City approves new water rates
Lockhart City Council approved its new water rates at last week’s meeting with recommendations from the city’s utility rate consultant, Raftelis.
The rate adjustments account for updates to the Carrizo Groundwater Supply Project operating and maintenance costs and debt service requirements and wholesale water costs.
Council approved the Carrizo Project in February 2018 as an agreement with the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA) to provide Lockhart citizens with a long-term treated water supply (up to 3,000 acre-feet) to improve drought and operational resilience by further diversifying the City’s water portfolio and increasing the current water supply for future demand.
This groundwater development project will generate a total of 15,000 acre-feet per year of groundwater which will be distributed to participating utilities like Lockhart. The city is responsible for its proportional share of the project’s debt service and operational expenses for the construction of facilities to pump, treat, and transport the groundwater from the well fields in Gonzales and Caldwell County. The facilities and transmission infrastructure are complete and operational. The project is undergoing final treatment and pressure testing and anticipated to go online in Fall 2024.
Councilmembers also set new wastewater rates based on recommendations from Raftelis. Specifically, a 3 percent inflationary adjustment for operation and maintenance costs of the City’s wastewater collection infrastructure and treatment facilities. The process and calculations for winter averaging will remain in place as currently adopted.
The new water and wastewater rates will be phased-in over a two-year period and will begin in the second billing cycle in November 2024. The Utility Billing and Public Information Office will provide notice to customers of the upcoming rate changes by mailed publication and updates to the City’s website.
In other business:
Republic Services, Lockhart’s solid waste contractor, will hold its free city-wide bulk cleanup for the fall on Saturday, Oct. 12, starting at 7 a.m. The service is for Lockhart residents only.
Accepted items include:
* Appliances that do not contain Freon (please provide 2 feet of side clearance)
* Carpeting (cut and rolled less than 4×4 feet x 40 pounds.
* Furniture
* Scrap metal (less than 4-feet long)
* Wooden fencing material/treated wood (bundled less than 4×4 feet x 40 pounds and free of nails, screws, concrete and metal)
* Mattresses
Excluded items:
* Appliances that contain Freon (refrigerators, freezers, air conditioner units)
* Televisions and computers
* Automotive products/fluids
* Hazardous chemicals
* Demolition/construction debris or metal fencing
* Tires
* Batteries, ammunition or explosives
* Concrete, rocks, dirt and sand, masonry
* Railroad tie lumber
* Pianos, hot tubs, motorcycles, vehicle parts or items larger than a normal-sized appliance
* Tree limbs and brush
The annual Fifty to Fifty Romeo Fly-In at Lockhart Municipal Airport (222 Airport Road) will be Saturday, Sept. 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
There will be helicopter rides for purchase.
The event is free admission and includes the following:
* Live DJ
* Vendors
* Food
* Helicopters
* Warbird rides
* Civil Air Patrol
* Chisholm Trail BBQ
* Lockhart High School Choir
There will be more than 80 aircraft will be on display during this event. Food and drinks from vendors will be available for purchase.
Lockhart is looking for public comments regarding its comprehensive draft plan draft. The Planning and Zoning Commission will review the plan on Wednesday, Sept. 25, and it will be presented to City Council on Tuesday, Oct. 15. The draft plan can be viewed on PlanLockhartTX.com. Residents can submit comments until Wednesday, Oct. 9, at noon.
The 250,000-gallon storage tank at the intersection of San Jacinto and Lakeview Street will be painted, after council awarded O&A Classic Coatings of Hurst $162,000 for the project. The project should be completed by the end if the year and will include painting the interior and exterior of the tank.
Evening with the Authors, a fundraiser for the Dr. Eugene Clark Library, will be held on Saturday, Oct. 5.
Mayor White and Councilmember Jeffry Michelson will again representative the city on the General Assembly of the Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG).Mayor White read two proclamations. One citing Sept. 23-27 as National GEAR UP Week in Lockhart and the other regarding Diez y Seis for its recent celebration in Lockhart.
Mayor White said the city would be meeting with a developer interested in a large tract of land north of town.
Councilmember Michelson asked that all residents check to make sure their neighbors are safe in the still-hot temperatures.
National Night Out will be Tuesday, Oct. 1 in Lockhart. Neighborhoods can register to host and participate in the event by contacting Tina Ramsey at 512-398-4401, or email at tramsey@lockhart-tx.org. Five neighborhoods had registered as of last week. The Lockhart Police, Fire, and EMS will visit those neighborhoods throughout the day and visit with community members.
With National Night Out taking place on its regular meeting date, City Council has moved its meeting to Thursday, Oct. 3. It will still be at the Dr. Eugene Clark Library beginning at 6:30 p.m.
