The board meeting this month will be held on Wednesday, May 19, at 4:00 p.m.,
at the MUD office on RP Drive, in conjunction with the meeting to certify the election results. New directors are Tommy Frank, Ken Meneke and Ed Blackburne, Jr.
1. Confirm minutes
2. Comments from the public
3. Order canvassing returns and declaring results of directors election
4. Approve certificates of election and qualifications of newly elected
directors; accept oaths and statements of elected officials; qualify
newly elected officials; disclosure statement for for newly elected
directors; open meeting and open records training for newly elected
directors; election of officers.
5. Approve/sign resolution authorizing qualified directors to sign
documents on behalf of RPMUD
6. Discuss/award bid for sewer treatment plant belt press
7. Review administrative reports
8. Discuss any new or unfinished business
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Election Results
Congratulations!!!
1. Tommy Frank - 106 - Winner
2. Ken Meneke - 139 - Winner
3. Mark Robin - 77
4. Tony George -36
5. Bob Smith - 80
6. Shannon Schaefer - 77
7. Ed Blackburne, Jr. - 229 - Winner
8. Ben Waters -62
1,720 registered voters. 293 ballots. 17.03%
1. Tommy Frank - 106 - Winner
2. Ken Meneke - 139 - Winner
3. Mark Robin - 77
4. Tony George -36
5. Bob Smith - 80
6. Shannon Schaefer - 77
7. Ed Blackburne, Jr. - 229 - Winner
8. Ben Waters -62
1,720 registered voters. 293 ballots. 17.03%
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
RPMUD Director Election - Saturday - May 8 at Cornerstone Church
See list of candidates below. This is an extremely important election. Your three choices will determine if we have sound judgment on issues vital to our community or keep the status quo. Check back to see the results after the polls close.
Squelching a Rumor
I was going to do a quick squelch of the rumors floating around, but started giving more thought to the one about the plant.
It is being said that moving the plant will cost $300,000 to $500,000 or more, and it will cost each person $2,500. It didn't cost that much to erect, so how could it cost that much to move? Also, we have an average of 950 connections in RPMUD. If a charge were made to each home, not to each person, the total would be $2,375,000. Who is pocketing the $2,000,000?
According to Ramirez, the cost of the plant was $760,500. The tank cost $161,800 for material, $31,600 to erect and $1,000 for sterilization. The generator will have to stay with the well, and it costs $73,600, so that amount can be eliminated. The 25,000-gallon pneumatic tank costs $82,400 with $7,000 for installation. The two 700-gpm booster pumps costs $8,600 and installation $4,000. The booster pumps and hydropneumatic tank can be picked up and moved. This is not a complicated facility. Please take a moment to look at it and pick up a copy of the contractor's cost breakdown at the MUD office. Another option would be to sell the components and recoup some of the money.
We have to remember that this plant was erected for the property across the freeway. While you are in the office getting the contractor's report, ask for Bleyl's justification letter to the TCEQ, which goes into great detail about the water needs for the project across the freeway. The directors responsible are denying it is for the I-45 land, even going so far to say that Bleyl, the district's engineer, misstated the reasons in his letter. All of us at that board meeting insisted the board request that Bleyl send another letter to the TCEQ with the correct information. As you might have guessed, that request went nowhere, because the letter was accurate.
Why didn't the developer pay for the project as is the norm? and place it on his land? From the notes in the minutes, it appears that the engineer for the developer did all of the negotiating. We have spent over $850,000 (including engineering, fencing and landscaping) for this project. The old board went ahead with this project before even an acre was sold of the I-45 land. It is still vacant. Isn't that a little risky? Did the developer even have letters of intent? That engineer certainly negotiated a sweet deal for his client. If any of the old directors had checked with the city of Conroe or other MUDs, they might have found that developers pay for the infrastructure. Were these directors so interested in getting tax money that they dove right in without doing their homework? The odd thing is that we would get tax money anyway. This property is in our district. Even if the developer uses the city of Conroe's water line, which is in front of the property, the water bills go through us, and we collect a fee. We weren't going to lose anything. But we paid the price and made the developer happy.
It is being said that moving the plant will cost $300,000 to $500,000 or more, and it will cost each person $2,500. It didn't cost that much to erect, so how could it cost that much to move? Also, we have an average of 950 connections in RPMUD. If a charge were made to each home, not to each person, the total would be $2,375,000. Who is pocketing the $2,000,000?
