North Texas Groundwater Conservation District meets and moves forward

By PAMELA ROBINSON Register Staff Writer

The board of directors of the North Texas Groundwater Conservation District met Tuesday, Jan. 26 at the offices of Mustang Special Utility District in Aubrey for the third meeting of the newly formed district.

City of Gainesville Public Services director Ron Sellman gave a recap of the meeting and said board members unanimously approved the minutes for the Oct. 18 and Dec. 16, 2009 board meetings.

“We had a great presentation by Dr. Bill Hutchison,” Sellman said. “He is the Director of the Groundwater Resources Division of the Texas Water Development Board. His presentation was basically an overview of all of the aquifers in the state of Texas, all of the groundwater management areas and kind of a rundown of where groundwater modeling is at (modeling meaning how water is moved from one aquifer to the next and that kind of thing) and then, how we can get to future desired conditions of the aquifer.”

Sellman said that mainly the board is just going through their committee reports.

“We really haven’t had much going on with committee reports right now,” he continued. “We’re just starting to look at our bylaws, budget and finance, policies and personnel, building and facilities, conservation and public awareness and groundwater monitoring and database committees. Mainly, the other issues were business.”

During the meeting chairs for the committees were chosen: Ronny Young to chair Rules and Bylaws, Phillip Sanders to chair Budget and Finance, Ron Sellman to chair policy and personnel, Chris Boyd to chair building and facilities, Tom Smith to chair conservation and public awareness and Dan Collins to chair groundwater monitoring and database.

According to board members, by the next board meeting each committee needs to meet and organize as the district is to the point where committees now need to report on agenda items. At the next meeting, the Budget and Finance committee is to make a recommendation to the board for a depository bank for the district.

Board members briefly discussed that the draft of the negotiation and execution funding agreement has been sent to the attorneys for Collin, Cooke and Denton Counties to review. At the next meeting the board hopes to have an interlocal agreement to review and approve.

The Budget and Finance committee is to recommend an initial request for a dollar amount for the interlocal agreement at the next meeting.

During the meeting the rules and bylaws committee reported they have been reviewing bylaws from other districts and the committee will meet to review the template and finalize a draft and then bring it back for adoption at the Feb. 23 meeting.

Board members discussed development of temporary district rules regarding water wells. The bylaws committee needs to recommend some basic recommendations. The monitoring committee will also need to give input for this. The two committees can meet at a workshop in-between the regular meeting.

Board members agreed to meet with the county commissioners for each county to make a brief presentation to introduce themselves and report what is going to happen from here. Board members agreed on giving regular reports to the county commissioners.

Board members discussed membership of the district in the Texas Alliance of Groundwater Conservation Districts and agreed to request free membership for the first year.

Other organizational matters of the district included discussion of the district's website. The district already has the domain for the website. The public awareness committee will continue to work on setting up the website.

General counsel for the district reviewed legal issues and developments impacting the district since the last board meeting.

The board met in executive session but took no action after convening back in regular session.

Board members approved the directors and officers errors and omissions insurance policy.

During the public comments, Ken Arterbury of Gainesville addressed the board. “He mainly just wanted to support the group in their efforts,” Sellman said Arterbury.

Those serving on the board are Ron Sellman, Tod Maurina, Thomas Smith, Eddy Daniel, Dan Collins, Ronny Young, Chris Boyd and Phillip Sanders.

The North Texas Groundwater Conservation District officers are President Eddy Daniel, Vice President Ronny Young and Treasurer Tod Maurina.

The next board meeting for the North Texas Groundwater Conservation District is scheduled for Feb. 23 in Aubrey.

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