My yard is shriveling up like a raison, because it is so thirsty for water. Got ground cracks the size that you can stick both your feet through, yellow grass, dead plants and random cracks in the cement. I’m sure other customers can top that with a lot more complaints, foundation problems and low water pressure. Unfortunately, as customers who accepted membership with RCH Water Supply Corporation we consented to a waiver of such liability for damages.
If you are new to my blog, welcome and thank you for reading to be informed and how you can be part of the solution for RCH Water Supply Corporation to get their act together to provide a quality water service. If RCH WS chooses to not comply, well, there are alternatives. And yes, I’m familiar how to seek that remedy and how to realistically seek it lawfully.
🚨 My friends, I recommend to pour yourself a nice cold beverage to watch the RCH Board Meeting. Or scroll on down to read the highlights, fast facts and remedies to consider. The next two years just might be a bumpy ride.
Is COVID an acceptable reason to not comply to the Meet Texas Open Meetings Act?
RCH Water Supply Corporation’s Administrative Officer Robin Baley has been unavailable for weeks to speak with me and she certainly has not been picking up the certified letters that have been mailed to her. Baley is the owner of H20 Services that manages several water supply services at 5763 SH 205 South, Ste 101, Rockwall, TX 75032.
On Monday, August 1, 2022, I wrote another update about the blurb notice on Monday, August 1, 2022 on the website. I certainly called to ask some questions and was told that someone would get back to me. On Tuesday, August 2, 2022 several customers and I were contacted by phone that there is a board meeting and they were unaware if an agenda would be printed to provide to attendees. Later that evening a customer took a photo of a letter size paper board meeting notice that was placed in the window near the Utility Payment sign (See photos below).
What Are The Texas Statutes That Apply To Time and Placement of a Board Meeting Notice?
Sec. 551.001. DEFINITIONS. (K) a nonprofit corporation organized under Chapter 67, Water Code, that provides a water supply or wastewater service, or both, and is exempt from ad valorem taxation under Section 11.30, Tax Code;
Sec. 551.043. TIME AND ACCESSIBILITY OF NOTICE; GENERAL RULE.
(a) The notice of a meeting of a governmental body must be posted in a place readily accessible to the general public at all times for at least 72 hours before the scheduled time of the meeting, except as provided by Sections 551.044-551.046.
(b) If this chapter specifically requires or allows a governmental body to post notice of a meeting on the Internet:
(1) the governmental body satisfies the requirement that the notice must be posted in a place readily accessible to the general public at all times by making a good-faith attempt to continuously post the notice on the Internet during the prescribed period;
(2) the governmental body must still comply with any duty imposed by this chapter to physically post the notice at a particular location; and
(3) if the governmental body makes a good-faith attempt to continuously post the notice on the Internet during the prescribed period, the notice physically posted at the location prescribed by this chapter must be readily accessible to the general public during normal business hours.
Did Forney Lake Water Supply Corporation Meet The Time And Accessibility Notice?
On July 28, 2022 Robin Baley was able to post her other contracted service with Forney Lake WS their notice of a board meeting for Tuesday, August 2, 2022 on their website. In addition to providing a phone number for those who would like to attend remotely.
So why was RCH WS treated differently? This has been going on for years. Not because of a virus and certainly not because municipalities were shut down. McLendon-Chisholm, Rockwall and Rockwall County stuck out like sore thumbs to be OPEN despite many who disagreed or the cowards in Austin that wanted to allow the abuse of unconstitutional executive orders. Talk with any local elected official and Rockwall County Sheriff Terry Garrett if I was present at public meetings or at gatherings. They all knew my stance and they all could see my face as I did it.
Did RCH WS Board Meeting Meet The Agenda Window Notice?
Not even close.
Jackie Pullen
Calls The Meeting To Order
My neighbor and I arrived early and we watched Mr. Warren Hodges (director) enter in the side suite door. When I entered Suite 101 double doors I was greeted by Mr. Jackie Pullen with a solid handshake and we chatted briefly before I took my seat near the conference table. Mr. Steve Hatfield (director), Eddy Daniel (engineer), Art Rodriguez (attorney), Dwight Lindop (operator/field tech) were already present and it appears may have already discussed business.
