RPMUD Agenda for Meeting Today, Thursday, September 25

Meeting at 4 pm on Thursday, 9/25:

1. Confirm minutes of 8/28 meeting

2. Comments from the public

3. Yearly review of public fund investment act policy

4. Approve/Sign 2008 amendment to "Statement of directors furnishing information" required by Sec. 49.453 Texas Water Code.

5. Report findings of storm drainage boxes in district.

6. Discuss letter from District Attorney

7. Discuss complaint from the Judges to TCEQ

8. Authorize pay estimate #1 from Schier Construction

9. Review Administrative reports

10. Discuss any new or unfinished business.

Thanks

Dolores Judge
936/321-4890 or 936/273-3777

Ike Damage in RP

We left for Dallas on Thursday, Sept. 11, because I have family here and we just didn't want to stick around. Reports I'm getting from in-laws whom stayed behind is that our next door neighbors, the Stroope's, had a tree tear into their roof. We have a pine tree that has fallen into another group of trees and is being held up right now by those trees. We also have a tree that took out part of our fence and is resting on our garage, but apparently we have no damage from trees. Shirley Rogers has multiple damage points from trees. One took out part of the side of her house. Another took out her electricity meter. I don't know about the rest of the houses on Marymont Park. Apparently there is a lot of debris from limbs and fallen trees on Braxton Bragg. I'll be making a day trip on either Tuesday or Wednesday (JSC is likely closed all week and since I don't have to go to work, I'm going to stay where we have electricity and A/C for as long as I can). I will try to help my neighbors as much as I can while I'm there for the day and will help some more when we return for good. How has everyone else fared? I suspect the front part of the subdivision is worse off than the back half because the front half is older (older trees...more problems).

RPMUD August Meeting Update

The meeting lasted two hours and forty minutes. So, I will give you the highlights and some other information I discovered. It was quite a vocal meeting. Residents are not happy, but we haven't been happy for months.

As many of you have requested, Dick made the motion to start the meetings at 7:00 pm. It will start in January for a three-month trial. If residents do not show up at that hour, the meeting time will revert to 4:00 p.m. All directors voted for it, except Max Mahaffey.

On 8/1/08 I requested the most current Income & Expense report for this year. Richard Ramirez referred me back to the one the directors were given at the July meeting. That was only a two-line report, so I again requested one with the breakdown of expenses and income. I received the report at the 8/11 meeting, as did all of the directors.

I could not figure it out. I & E are divided into two reports: Maintenance and General Operating Fund. On 8/12 I requested a list of RPMUD employees, giving their job title(s), whether full- or part-time, salary or wages, benefits, vacation time and any other perks, incentives or additional income received. On 8/18 I received a list showing General Manager - Richard Ramirez, Salary - $31.83/hr., Office Manager - Ginger Seyfang, Salary - $24.75/hr., Maintenance Supervisor - David Ramirez, Salary - $18.04/hr., Sewer Treatment Plant Operator - David Bailey, Salary - $22.61/hr. The office assistant and three laborers round out the group with hourly rates from $10.00 to $14.58. Well, I still could not match this information to the budget, so I requested the total compensation in 2007 for those listed. On 8/26 the reply came back as $273,742. I guess I was not very clear. I then requested the total compensation for each employee.

On 8/12 I also requested a copy of the resume of Richard Ramirez. For some reason, we thought he came directly from Del Lago. However, his resume shows that he was the maintenance man at Autumnwood Apartments for over two years before he started working at RPMUD. Autumnwood is located in back of the shopping center that includes the theater and Hobby Lobby, at the southeast area of I-45 and North Loop 336.

Back to the meeting. When it was asked why RPMUD is building this plant, Bob Harvill expounded on the need for this plant for fire protection. As noted earlier, the Volunteer Fire Department uses from 250 gallons to 5,000 gallons to put out a fire, and needs hydrants not a tank. A 500,000-gallon tank can handle from 100 to 2,000 home fires. I think if we have that many fires, we may not have enough people to handle the hoses. When the home burned in Mosswood a few weeks ago, it did not affect the water pressure, even though some water was taken from the hydrant. I wonder why there was no one from the Volunteer Fire Department to give credence to the meeting in January, when the engineer gave the presentation showing that we needed this tank for fire protection. Apparently, the VFD was not told about the meeting. Ramirez also said we are using more water in the summer, so we need this tank. Duh! (I hate that word, but it fits this situation.) Conservation was again mentioned by a resident. It has been brought up at numerous meetings, and it is met with disdain. Ramirez figures it would only cut consumption by 10%. Well, 10% is 10%.

