrageous comments you should at least give us the names of the persons who you are quoting. If you can not give us the names then I have no options but to assume that you are lying.
I was on the fence but after receiving the latest mailing I am definitely voting for Brannon.
What makes you think that the people who are uncomfortable with Jernigan's recent behavior have anything at all to do with David Baker?
This is quite the leap. Can't someone call bullshit on one person's actions without it being part of a conspiracy?
In your mind, I guess not.
And the only conspiracy going on here is the one where nefarious Wimberley Valley residents are trying their damnedest to protect the aquifer, help the springs and streams keep flowing and preserve the beauty that is our homeland.
Be afraid, be very afraid.
Once our beautiful land is paved over and covered in ranch style tract homes and strip malls, no one will even remember what was there before. That should make you property rights nutjobs happy, right?
Who is "our"? It's not unusual for the Wimberley nuts claim ownership interests in property that does not belong to them.
One obvious problem with you Wimberley socialists is that you demand government to take property belonging to other people - but you don't want to compensate people for the taking. Then you expect the government to adopt your view that the property must remain "as is". Unless of course, the property is "Blue Hole" or "Jacobs Well" in which case you want the taxpayers you've been stealing from to fund multi-million dollar personal playgrounds for you. Take a hike.
Brannon's got my vote. I am sick and tired of Conley's lies and arrogance.
@ jas who said:
This is quite the leap. Can't someone call bullshit on one person's actions without it being part of a conspiracy?
Where were you when David Baker was voting on permits as a director of the HTGCD? No one said anything about a conspiracy. There is much to say about your hypocrisy and silence as to Baker.
History suggests Jernigan would have likely voted "no". Jernigan has recused herself from any decisions regarding DSWSC to avoid the appearance of impropriety. The entity that gained something here was DSWSC.
And the only conspiracy going on here is the one where nefarious Wimberley Valley residents are trying their damnedest to protect the aquifer, help the springs and streams keep flowing and preserve the beauty that is our homeland.
The creeks and streams are not "yours" to help. The Texas Constitution decided that a few hundred years ago. Your kind of volunteerism and help is like calling a thief a "volunteer". The thief freely volunteers to take what belongs to someone else.
The irony about the water socialists is your outrageous antics and outspoken policy of thievery really woke up the populace around here. Once the light was shown on what Baker, Backus, Hollon, Ford, Barton, and others were trying to take from the property owners around here the property owners voted them and their kind out of office.
The Texas Supreme Court pretty well sums up ownership of all the items you identified in the case known as EAA v Day. You didn't make the list. The owners didn't ask for your protection and neither has the state. "Community" is not an owner or party to anything. You'll have to do better than vague "we", "our", etc. when referring to property that belongs to others.
Be afraid, be very afraid
There is nothing at all to fear about you or your kind except perhaps your ignorance. The only thing that thrives in Wimberley is snake oil salesman - and they do quite handsomely. Some even run for office.
Again, these last two nasty, anti-community comments are why Bill Davis should not be hired by the groundwater district to rule on anything legal or even edit proposed rules, as was mentioned at the last meeting.
What is this vociferous hatred for the concept of "community"? I truly do not understand what it is about seeing yourself as part of a wider community of people and land and water resources that so gets your goat.
This isn't socialism nor is it opportunism as you imply, it is simply people trying to care for the land where they live and protect it today and for future generations to enjoy.
Whoever said this,
"The only thing that thrives in Wimberley is snake oil salesman, sure has a bee in his bonnet about his neighbors.
Did somebody hurt your feelings and leave you with a complex?
Good grief. Take a deep breath.
Bill Davis is a one-note man. All he can do is carp over the use of everyday words such as "our" and "us." His paranoia that someone might take SOMEthing (what?) from him dominates his every thought.
Those grounds alone should mean that Davis is not a good fit to be an advisor to the HTGCD. I'm sure there are many members in the HTGCD "community" (look out! - Bill's having a seizure over that word) who could do as good a job (or better) as Bill, and do it for free.
Yes, Davis's paranoia about the use of any word resembling "us or our" or any word that might have the root word, "com-" anywhere nearby is quite stunning. And his jump to call anyone who doesn't agree with his version of whatever to be a "socialist" is very quick on the trigger.
He would have made a great minion to Joe McCarthy back in the day: Making a blacklist and checking it twice.
You suppose some Commie Pinko stole his lunch money and claimed it was for the public good?
Bill Davis probably thinks doing stuff for free is socialism.
Hey, Bill, I heard there is a communitarian in those bushes along Cypress Creek.
Might be one of those Wimberley folks hunting snakes for their highly-prized snake oil.
Please, stop whining about how your neighbors actually feel a bit responsible for one another (and for the environment around them), even if you don't have any such feelings.
Caring for your community is the most American thing in the world, so get with the program.
O' Beautiful for Spacious Skies.....
Who is Bill Davis?
Why should I care?
Just wondered why some posting here are assuming he is one of the ones writing anonymously here.
Oh, I see, I just re-read the comment on the comment and you are right, somebody out there seems very upset any time somebody says OUR or US or COMMUNITY.
