The agreement between the City of Kemp and West Cedar Creek Municipal Utility District for fresh water and wastewater service is no longer the done deal most Cedar Creek Lake residents perceived it to be.
The Texas Public Utilities Commission granted a dismissal on Dec. 16 of the application for a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity filed by WCCMUD to provide the services to Kemp residents.
Kemp Mayor Laura Hanna Peace and WCCMUD lawyer Chad C. Rook confirmed the city staff and utility management must negotiate unspecified matters before the three-year- old project is finalized, even though the utility has already built a water line to the city and constructed an office there.
On the same day the dismissal was granted, the PUC noted the utility had met all the requirements for the certificate to be approved. The PUC documents indicate that both the city and the utility requested the dismisssal.
In recent months, both city officials and utility management expressed frustration about the long process for obtaining state approval and complications that delayed progress.
“We have had issues arise with WCCMUD and are attempting to work through them for the benefit of our citizens," Peace said. "It is our desire to work directly with the WCCMUD board and not through the media. Our citizens are our only priority and we are taking steps to insure that the best interests of our citizens are being served.”
The Kemp City Council will address the city's water system Tuesday night, according to the Jan. 10, 2017 agenda.
Rook said he is optimistic the utility and city officials can resolve any of the issues standing in the way of the completion of the project. "We just need to sit down face to face and work it all out," he said. Rook added that such a meeting remains to be scheduled, but he hoped it would occur in the next few weeks.
The city and the urtility began discussing the project after the 2011 drought that led to city residents literally running out of warter. Drinking water had to be trucked into the city and distributed in bottles on Main Street. It made the national television news.n
In a city election, voters authorized the City Council to negoiate an agreement with the utility.