Soon the room began to fill with 35 customers. The board was waiting for one more director, Mr. Lowell English to arrive to start at 2pm.
After quick introductions of those around the conference table, Mr. Pullen offered for the citizens to come up to the front to share their comments and to limit it to 3 minutes. Comments started orderly, but I was unable to note all the speakers names who contributed very good questions. Here are the top 17 speakers that I felt led to some answers that we are all asking.
The Floor Opened For Comments
1. Geoffrey Kemp (Highpoint Ranch) said, “Seven years ago a couple of us were here in the same predicament. RCH has oversold their contract and I asked if you had a 5 year plan and you said that you didn’t. Suddenly in the following week a 5 year plan appeared. At that time your plan included to put in a 36 inch line out of Terrell to the NTMWD and to build a tower. We are seven years in. None of that has started. I would really like to understand where you guys are in getting that done and what you are doing to stop the issuing of meters that are required from your Stage 4 Contingency Plan requirements. This is getting ridiculous. I got up at 2am to flush a toilet. I had no water pressure. The toilet wouldn’t refill. That’s unacceptable. If we got a fire. We have no water pressure for fire. We have gone down this path every other year. Some of us have contacted TCEQ to get you moving on projects. The last time we were here in 2015 that forced you to upgrade your 8 inch line to 16 inch line to Rockwall because it didn’t have the pressure to get the flow to 2.1. We have been at 2.1 mgd since 2012. The growth out here is more than doubled. As a water company you have done nothing to address that as far as the infrastructure. Other than lay more pipes and issue more meters. So I would really like to understand where you are moving forward, when that tower is going to be built, when did you apply to the NTMWD and how are we going to get this addressed so that we are not constantly going through this every year?”
2. A man with a mask questioned, “I don’t understand why do we have water restrictions while Rockwall, Fate or Royse City doesn’t. Heath is at Stage 3, but they are allowing irrigation every other week. How are we not keeping up with the demand or capacity? What are the other communities doing better?”
3. Trey Collier who has been involved in long range planning, “Mr. Daniel I would like to know more about your long range forecasting, past forecast and where we are in that forecast? Your plans going forward to meet capacity and pressure. What your timeline is on infrastructure improvements going forth on your projections?”
4. Mr. Davis from Highpoint Ranch added, “You say that this is a new problem that this is something from the drought. I have been experiencing water pressure issues this whole year. This is not from the drought. This is every night. I can check my water pressure and I am at 20 psi to 25 psi at my hydrant. I don’t feel that this is something that is new. This is something that is ongoing. I don’t feel a drought has anything to do with this.”
5. A lady from Highpoint Ranch, “If we had water pressure we could water our lawns. I have to pick between shower, washing clothes, washing dishes–it’s ridiculous! Flushing toilets is an issue and then when we call here we get attitude. Your communication is horrid. And makes the situation even worse just like listening to that gentleman say that he doesn’t care about his shrubs that he is going to lose them and didn’t like them anyways. I just planted all my new shrubs over $10,000, because you did not do your job. And I want to know where I can put in a claim to you for my losses. The problem is that you are being insensitive and that’s the problem with your company.”
6. Steven Holly from Highpoint Ranch, “We have had water pressure issues for a few years now. There are no board of directors meetings and minutes listed on the website. As members we have no transparency as what the board is doing. There are zero projects listed on the website so we don’t know what you are planning. I have asked for bylaws and I was told that it would be sent to me. Haven’t seen that delivered to me. Haven’t seen any of the board of directors minutes for the last two years. Haven’t seen anything on that either. It is leading to speculation about your motives. We know we got low water pressure that is happening and we are getting down to the point where we have a trickle. We have the possibility of an intrusion. How are you monitoring those kinds of situations, because technically according to TCEQ that should be a boil water notice if it often drops below a certain point. We are not getting any resolution. We can’t keep saying to use less and less. We gotta fix this so that we do the things we have to do to maintain a house and not have a fire hazard.