So, this is the guy we think is Bill Davis and he is a lawyer or something? A very paranoid lawyer with a stick up his patootie.
I wouldn't want anybody that scaredy cat pleading my case in front of a judge or jury. My goodness, if he is scared of simple, common words uttered on a blog, no tellin' how scared he might be in a courtroom. What if somebody said, "I object" or "Overruled!" He just might faint dead away. Poor little scared lawyer.
Whoever you are, just so you know: Community does not mean the same as Communism and OUR doesn't mean somebody is trying to take something from you and US is just US trying to be neighborly.
You know? Oh, probably not. Nevermind.
@ Jasper, come in here right now! 5/21/12 7:34 PM said...
Bill Davis [???] probably thinks doing stuff for free is socialism.
The socialists are the ones demanding that everyone else work for free.
at Peace said...
I'm sure there are many members in the HTGCD "community" (look out! - Bill's having a seizure over that word) who could do as good a job (or better) as Bill, and do it for free.
Gotta meet this Davis guy to see what's got the Wimberley nuts so scared up.
No doubt Eric Allmon represents WVWA, McMeans, Glenn, etc. for free and Greg Ellis represents HTGCD for free in their lawsuit.
How could anyone listen to Backus or Linda Kay Rogers for hours on end for free? My god.
You would have to pay someone at least $150/hour to listen to Backus and $250/hour to listen to Rogers. The payout would have to be capped to protect the health of the listener.
My blood pressure shoots up just at the thought of having to listen to MK Rogers for hours! God forbid that she should be elected to the PEC board. Please people, vote for Landaker! He's proven himself as a reformer and friend of the ratepayers. Most important, he is calm, not given to over the top, judgmental haranguing as it seems Linda Kay always is.
And to the HTGCD board of directors, I don't know what good you are doing for the good people of Hays County but it sure sounds like you're having fun at least.
The good people of Wimberley/Woodcreek do hours upon hours of community-related work for free. This is the beauty of a town filled with people, some of them retired, some not, who have brought with them years of experience in their careers as engineers, geologists, lawyers, bankers, school teachers, college professors, etc.
There is a deep well of knowledge and belief in volunteerism in the Wimberley and Woodcreek area that is daily used in the service of making that community better in so many ways.
This is called civic participation and love for your community, by the way, not socialism.
It's socialism when your "volunteerism" equates to spending all your time trying to figure out how to take your neighbors' property. Backus has tried making a career of it. Linda Kay Rogers is trying to make a career of it.
McMeans, Hollon, and Baker all likewise seek to deprive owners' of the owners' properties. Baker is clearly doing so for money. The others are simply blind ignorant followers.
No telling what Linda Kay Rogers will "volunteer" PEC members' monies on in the event she makes it to the PEC Board.
Civics Lesson said...
'There is a deep well of knowledge and belief in volunteerism in the Wimberley and Woodcreek area that is daily used in the service of making that community better in so many ways.
This is called civic participation and love for your community, by the way, not socialism.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To the good-hearted Civics Lesson:
Thank you for reminding me why I love this community with all my heart.
To whoever keeps calling everybody "socialists".
Please shut up. This is a tired rant and just means you don't know a damn thing about Wimberley...or socialism.
The Conley-Porterfield-AquaTexas machine is seeking to get its hooks further into the Woodcreek neighborhood by attacking the volunteers who truly serve. Engineered primarily by greed and fortified by money from West Texas profiteers, this group and its minions, make false promises to the unaware, bring them under a false cloud and then leave them out to dry, promises gone with the wind. Woodcreek has suffered mightily with developers, speculators. bad politicians! Time to rid the entire area of these carpetbaggers!
@ fed up with this silliness said...
To whoever keeps calling everybody "socialists".
Please shut up. This is a tired rant and just means you don't know a damn thing about Wimberley...or socialism
Thanks for yet another Wimberlian affirming the label of socialist. One might have just assumed you had no idea what your neighbors, Linda Kay Rogers, Jim McMeans, et al. were up to in their regular efforts to deprive other property owners of their property. Some of your more outspoken residents have repeatedly claimed collective ownership of other individuals' property. Instead of educating yourself, you exercise your right to free speech demanding that others yield theirs.
Wimberley can't even get a grant from the Texas Water Development Board for basic sewer infrastructure because the TWDB doesn't accept Wimberley's "collective ownership" ideas about money coming from TWDB.
Your city council is an ordinance mill regularly developing ordinances and "resolutions" to take away others' property in cahoots with folks like Jim McMeans. McMeans even asks YNN to show up and film his rants against private property rights (for everyone else but himself of course).
Most of the businesses in this area are well-aware of Wimberley. Why do you think so many dentists have popped up in Dripping Springs? (Many Wimberlians prefer "leaving it to nature" or using "natural remedies" to take care of their teeth until they have problems) Wimberlians often stick out in the "big box stores" like Home Depot and HEB where they do their shopping.
Folks in the area are acquainted with Wimberley and the socialists welcomed by Wimberley. We don't have to agree with you to take your money and tax dollars.
Last year the river and springs in Wimberley ran dry and tourism was way down. When the is no more river or springs then what will bring people to Wimberley. And how much will everyone's land be worth. Kick
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