Published: February 26, 2009 11:09 am      

Commissioners resolve to go with single GCD

The vote may not have been unanimous to draft a resolution for a single county groundwater conservation district (GCD) during Monday’s Commissioners Court, but it was clear that Cooke County Commissioners shared two common interests in their decision: county citizens and the future of the county’s water.

Wayne Becker, chairman of the Cooke County Groundwater Conservation Committee, presented commissioners with the results from votes cast by members as to what GCDs they thought would be best for the county to pursue. The four options which were voted on included a Denton-Cooke GCD, Grayson, Fannin, Cooke GCD, single county GCD or to allow the Texas Commission on Environment Quality (TCEQ) to choose. Although Becker said it was pretty obvious that there is polarization in the committee based on the results, the top choice was for Grayson, Fannin and Cooke.

Vanessa Price, representing Callisburg Water Supply, also spoke to commissioners voicing her support for a Grayson, Fannin and Cooke GCD.

In an a nearly two hour debate following Becker’s report, commissioners heard from several area citizens. All but one, said they believed the best option for Cooke County would be to try and form a single county GCD.

Greg Bohl of Muenster reported he had polled about 75 citizens on the matter, all of which fully supported a single county GCD.

Brad Mitchell, a water owner and employee with Era Water Supply, and Kenneth Klement, a rural water owner, both are members of the Cooke County Water Conservation Committee. Both men urged commissioners to consider a single county GCD and said they had spoke with over 400 county citizens who shared their sentiment.

Although Gene Montgomery of Valley View and member of the Water Conservation Implementation Task Force and Water Conservation Advisory Council said he thought it would be best for a multi-county GCD, he also stated the importance of understanding the facts in the matter.

“We’ve really got to get down to the facts when we’re talking here,” said Montgomery. “There’s all kinds of things people believe here, but we’ve really got to get down to the facts.”

Prior to voting on the resolution, Commissioner Gary Hollowell addressed several facts he felt the public should be aware of.

“The state of Texas via (TCEQ) has written legislation that requires groundwater conservation districts (GCDs) be created in Texas,” said Hollowell. “It’s not optional. Cooke County will create its own GCD or be joined with other counties. The GCD is the equivalent of a water policing agency without the guns and badges.”

In his statement, Hollowell addressed his concern over a letter which has been printed in The Weekly and passed around the county to try and lobby for a Grayson, Fannin and Cooke Counties GCD. While the letter seemed to imply that TCEQ and legislators will not allow Cooke County to form a single county GCD, Hollowell said there is no proof for this claim.

“The current proposal for the three county GCD, as written, gives Grayson County more votes on the governing board than Cooke and Fannin County combined,” said Hollowell. “It literally gives away local control without even a challenge. Our state representatives received copies of the letters and the letters could be interpreted to say most of the people in Cooke County are in favor of the three county GCD...The letter provides for drama, one side’s opinion and a sense of urgency. Urgency in this matter might prompt a quick decision before all the facts are collected and considered.”

On Feb. 11 the TCEQ Water Commission met and took action, added Hollowell.

“They stated the original water studies were conducted in 1990,” said Hollowell. “They said counties had 19 years to take action to preserve the aquifers and the majority had not taken action. Cooke County is part of a 13 county Priority Groundwater Management Area (PGMA) in North Texas. Five of those counties have already formed GCDs...Over the next two years, those eight counties can create their own GCDs via the legislative process or by petitioning the TCEQ Commission. If they fail to form districts, the TCEQ will combine them into a single eight county GCD.”

Those eight counties would include: Cooke, Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson and Johnson.

Hollowell emphasized that the commissioners never stated during the meeting that they prohibited forming a single county GCD.

“They actually discussed a scenario where a single county could become a GCD by default if not incorporated by surrounding counties,” said Hollowell.”

“Cooke County must exhaust every effort to establish a single county GCD within our county borders and make every attempt to ensure our children have water,” he added. “If for some unforeseen reason, we can’t form a single county GCD we need to limit our partnership to a county or counties that will guarantee us equal representation on the governing board regardless of the county’s population. Without equal representation, we give away local control.”

Following his statement, Commissioner Steve Key said he believed a mutli-county GCD would be the best route for Cooke County.

“As I’ve looked at this matter and listened to the arguments, a lot of which we’ve heard today, I’ve come to a conclusion that I like the idea of a multi-county district,” said Key. “That said, I don’t like the idea of a multi-county district to the east because it isn’t logical to me. Denton County and Cooke County is where the majority of the water is in the district.”

Key said going with Denton County would be the best partnering because they have the most to offer Cooke County, unlike Grayson and Fannin Counties.

“It’s like being invited to a BYOB party and showing up without anything under your arm to drink,” said Key. “That’s kinda the way I look at this issue here. If I’m going to deal with somebody, I want to deal with somebody who’s going to bring something to the party. Not only does Denton County have a dog in the hunt, but it’s a larger county and the cost would be distributed over a larger group of people.”

Commissioner Al Smith said he understood where Key was coming from, but believed a single county GCD would be best long term for Cooke County.

“I think the best option for this court is to pursue aggressively a single county district and leave that option of joining up with someone that wants to manage your district for you, leave that option to another court,” said Smith. “Because this representative of this court is not going to vote for anything for Cooke County today that doesn’t give us equal representation, period. And the best representation for equal representation is to do it ourselves. I think we’re capable. I think we’re smart enough. I think we have enough energy to do it and I think we have the money to do it.”

Commissioner Leon Klement said he truly believes this is the most important decision he will ever be involved in with the county.

He too voiced his respect for Key’s opinion but said he could only support a single county GCD.

“I understand where he’s (Key) coming from, but at this time I can’t go that far,” said Klement. “I respect Mr. Montgomery’s opinion too but I can’t go that far. It gets back to what Mr. Smith says, ‘We’re smart enough,’ and we are smart enough. When you say we’ve got to join with all of these people, that means you don’t think enough of yourself to do it and I don’t believe that.”

Before the votes were cast, Cooke County Judge Freeman offered his advice to the commissioners.

“What you need to think about is not the 14 people, 20 people, 30 people that’s clamoring at your doors, a water supply company clamoring at your door that thinks they run the county or the city that thinks they run the county,” said Freeman. “I think a lot of what these people are missing is that every one of those entities is in Cooke County. Cooke County is not in their town. Their town is in Cooke County and this commissioners court is representative to all the citizens in this county. That’s a farmer that runs a 100 acre farm out here. That’s a homeowner that lives on one acre. It’s a resident that lives over here on Pecan Street. It’s everybody that lives in this county and this court should, and I think as the absolute right, to make this decision.”

In a 4-1 vote, commissioners decided to approve a draft for a resolution to support a single county GCD for Cooke County.

While Freeman said he knew it was impossible to please every person in the county, he fully supports the commissioners’ decision. The next step, in his own words, is to “go to Austin and fight like hell to get it.”

To read more about the other agenda items discussed during Monday’s Commissioners Court, please look for tomorrow’s issue of the Gainesville Daily Register.