A lot of the information that you are sharing if this was on the website. We would not be having these conversations, because none of this has been disseminated. Over the past 3 years that I have lived here, the water tower is not listed in upcoming projects on the website. People are upset, because we got zero information. I’m worried about the numbers of 700 connections based on what you are saying that we are already using 4 times that amount. But we are asking Rockwall and NTMWD for the minimum state standards when we know we are using 4 times that amount. So that means that we could be in that ballpark again if we are only building to the minimums. We are under Rockwall’s cap with the average at 1.7 mgd, but we are not looking at the times of days that this is taking place in the middle of the night. Somehow we are getting turned down. The storage tank is getting dry in the middle of the night.”
7. Linda Duran Kensington Park said, “I know that the water pressure goes way down in the evenings. The day that we didn’t have water…I was worried, what if we had a fire? There is no way to put it out. I’m really concerned of the lack of water pressure and wanted to know why does the water pressure go down in the afternoon?
8. Ron Hunt from Highpoint Lake Estates, “I’m concerned about the timing and that you had to have known about these issues. You can’t just throw this at us for one day and then make a change the next day. And then the next day we are out of water. That is unacceptable!”
9. A man in a blue t-shirt asked, “How are you notifying customers? I haven’t received a notification. Do we have to go to the website to check everyday to figure out what’s going on with your company? You have our phone numbers.”
10. Renzo Bulgarelli asked, “How many more meters will you issue before you change our infrastructure?”
11. Michael Easter, Chisholm Crossing, “When there is low water pressure there is intrusion problems. My concern is we have people who have compromised immune systems. How are we helping for those who may need to know what to do without looking at the internet like the boil notices? I have worked on poison hotlines, toxicologists, when you have these types of concerns of public health you have to let people know what’s going on.”
12. Dave Turner from Highpoint Ranch shared, “This is my 4th or 5th visit to this meeting. Over the past 18 years, every year that I come it is the same problem continuing and it is getting worse! Low water pressure. I know we have a high growth area. It’s incredible to me that we have not gotten ahead of that problem. We have degraded. So what’s our plan?”
13. Richard Brown, Bluebonnet Ridge, “You haven’t had a board election in two years. You have a deceased person that has been dead for over two years that has been a board of director. According to the secretary of state you have been behind on your corporate filings. And you can’t give us water. And we are tired of it. I have heard it for 15 damn years. North Texas is not going to let you on to be a customer.”
14. Another resident asked, “As a customer with an outdoor sprinkler system, I need 20 gallons a minute at 35 psi through a 3/4 inch meter when will you provide that?”
15. A Chisholm Crossing woman said, “There is no financial information that we can find. Let’s talk about the rates. You go to PUC, the last tariff and the rate you are charging us don’t align. There was no communication that I am aware of. Or justification. There is a big disconnect that requires explanation to the members. I feel like we are talking and asking questions. But there is no response. How are we going to get answers to the information that we are asking for? Help me connect the dots how to get these things resolved.”
16. McLendon-Chisholm Mayor Pro Tem Trudy Woessner, “You said you are asking for 700 more in addition to the 2,550. Is that including the build out of Sonoma Verde? Did you give permission to Heritage Development to serve water?”
17. McLendon-Chisholm Council Member Bryan McNeal, “I have not gathered a whole lot of empathy in the situation that we are in from what I have been able to witness today. Whether from yourself or the board. Most of the complaints that I get from people who have reached out to me is when they call this place. Man, you are treated like a red headed stepchild from another world. If that has not been addressed by now shame on the board. Shame on whomever answers the phone. In my world, in the businesses that I run…that person would have been fired. Unfortunately, it appears you can’t do that. I also have not seen anyone say anything about what would have happened if this drought wouldn’t have happen? Were you even pre-planning anything else? Or were you just hoping to get by another year?”
Engineer Takes The Floor To Discuss Tech Details
Eddy Daniel the engineer has been the main point person that communicates with the City of Rockwall and their public works department on behalf of RCH WS. This is not a standard way of conducting business. Usually the board directs the administrative officer to manage on their behalf.