According to Ramirez, the cost of the plant was $760,500. The tank cost $161,800 for material, $31,600 to erect and $1,000 for sterilization. The generator will have to stay with the well, and it costs $73,600, so that amount can be eliminated. The 25,000-gallon pneumatic tank costs $82,400 with $7,000 for installation. The two 700-gpm booster pumps costs $8,600 and installation $4,000. The booster pumps and hydropneumatic tank can be picked up and moved. This is not a complicated facility. Please take a moment to look at it and pick up a copy of the contractor's cost breakdown at the MUD office. Another option would be to sell the components and recoup some of the money.
We have to remember that this plant was erected for the property across the freeway. While you are in the office getting the contractor's report, ask for Bleyl's justification letter to the TCEQ, which goes into great detail about the water needs for the project across the freeway. The directors responsible are denying it is for the I-45 land, even going so far to say that Bleyl, the district's engineer, misstated the reasons in his letter. All of us at that board meeting insisted the board request that Bleyl send another letter to the TCEQ with the correct information. As you might have guessed, that request went nowhere, because the letter was accurate.
Why didn't the developer pay for the project as is the norm? and place it on his land? From the notes in the minutes, it appears that the engineer for the developer did all of the negotiating. We have spent over $850,000 (including engineering, fencing and landscaping) for this project. The old board went ahead with this project before even an acre was sold of the I-45 land. It is still vacant. Isn't that a little risky? Did the developer even have letters of intent? That engineer certainly negotiated a sweet deal for his client. If any of the old directors had checked with the city of Conroe or other MUDs, they might have found that developers pay for the infrastructure. Were these directors so interested in getting tax money that they dove right in without doing their homework? The odd thing is that we would get tax money anyway. This property is in our district. Even if the developer uses the city of Conroe's water line, which is in front of the property, the water bills go through us, and we collect a fee. We weren't going to lose anything. But we paid the price and made the developer happy.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Candidates for RPMUD Director Positions - May 8
Election Day - May 8, 2010, at Cornerstone Church, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
There are eight candidates running for the three director positions, which are four-year terms ending in 2014.
Pos. 1 Thomas L. Frank - Business Management degree from University of Houston.
Retired owner of a food brokerage business.
Pos. 2 Ken Meneke Engineering degree from U.S. Naval Academy. Served in
Navy from 1957 to 1968. Retired owner of a small business
Pos. 3 Mark Robin Civil engineering degree from the Air Force Academy.
Continental Airlines pilot. USAF Reserves. Served in Iraq & trains Army units deploying to Iraq & Afghanistan
Pos. 4 Anthony B. George Retired chiropractor with over 40 years' experience in the health
care field. Knowledge of chemistry of water.
Pos. 5 Incumbent
Pos. 6 Incumbent's friend
Pos. 7 Edward Blackburne, Jr. Owner of River Plantation Country Club,
Incredible Pizza and Tubular Perforating Manufacturing
Pos. 8 Incumbent's friend
These people named are proactive, talented, experienced, enthusiastic, committed and ready to work for the community. It is very important that we gain control of this MUD and start treating it like a business.
I am not mentioning the other three, because they want to keep the MUD the same as it has always been.
Please Vote on May 8!
There are eight candidates running for the three director positions, which are four-year terms ending in 2014.
Pos. 1 Thomas L. Frank - Business Management degree from University of Houston.
Retired owner of a food brokerage business.
Pos. 2 Ken Meneke Engineering degree from U.S. Naval Academy. Served in
Navy from 1957 to 1968. Retired owner of a small business
Pos. 3 Mark Robin Civil engineering degree from the Air Force Academy.
Continental Airlines pilot. USAF Reserves. Served in Iraq & trains Army units deploying to Iraq & Afghanistan
Pos. 4 Anthony B. George Retired chiropractor with over 40 years' experience in the health
care field. Knowledge of chemistry of water.
Pos. 5 Incumbent
Pos. 6 Incumbent's friend
Pos. 7 Edward Blackburne, Jr. Owner of River Plantation Country Club,
Incredible Pizza and Tubular Perforating Manufacturing
Pos. 8 Incumbent's friend
These people named are proactive, talented, experienced, enthusiastic, committed and ready to work for the community. It is very important that we gain control of this MUD and start treating it like a business.
I am not mentioning the other three, because they want to keep the MUD the same as it has always been.
Please Vote on May 8!
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