Greenie's AlbumMarch 2, 2010, the day Texans celebrate Texas Independence Day
Posted on: Tuesday March 2, 2010March 2, 2010, the day Texans celebrate Texas Independence Day, is also a historic day for the cities of Annona, Avery, DeKalb, Hooks, Maud, New Boston, and Wake Village, Texas, also known as the “member cities”, and the City of Texarkana, Texas as they came together, united in a common goal of securing water resources for their citizens and the citizens of Texas, now and in the future. The mayors of these eight Northeast Texas cities announced a renewed collaboration to bring to fruition the regionalization of common resources, namely water.
“Today is the renewal of a dream our city fathers had in 1969 – the dream that a working relationship between small and large cities could exist, whereby their differences would be laid aside creating a spirit of cooperative unity,” stated Mike Huddleston, Mayor of Wake Village. “It was that dream that brought them together to form the Lake Texarkana Water Supply Corporation, solidifying the cities in their quest to build and operate a Regional Water Supply System.”
It was in 1969 that the City of Texarkana, Texas entered into a “Water Supply System Sale-Purchase-Financing Agreement” with Lake Texarkana Water Supply Corporation purchasing various facilities, one of the assets being commonly referred to today as the Wright Patman Water Treatment Plant located at 2700 New Boston Road in Texarkana, Texas. At that time, the City of Texarkana, Texas also entered into multiple water supply contracts for the provision of potable water to the Texas member cities and to Texarkana, Arkansas.
The contracts with the member cities provided that when the Lake Texarkana Water Supply Corporation bonds have been paid, the Texas member cities have the right to an extension of the water supply contracts. With the bonds paid and discharged, the corporation dissolved effective March 21, 2007. The Texas member cities are now exercising their respective rights to an extension of the water supply contracts.
The Texas member cities have designated Riverbend Water Resources District to supervise the performance of the extension of their respective water supply contracts. Riverbend was created by the 81st Texas Legislature and is composed of the member cities, the City of Texarkana, Texas and the Red River Redevelopment Authority. The member cities and the City of Texarkana, Texas are also entering into interlocal cooperation agreements with Riverbend for other services and participating in funding for projects in exchange for dollar-for-dollar credits to be applied toward future water purchases should Riverbend develop such capability.
A special advisory committee consisting of the Mayor and City Manager of the Cities of Texarkana, Arkansas and Texarkana, Texas, the Mayors of New Boston and Wake Village, Texas, and Danny Gray, current Chairman of the Board of the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce has been formed. The committee will advise all member cities with interest in Lake Texarkana Water Supply Corporation facilities on the calculations of proportionate ownership interest and operation/management of these facilities.
All of the mayors of the member cities and the Mayor of Texarkana, Texas who met together to sign the water supply contract extensions and the Riverbend interlocal cooperation agreements expressed their pleasure that all the cities are working together. “Water is our most important commodity,” Mayor Michael Babb of Hooks advised. “Anything we can do to get affordable water to our citizens is our responsibility. This action we are taking accomplishes that goal.”
The occasion marks the end of legal issues regarding water between the member cities and the City of Texarkana, Texas. “As we come to the end of lengthy litigation, along with the other member cities, I can attest that this is a historic occasion for us all,” noted Johnny Branson, Mayor of New Boston. “I am looking forward to working with both city governments of Texarkana and the Red River Redevelopment Authority.”
“I am excited about finally getting an agreement and about the future of our combined efforts,” added Paul Meadows, Mayor of DeKalb. “The ability to cooperate and supply water will be a great tool for the economic development of our area. I’m honored to be a part of this.” City of Maud Administrator Pat McCoy echoed Meadows’ sentiments, “This protects the cities, but more importantly, it assures our citizens that their water needs are protected now and well into the future.”
George English, Mayor of Annona, expressed gratitude to his fellow mayors stating “I want to thank all the mayors and all other parties involved in devoting their time and effort to achieve this goal. I am proud of the unity of all the cities to make this dream come true and look forward to working with all the cities to help our future generations.”
Mayor Steve Mayo of Texarkana, Texas summed up the group’s outlook when he referred to the execution of the contract extensions as “a huge victory for the citizens of our cities”. “We owe it to our children and those who come after us to have these agreements in place to insure the availability of this life-sustaining resource.
For additional information, please contact Vicki Melde, Marketing and Communications Manager for the City of Texarkana, Texas (903) 276-1458.