Mr. Eddy Daniel was open to answer questions. The contract with Rockwall is supplying us on a month to month basis.
The City of Rockwall has sent a letter to NTMWD that they are in support of RCH to be a direct customer on January 28, 2022. I spoke with Mary Smith, Rockwall City Administrator regarding the support letter. I am awaiting for an open records request to be completed to include that letter for visual confirmation.
RCH Water Supply is in the Process of Becoming A Direct Customer
Eddy continued, “We made an application with NTMWD based on our growth number and usage. NTMWD had their consultant Freese and Nichols do a study and we got word July 1, 2022 that NTMWD can give RCH water at this location.”
We have 2,550 active connections. [View EXHIBIT 1]
As of April 22, 2022 we have given a letter to Rockwall that gives exactly the same numbers that we made the official request to NTMWD. Per the referenced chart RCH is requesting an additional 700 connections so that it will give us the ability to grow a little bit on their system while we are getting off on to NTMWD. We intend to purchase water from NTMWD on a 42 inch line. [View EXHIBIT 1 & 2]
Eddy Daniel the engineer went back to the City of Rockwall that we got approval from NTMWD for this new site. Now Rockwall has to agree to our request to get us off. This is a requirement from NTMWD for the City of Rockwall to approve or not approve to allow us off. Rockwall is a NTMWD member and they have to approve every step of us getting off of them. However, the City of Rockwall attorney has not sent us a response.
The next step is if Rockwall’s attorney gives us approval and if we get that soon. The very next step to do after that is two things:
1) Go execute a contract with NTMWD which is ready to go.
2) Next we have to buy a site to build the pump station and then we have to get right-of-way to get from that location to our system.
Proposed 500,000 Elevated Storage | Water Tower
The developer donated the site of the corner of Edwards and League Road and it still needs to be platted by the City of McLendon-Chisholm. Once the final plat is approved then we can move forward with the construction process which is approximately a 12 to 14 month deal. RCH does have the authority to condemn property. You can get a right-of-entry very early to start the project when you ultimately know you are going to get the site.
What is the plan to improve our capacity and water pressure?
Currently our 500,000 elevated tank meets all the TCEQ requirements. The requirements state 200 gallons of elevated storage per connection. This new elevated storage tank will be a duplicate of what we already have at the take point and the pump station. It will make a million gallons of elevated storage an inner connection with 12 inch waterlines that have been installed. We have requested from the NTMWD for a new take point by buying water on the 42 inch line north of Terrell and we will bring in a new line up to the system. At the take point where we make connection we will have a pump station with a ground storage tank. Then when we pump water to our system for the Highpoint Ranch area and then we build another pump station there. 500,000 at the take point and 500,000 at the new pump station to be located near the Highpoint Ranch area. Then it will pump into the system hopefully into the new elevated tank. So we will have five times the amount of storage that is required by TCEQ per connection. That is 200 gallons per connection.
When will the construction begin?
When we get approval from McLendon-Chisholm, we will be ready to start the elevated tank construction and if we are real fortunate it will start by August 2023. An elevated storage tank is a 400 day construction.
The original contractor that would break ground is not going to honor their original quote, because steel prices are going up. Eddy Daniel went to Planning & Zoning, it went to the City Planner (Mike Coker) then it went to the City Engineer (Dub Douphrate), “We have not gotten a response for months. We still do not know the final requirements from the McLendon-Chisholm City Engineer (Dub Douphrate). We have to add landscaping and brick columns. There is a combination of timing of all this too. There was a switching of a new city administrator to the City Engineer being busy. It is solely not anybody’s fault.”
On June 16, 2022, McLendon-Chisholm P&Z Commissioner Robert Rhode motioned to table this item because this has not been approved by our city engineer until the next P&Z meeting. Motioned approved.
On June 28, 2022 McLendon-Chisholm City Council Member Lorna Kipphut made the motion to approve the application of RCH Water Supply Corporation for the Development/Site/Landscape Plans for a one-acre tract of land located in the Sonoma Verde Planned Development District for compliance with the requirements for approval of the plans subject to conditions set forth by the City Planner (Mike Coker). Motioned Approved.