I will ask Reed Watson, who runs our blog - riverplantationforum.blogspot.com - to add Conservation Tips. We'll update this section with links to water conservation sites. Received the following tips from Kathy Jones, Manager of the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District: Turn off water while brushing teeth - save 6 gallons a day; cut 5 minutes off your shower - save 12 gallons a day; avoid sprinkler runoff - save thousands of gallons a year; water early or late - save 25 gallons a day; water an inch a week - all your lawn really needs.

Tink Strzinek, newly elected president of the RP Garden Club, will check with the Club's Master Gardeners and supply us with names of native plants. In case you are thinking of adding anything to your landscape, you might want to consider native plants. They require less care and less water. If anyone has any conservation ideas that they would like to add, please let me know, and we'll post them to the blog.

Dippel's 7-17-08 letter regarding Posting of Notices was discussed. This old group still doesn't get it. Robert Smith thanked Jack and Dick for bringing this to the board's attention, "even if not required." Dick showed a list of 52 MUDs that post outside their offices. EPUD is one of them. Ramirez still insists they don't have to post outside. Dick gave out the phone numbers of the Attorney General's office -877/673-6839, and also the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas - foift.org - 800/580-6651. Bob Harvill was the only one who took down the phone numbers.

In response to a complaint about the large openings in drainage collection boxes, large enough for a child to fall through, Dick requested that the MUD manager look into the situation and report back at the next meeting.

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Don't forget the CROW trip to Austin on Wednesday, 9/24. Call Jennifer Real to reserve a seat. The info is on the blog - riverplantationforum.blogspot.com.

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Next RPMUD board meeting is Thursday, 9/25.

Toxic Wells / TCEQ / TexCom Hearing Date Set

Stop The Toxic Wells / CROW

TCEQ HEARING DATE SET
September 24, 2008 Austin Texas (1:00pm)

This is it folks “THE” date we have all been waiting for.
Come one come ALL we need everyone to attend this hearing.
We MUST fill a minimum of 4 buses to fill the hearing rooms…This is critical. Come show your support for your community and your opposition to the injection well permits. You are making a stand to save your home, your business, your life and the lives of your family.
There is no option but to attend.

Email me today with you commitment and or to reserve your seat on the bus to jreal1@peoplepc.com
*** Experts please call me to get date to get together and plan.

Buses will leave @ 9:00 am and return?? (That evening)
Pick up locations:
1. Conroe - Lone Star Convention Center ( address & map will be sent to all confirmed seat holders)
2. Woodlands - Kroger’s @ Alden Bridge

Donation of $10 per person is appreciated to help cover bus cost but not mandatory. Our priority is to fill the buses.

SIGNS
We need people to purchase signs to advertise this hearing. The cost is $5 per sign. Email me right away if you would like one, two, three etc... jreal1@peoplepc.com
· Great idea – put them in your car window and when you go to the Mall or Market Street etc.. Everyone will see them.

Volunteer Help Needed
1. To go door to door with flyers for hearing.
2. Help us call people on our petitions that do not have email to advise of hearing date.
Email me if you can help out with this jreal1@peoplepc.com

Meeting set for Grangerland Fire Dept. Sept. 4th 2008 7pm
This meeting will confirm bus info. Plan from lawyers as what to expect and what happens after hearing. We will also have flyers for door to door distribution, signs and more info.
Address and directions to follow shortly..

Thanks everyone for everything. This is it don’t stop now tell EVERYONE you can and tell them to do the same.

Jennifer Real – jreal1@peoplepc.com or call me @
936-499-7173 or 936-756-5726

RPMUD 8/28 meeting

The following list of items will be discussed at the 8/28 meeting:

