ANNONA, Texas -- Two months after its formation, the Wright Patman Regional Water Supply Agency is starting to look for available water sources.
During the second Board of Directors meeting Monday, President Mike Huddleston proposed to the 11-member board the agency's first financial participation agreement.
The agreement calls for all or some of the agency's 11 member cities to consider collectively paying $10,000 in legal fees to the agency's Austin-based law firm of Vinson & Elkins, so the firm can research a potential water source from the Sulphur River Basin.
The proposed research project is based on a Feb. 11 letter written by U.S. Rep. Max Sandlin, D-Texas, to Texas Region C Water Planning Group Chairman James Parks.
"Sulphur River Basin has up to 368,259 acre feet of water available for allocation to new users," according to a copy of the agreement.
"We don't know where this existing water is or who has permitted rights to it," Huddleston said. "We don't know if this water is in Lake Wright Patman or if it came from Lake o' the Pines, but it's important that we know where this water is and who is permitted to use it."
If the agency comes up with the $10,000 in legal fees, Huddleston said the law firm will be charged with finding out where the water is, how much it will cost to get it, who is permitted to use it and what percentage of the water agencies with permits are entitled to use.
The agency's 11 member cities are Annona, Atlanta, Avery, Clarksville, DeKalb, Hooks, Maud, Nash, New Boston, Redwater and Wake Village. The cities collectively have just under 12,450 water customers.
Distribution of the $10,000 cost in legal fees-provided all 11 cities sign on to the agreement-will be based on each city's number of water customers, according to the agency's proposed agreement.
For example, Atlanta, which has the largest number of water customers (2,252, or 17 percent), would contribute about $1,740, if the city were to sign on to the agreement. Annona, which has about 135 customers (1 percent) would have to contribute $104 toward paying Vinson & Elkins' fee, according to the agency's revenue sharing records.
Since every member city isn't obligated to sign on to the agreement, those cities that do would have to pay the full tab-but with the stipulation that no city would be charged more than $3,333.34, exactly one third of the entire bill.
If less than three cities participate, the agreement would be canceled, according to the agency's documents.
Huddleston said each of the 11 board members have until July 29 to present the agreement to their city councils for permission to participate.
The board agreed to hold its next meeting at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 2 at Clarksville City Hall.
In other business, the board agreed to established 10 standing committees, nine of which would be five-member committees of a chairman and four members.
The 10 committees include a Texas Water Development Board Committee, Sulphur River Basin Authority Committee, Projects Committee, Projects Management Committee, Finance and Budget Committee, Legislative and Rules Committee, Water Quality Committee, Regional Development Committee, Grant and Funding Committee, and an Audit Committee.
The Texas Water Development Board Committee would work with the state board's regional water planning groups in presenting any proposed projects the agency would like to include in statewide water plans.
The Sulphur River Basin Authority Committee would have its members attend SRBA meetings and report back anything affecting the agency in its pursuit of projects within its own boundaries.
The Project Committee would investigate all state and federal requirements for any water project the agency would like to pursue. It would also look for potential water sources.
The Project Management Committee would conduct all matters related to any agreed-upon project among the agency's member cities, including recommending engineers, contractors and material suppliers.
The Finance and Budget Committee would recommend annual agency budgets for approval, handle all capital investments and review monthly general ledger reports on agency transactions.
The Legislative and Rules Committee would be charged with keeping current with all existing and proposed state legislation that would affect agency operations, as well as keeping in touch with state legislators.
The Water Quality Committee would be responsible for keeping up with state and federal water quality regulations, while the Regional Development Committee would be in charge of pursuing economic development within the agency's member-city boundaries. This means looking at providing water to commercial establishments seeking to locate within the agency's jurisdiction.
The Grants and Funding Committee would identify and pursue loans, grants and any other state or federal financial assistance aimed at benefiting agency projects, while the Audit Committee, which will consist of all 11 board members, would hire an outside auditor to review the agency's annual financial transactions.
Huddleston recommended that at least 10 of the 11 board members serve as committee chairmen, while the committee members themselves could be chosen from among each of the member cities' municipal staffs, agency staff and chambers of commerce staffs and business, industry and community leaders.