What are the costs for this water infrastructure project improvement?
RCH’s new water tower bid was at $2.3 million dollars. However, there will be an increase of the steel and concrete prices. The take point of the NTMWD pump station and the other pump station on the system is a $6.5 million dollar project. Then the waterline that has to connect them and tie into the elevated tank is $5 million dollars. Combined is a $13 million to $14 million dollars of improvements that are planned. We haven’t acquired right-of-way or sites, because we can’t. We do not have approval from Rockwall yet. We expect to get it, but we do not have it.
What is the intended capacity in connection with the 42 inch line?
What RCH turned into NTMWD is a population growth of 18,000 which is 6,126 connections.
How many million gallons per day with the new plans for storage?
The max gallons per day is 5.16 mgd.
So why in the middle of the night does it go down?
RCH operators throttles the system back the entire time.
Why are people having no water?
Because of the demand.
Will this storage tank improve to increase the water pressure?
No, that’s only one piece.
What is the normal usage per day?
Eddy Daniel shared a chart that was prepared by Rockwall on how much is the current daily usage for July 2022 (He held up a chart at the RCH Board Meeting. I’m awaiting for Rockwall to deliver the open records request for visual confirmation).
He continued, according to NTMWD, the normal usage per day with an average 3 persons household is 100 gallons per person per day in Texas. On July 8, 2022, RCH was using 400 gallons per person. Four times the state limit.
Eddy Daniel elaborated that the average for July 2022 is 2.7 mgd. RCH customers uses 3 to 4 times the average usage per customer in the summer. Which is about 280 gallons per person. He believes that it is related to outdoor watering. Eddy Daniel claims out of ALL his clients that he has worked with that RCH has the highest usage amount.
Was RCH WS contacted by Rockwall before July 13, 2022?
Eddy Daniel claims he received an email from the city of Rockwall of the rationing the day before July 13, 2022 and then forwarded the information on that they were limiting the usage to 2.1 mgd.
Does the City of McLendon-Chisholm buy water from RCH WS?
RCH WS serves part of the residents in McLendon-Chisholm. The City of McLendon-Chisholm does not buy water from RCH WS.
How much of that $13 million dollars is in the reserve?
Eddy Daniel, “You would have to ask the board. I suspect some of this will be financed and some of it will come out of reserve.”
After RCH spends $14 million dollars for these improvements, will I get the 20 gallons a minute at 35 psi through a 3/4 inch meter when will you provide that?
Eddy Daniel said, “If we can get the 3 million gallons from Rockwall right now, because we are able to take that much water. We are able to pump that much water, but Rockwall has limited RCH WS to 2.1 mgd.”
Eddy Daniel also claims that Rockwall doesn’t have the water, “Rockwall is growing just like everybody so they are limiting RCH WS. Keep in mind that the 2.1 mgd is actually 280 gallons per person. The 2.1 mgd is still not addressing the pressure. We have gone to the average of 1.7 mgd. RCH WS is not pushing that pressure now. We can pump it, but we can’t get the water amount from Rockwall. At 2.1 mgd the valve shuts and the system dewaters completely. We can’t afford it. What happens is you aim for less than the amount so you limit the amount of water coming in so that you don’t hit the wall and zero water in the system. We are limiting the amount of water to get into the system so that we won’t totally run out of water in the system.”
Eddy Daniel also shared, the Sonoma Verde Development has 5 Phases that have already been approved and all will be served currently with RCH WS. Heritage Development has started construction, but we have not given them any meters and do not have a will serve letter. Rockwall will not allow us to issue a will serve letter to the Heritage Development.
Interim Contract Discussion
How much water did you request from Rockwall to accommodate us until we become a NTMWD customer?
Eddy Daniel believes that we will have enough to carry us through the next 2 years until we are on with NTMWD. He requested from Rockwall to buy water for 3,250 meters, because they realize that we use much more water.
How can we get water pressure from RCH WS?
Here is what will change that:
1) When we can get some rain. That would just help, because usage just drops almost automatically when it rains.