1. Public hearing on the tax rates

2. Confirm minutes of 7/24 and 8/11 meetings.

3. Comments from the public.

4. Representative will discuss chlorine gas.

5. Review/approve FYE 2009 budgets.

6. Consider, adopt and set 2008 tax rate.

7. Review/approve change orders nos. 2 and 3.

8. Confirm protocol on legal inquiries directed at the District.

9. Confirm costs in responding to Open Records Act.

10. Discuss Dippel's 7/17 letter to District regarding Posting of Notices.

11. Discuss open storm drainage collection boxes in district.

12. Review/vote for board for TX Municipal League Intergovernmental Risk Pool

13. Discuss changing meeting time.

14. Review administrative reports.

15. Discuss any new or unfinished business

Postal Service Delivery Issue

I know that the toxic wells and the water treatment plant are hot issues right now, but I have a minor little issue that I wanted to see if others were having a problem with lately with the USPS in our neighborhood. The postal carrier has gotten into the habit over the past couple of months or so of leaving packages balanced on top of mailboxes instead of placing them on the front doorstep or leaving a package pickup slip. I have several issues with this. First of all, it makes for a tempting target for mischievous teenagers or strangers driving through the neighborhood. Secondly, it leaves the package exposed to the weather (I have picked up a package that was totally drenched by the rain before because it rained that very afternoon after the mail was delivered). Thirdly, there is no telling how long the package may sit out there if a resident is out of town for a day or two which goes back to my first point regarding mischievous teenagers or strangers.

Does anyone else have this issue? I've noticed a couple of folks with packages on top of their mailboxes as well on Braxton Bragg. I'm assuming we have a new carrier on the route and he/she just doesn't want to make the effort to keep the packages safe and out of the elements.

Open Meetings Act Violations

When Dick Judge and Jack Curtsinger were sworn in as directors on the RPMUD board in May, they were required by Texas law, effective January 1, 2006, to receive training in Texas open government laws. There were no "grandfather" provisions. All public officials must comply, including those elected before that date.



A memo from Smith, Murdaugh, Little & Bonham, attorneys, giving instructions for the training, contained the following paragraph:



"The law imposes no specific penalty on officials who fail to attend open government training. The purpose of the new law is not to punish public officials, but to foster open government by making open government education a recognized obligation of public service. Despite this lack of a penalty provision, the Attorney General has cautioned that a deliberate failure to comply with the training requirements could result in an increased risk of criminal prosecution should one ever be accused of violating the Open Meetings Act or the Public Information Act."



After Dick and Jack went through the training, it was discovered that there is a requirement of a 72-hour continuous notice to the public before the meeting. RPMUD posts notices on the bulletin board in their office and inside the courthouse. This has been a bone of contention between the residents and the board, because the residents were not kept apprised of the workings of RPMUD. RPMUD kept insisting their postings were "legal."



At the June board meeting, Jack presented a letter to the board and the RPMUD attorney, Charles Dippel with Andrews Kurth, notifying them of the possible violation and asking what effect this would have on prior actions. Board director, Bob Harvill noted, after hearing this, that they have been illegal for 38 years.



At the July board meeting, the attorney's response was on the agenda. No information has given to the directors prior to the meeting on this item. Ramirez read the response from the attorney, which in effect said RPMUD has been legal and all MUDs post as RPMUD posts. If they wanted to post on the window of the MUD office, it was OK with him (the attorney).

Dippel cites 49.063 of the Water Code, but ignores Section 551.043(a) of the Open Meetings Act, which reads "notice...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..." At the July board meeting, a notice was posted on the window in front of the RPMUD office and in the open garage of the courthouse. We don't know where Dippel is getting his information. It does not appear he read the Open Meetings Act. East Plantation posts their notices outside for all to see. The Woodlands, Walden, April Sound, Del Lago, Bentwater, any and all the ones we contacted are very diligent about posting where the public has 72 hours of continuous access. It seems that every MUD takes the Open Meetings Act seriously except our MUD.



Dick demanded a copy of the attorney's letter. Ramirez did not have copies for the directors, but gave Dick his copy after the meeting.



At the July meeting, Ramirez said the legal fees were around $11,000 and the election costs were $10,000, when the budget was being discussed. Harvill said that now people will know why they needed to remove the tax cap. I requested copies of the attorneys' invoices for 2008 and found that they total $18,162, through July 9. We have two legal firms working for us. Dippel's average hour charge is over $500 and Smith's is about $155. The Woodlands MUD I contacted only uses one law firm, and could not understand why we had two. One other rather interesting item is that the attorneys only talk to Ramirez and Ginger. Did not see any board member's names on the invoices. Some of the items on the invoices, it would appear, could have been answered by Election Central, the Attorney General's Handbooks on Open Meetings and Public Information, Robert's Rules of Order, the governmental entities' 800 number to the Attorney General's office, etc.

Stay tuned.