(Seguin) — The step toward possibly preserving Lake McQueeney for generations to come is officially underway. The Guadalupe County Commissioners Court on Tuesday took action approving the request for the creation of a water control and improvement district. The action by the commissioners temporarily creates the water district known as the Lake McQueeney Water Control and Improvement District (WCID) No. 1.
Representing the Friends of Lake McQueeney during the meeting was Stephen Robinson of Allen Boone Humphries Robinson LLP. Robinson laid out the details behind the creation of the taxing entity during a public hearing held on the issue.
Robinson says the action by the board now allows the district to begin work toward preserving the lake which is at risk of being drained by the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority. He says it simply creates a governmental entity to contract with the GBRA. He says it’s always much easier when two governmental entities interact than when a governmental entity tries to do business with a private partner.
He says the court’s blessing was the first step in beginning to plan for the May 2, 2020 election in which the taxing district will be put before voters for official creation.
“The action created the Lake McQueeney Water Control and Improvement District No. 1 which will begin to have board meetings in the future which will be public meetings to begin official action on behalf of the district,” said Robinson.
As for the election itself, not all Guadalupe County residents will be heading to the polls. Instead, the voting opportunity will be for those whose live within the voting district’s boundaries. More specifically, only registered Guadalupe County voters whose properties touch the water will be eligible to vote in the May election.
He says further explanation of who those voters will be is among the many other details that will be developed and shared by the WCID’s board of directors.
“Moving forward, the board will be meeting and having public meetings that will be open to provide information about what the district’s actions are and so those will begin. The agendas will be posted so the public knows about the timing of those meetings and then information will be distributed by the board,” said Robinson.
In addition to creating the taxing entity, Robinson says voters will be deciding on the directors for the group along with deciding all the other financial pieces to rehab and continue maintenance on the dams.
“This is a district that is being created to be a part of the solution to help solve this problem with getting the dams fixed,” said Robinson.
The court also approved the appointments of five temporary board members for the WCID. They include David Doughtie, John Ewald, Lindsey Gillum, Paul Mueller and Robert “Bob” Worth. Each of these individuals, from the very beginning, is said to have been working in finding a solution to prevent GBRA from draining the local lake.
Guadalupe County Judge Kyle Kutscher says while he is not excited about setting up a new entity in Guadalupe County, he believes this is just the next logical step in the process toward getting the problem solved. He says he understands that folks can no longer just sit around and wait for the river authority or the state to kick in some money or come up with another solution. Commissioner Jim Wolverton also stated that the law is the law and the court is obligated to approve the petition when it has been proven that all required steps have been taken for the creation of the taxing district.
Action by the commissioners court was taken following a public hearing on the issue. Only two members of the public spoke. One of the citizens wanted reassurances that GBRA would leave sufficient water in the lakes for recreation and other purposes. He also questioned who in the end would have control of the lake levels and wanted some type of guarantee. The other citizen just shared comments that the lake levels would have to be lowered if there was any work on the dams.
Prior to action by Guadalupe County, the lake owners had to also get approval by both cities that extend into the lake area. Those cities include Seguin and New Braunfels.