2) When Rockwall approves the letter and agrees to let RCH WS move forward. RCH WS is hoping Rockwall will release more water to the customers.
So once those two things happen RCH WS can pump a lot more. RCH WS can’t do anything as long as Rockwall is holding to a minimum of 2.1 mgd.
The reason why we have pressure issues is because RCH WS has reduced the flow into the system. RCH WS limits the amount, because if RCH WS doesn’t the water will all suck out and we will run totally out of water.
What is the clause “Take or Pay”?
A provision in the contracts, referred to as “Take or Pay,” requires municipalities or NTMWD customers to pay for, and presumably purchase, the same amount of water as its highest total, called a cap, on an annual basis. That provision keeps cities and towns paying for the equivalent of the highest usage, until that usage is surpassed. Then, the new maximum supersedes the old one.
Eddy Daniel shared, “You can’t take more than you need. As you grow, the take and pay increases. So as the system grows you buy more water. Your eligible contract water increases automatically. Your grand total for the year regardless if it is 1.7 mgd for 6 months or less. The total amount for the year is divided by 12 months. So we buy annually. We use it monthly. We only use high volume in the summer. So we don’t reach our maximum of what we purchased.”
How are the meters issued?
Art Rodriguez the attorney, “The Drought Contingency Plan Stage 4 for no new applications well it doesn’t talk about new or existing or requested from existing contracts. That’s actually only for new application for service. We are bound to do so by TCEQ and the PUC to continue to provide that service. The fact there are new meters being issued is not necessarily they are new service requests. Our jurisdiction is in the provision of water so we can’t tell builders they can’t lay down landscaping or sod to avoid using the water. It’s common for a municipality to have ordinances for landscaping, but we are a water service provider. The board doesn’t have any control over the HOA.”
And what did the Board say…
Steve Hatfield stood up, “We do not get paid. We are elected and we serve for free. We live under the same rules as ya’ll do. You can look at my lawn it is just as burned up just like yours. We are in this with ya’ll. If you think we are trying to make it easy on us–you are sadly mistaken. We are in this together. We are going through the same stuff with the same rules. We are just trying to figure out how to get this taken care of. In the end, forgive me, we only get so much water up there (points to the RCH tower) and we have to make it work for everyone down here. We can’t get any more water. And we can’t stop you people from using the water. We can ask you not to. And we tried to explain that. What can we do?”
Many from the audience responded, “Better communication!”
Steve Hatfield apologized, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what else we could have done to alleviate this process. Last year, we put in new lines and we did not have any problems. Nothing like the year before.”
Another customer calmly said, “I understand that you all are volunteers, but by accepting this position you have accepted the responsibility to do the job. And to do it so that we don’t get into these situations.”
Steve Hatfield, “I agree with you 100%, but there is a limit to what we have control over to change. The Board realizes and it takes responsibility that there hasn’t been good information disseminated on our website. We do understand that when you call up here sometimes you are treated rudely. We apologize for that and it is our plan to try to rectify that. We are caught in a bad spot here. We have had to deal with municipalities that have been virtually shut down by COVID. We have had a difficult time working with engineers. COVID is not an excuse, but it posed a huge hurtle for businesses. We are committed to turn this around. We can only say in going forward. We can’t change what has happened in the past. We take full responsibility, and you are right, even as volunteers. We need to do a better job. So we are going to do a better job. I am making notes here. We are going to get the bylaws on the website. We are going to try to put a synopsis of what you heard today on the website. On the website you can see our usage figures. There is a place to get notifications on the website. We are your neighbors. We are not trying to make this hard and stick our heads in the sand. The lady who normally puts those items on the website is out with COVID. Look I am a 78 year old man and I can tell you I could have done a better job and I didn’t. I apologize. I can try to rectify it. We are going to work hard to get this straightened out and I don’t know what to say besides that. We got to make some changes here internally.”
Steve Hatfield added regarding holding board directors election, “You know that could fall on that list of many things that we talked about. That is going to be rectified too. I am the replacement for the person who passed away.”
Jackie Pullen noted to look into increasing the $400.00 electronic payment method.
