By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Writer’s note: This story is the first in a series of articles about Monday night’s town hall
meeting on the city’ proposed new water and wastewater rates.
City Manager Shawna Burkhart explained her recommendations for proposed increases in the
city’s water and wastewater rates during a town hall meeting at the civic center on Monday.
About 78 area residents attended the meeting, which was held in the Pecan Room at the Del Rio
Civic Center. During the three-hour-long session, Burkhart, Del Rio City Council members and
other city administrators and employees listened to complaints and answered questions about the
proposed new water and wastewater rates.
Before city officials and administrators heard from those who had signed up to address them
directly, Burkhart welcomed those attending the meeting, saying,
“We are glad that you have
joined us for the evening. . . We certainly want to hear from all of you that want to speak.”
Burkhart went over a list of “town hall decorum policy” guidelines “to ensure a respectful and
productive meeting.”
Burkhart noted Mayor Al Arreola and all six of the other city council members were in
attendance. Arreola and Councilman Jesus Lopez Jr., Councilwoman Ernestina “Tina” Martinez
and Councilwoman Carmen Gutierrez sat with Burkhart at the tables in front of the audience,
while Mayor Pro-tem Jim DeReus, Councilman J.P. Sanchez and Councilman Randy Quiñones
sat in the audience.
Burkhart began her presentation by playing a video “that kind of describes everything we’ve
done to date and everything we’re going to do in the future.”
Burkhart said after the video, she would begin calling the names on the list of persons who had
signed up to speak.
The video opened with a narrator saying, “Let’s talk about something we all just expect to work:
the water from our taps. For the community of Del Rio, making sure that water stays clean and
reliable has become a huge challenge, one that just can’t be put off any longer. So we’re going to
walk through the big issues, the crucial projects and the plan to make sure Del Rio’s water is
secure for the future.”
The video pointed out Del Rio’s water system infrastructure is old and getting older and less
reliable.
“We first have to get real about the problems Del Rio’s water system is up against right now. So
here’s how we’ll break it all down: First, we’ll look at the main challenge and just how old this
system really is. Then we’ll look at solutions, the big projects, how they’ll be funded and how
the public can be involved, and finally, we’ll talk about what this all means for Del Rio’s future,”
the narrator said.
The video, which lasted about six minutes, went over Del Rio’s “aging, strained” water treatment
and distribution systems. It mentioned the “crumbling” retaining wall around the East Springs
pond, one of two sites from which the city draws all of its raw drinking water for Del Rio, a
number of colonia neighborhoods outside the city limits and Laughlin Air Force Base.
Second, the video mentioned that a major sewer line serving the north side of the city “is
completely maxed out.”
“If that fails, we’re talking a major public health and environmental mess,” the narrator warned.
He went on: “Finally, looking ahead, the city might actually run short of water by 2040.”
The video looked at “how things got so bad.”
“Honestly, it comes down to money. For years, the rates people paid for water didn’t even cover
the basic costs of keeping the system running. That creates this vicious cycle where there was no
money, so repairs got delayed, which – you guessed it – made the problems we have today even
worse,” the narrator said.
The video said “the clear path forward” involved a series of projects “all about making the
system safe and reliable again.”
The video mentioned “two new wells” to back up the city’s existing drinking water supply sites.
After the video finished, Burkhart noted that was a misstatement.
She said the city is looking at
developing one new municipal well, not two.
The other two projects mentioned were the major sewer line to serve north Del Rio, repairing the
failing retaining wall at the East Springs and expanding and upgrading the city’s water treatment
plant.
The video then covered how the city plans to pay for the upgrades.
The narrator said the city is seeking out low-interest loans and grants wherever possible, but
added the proposed new – higher – water and wastewater rates “are the final piece” in the effort
to pay for the necessary system improvements.
“(The new rates) help cover operations and prove to the lenders that Del Rio is a good
investment,” the narrator said.
The video also emphasized the need for public trust and involvement in the process.
It reviewed the fact that the city had missed a required public hearing before new rates could be
approved and noted Monday’s town hall meeting was part of a process of information sharing. It
also said the council will hold the required public hearing at its meeting on Dec. 12 and likely
vote on the proposed new rates during its meeting on Dec. 16. If passed, the new rates will go
into effect Jan. 1.
After the video finished playing, Burkhart directed audience members to look at copies of the “City of Del Rio Water and Wastewater Rate Study” she had handed out before the meeting.
Burkhart asked audience members to look at one page in the study: “Revenue Requirement –
Water.”
She said, “If you’ll notice, we have talked a lot about debt for four major projects, three of which
are water-related and one of which is sewer-related. . . But I want you to see what a rate study
includes. It’s just not about debt for projects. It’s about cash for operating and maintenance.
That’s just to run the system today. The equivalent replacement, cash funding for capital projects
that we can fund on our own, through our own revenue streams and the utility fund, and then
finally, debt service.
“Debt service is how we make our payments, if you will. We make our payment on our
mortgages at home, monthly. We, too, at the city, have to make our payments, our debt service
payments for our loans and our certificates of obligation, that we take out, and we have to pay
those back.
“Sometimes those come with a grant, which is always wonderful. That’s free money, if you will,
toward our projects, but not all come with grants, so with that said, I just wanted to point to this
page as a reflection of what a utility rate study includes. Again, it’s cash for operating and
maintenance, equipment replacement, cash funding for capital projects and debt service,”
Burkhart said.
The city manager added, “I’d like to mention again what those top four projects are. Number
one, there was one error in here. It said a second well. That won’t come along for a while, so
that’s not figured into the rate study at this moment in time, but we do have one new municipal
well that is included in the rate study. We will be moving toward having that new municipal well.
We will also have repair and replacement of the crumbling wall at the East Springs on the San
Felipe Creek, where part of our water intake is. We have the West Springs and the East Springs,
but the East Springs is the one that’s in critical need.
“Then we have the San Felipe Water Treatment Plant. Those filters are supposed to last at least
10 years, but they don’t make them anymore, and so we have to start out early, three years ahead
of time, to replace those filters,” Burkhart said.
The fourth and final “critical” project is the expansion of the sewer line serving the north side of
Del Rio. Burkhart said if the city experiences a major rain event and the line overflows, the city
could incur steep fines from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Burkhart said, “The debt to address that sewer line is included in this rate study. Please know the
rate study includes more than just debt. It includes many different facets, but please note that
these are the debt projects, or the projects that we are issuing debt on and if we haven’t issued
debt already, we would actually issue debt in the near future.”
After Burkhart finished her presentation, she said she wanted to hear from those who had signed
up to speak. She said she and the council members would be making notes on the citizens’
comments and questions.
Up next: Members of The Border Organization propose an alternate plan to pay for water and
wastewater system improvements.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