Before closing the board meeting Jackie Pullen shared, “You’re frustrated. I had to sell 111 cows the other day because of this drought and no rain. I spent years and years on this cattle getting them to where I wanted them. I’m getting old and I probably won’t be able to rebuild my herd like I wanted to. It’s not just drinking water. It’s everything. I appreciate you saying that we are in this together. I guarantee you we are going to work on it. We got an engineer there (pointing to Eddy Daniel) that is on top of everything. And I guarantee that we will get this problem solved. It’s not going to be an overnight deal.”
Many attendees told the RCH Board that we are a community of professionals and many offered to help from land surveying to administrative work or even to march to raise cane. Overall to be transparent and to improve their communication–especially when they need help.
Unfortunately, the immediate infrastructure problem(s) is not going to be addressed quickly. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE ADMINISTRATION???
Getting passed how the meeting was conducted, hearing from the engineer Eddy Daniel and the board apologizing that they are going to do better and rectify the administration problems. Learning about the new take point, elevated storage projects, applying to be a direct customer to NTMWD, awaiting the two years in a perfect scenario that it would take to get a new tower to be installed and that homeowners will still have the water pressure issues.
What Is The FASTEST SOLUTION To Remedy
The Administration Problem?
Mr. Pullen should use the agenda sample in Figure 2 to call for a Special Meeting. Contact the local paper with the agenda to post in the newspaper, post on the website, send a text alert to the subscribers of the website link of the notice, print and post it on the window.
On the day of the meeting the Chair would open the meeting by calling it into order and read the agenda item one. Another director should make a motion to call for an RCH WS Election for a minimum of (3) three directors. Another director should second the motion and hopefully all will say they are all in favor of the motion. Then it will pass. Then the Chair will go to the next order of business to discussion and take action for an appointment for (3) three directors to serve until the May 2023 election. Another director should motion to make an appointment for (3) three of the (6) six applicants that was provided to them by mail and in-person. Then another director should second that motion to accept candidates. Vote all in favor. Accept. Move to next item on the agenda to accept (3) three director resignation letters. Motion to accept. Vote all in favor. Move to the next item on the agenda. Invite Justice of the Peace Mark Russo to swear in the newly appointed directors. Adjourn the meeting.
If these actions are taken it sure would give peace of mind to our local partners and customers that things are changing genuinely. How much longer do you want to wait before or after the water runs out again? Or God forbid a loss of life, because we did not have adequate water supply or how about another boiling water notice? We are not living in the dark ages that it takes a horseman to run a letter into the next town over to let them know a disaster happened. If the directors are sincere and they know they have not been compliant then this would be a good start to turn the RCH WS ship around.
Will Three Directors Take An Honorable Exit?
Many RCH WS Board Directors are nice people. They have each served our community in a number of ways. We can honor them with grace and dignity. The August Board Meeting was probably a humbling experience and they did the best they know how to do things. A few admitted there are some things that they are behind in the times in and they do realize that they are just not capable to manage this volunteer position.
This is about providing quality water service. If RCH WS continues to not operate in a manner that does not comply with the requirements for classifications as a nonprofit water supplier then customers need to take action by filing with the local district attorney.
Things to be on the look out for this week:
- Robin Baley, H20 Services should have the doors unlocked for public records to be available for public inspection during regular business hours.
- McLendon-Chisholm City Council Meeting RCH Water Supply Presentation on Tuesday, August 9, 2022 at 6:30pm.
- RCH Website Updates with August 3, 2022 Board Meeting Synopsis, bylaws, calling for election/appointment information on an agenda, addressing the increase of the $400.00 electronic payment method, list proposed projects, current project updates, listing a job opportunity for a new administrative officer, relinking the board of director page to the drop down menu, posting annual certified audits and Robin Baley‘s resignation letter as an administrative officer.
If you read all that and you are still thirsty for more you should come on down to the McLendon-Chisholm City Hall to take part in citizen comments. As always I would love to hear some feedback please reach out to me and comment below. Simply click yes if asked, “Would you like to receive notifications on latest updates?”