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Eagle Lake officials offer tips on lowering water, sewer costs
EAGLE LAKE — Complaints over billing rates for utilities, as well as the cost and quality of airport hangar rentals, kept City Council busy during its latest session.
After hearing gripes about water and sewer bills, city officials countered the higher costs paid by ratepayers can be linked to new, accurate smart meters replacing broken or faulty analog meters.
Leaders on the dais also directed Eagle Lake Regional Airport staffers to improve communication and services for pilots and renters; meanwhile, officials reported the city got a good review from federal inspectors and has initiated maintenance operations.
The council met May 12.
Water rates
Residents Nelva Davila, Aurora de la Garza, Mary Lou Castillo, Pedro de la Garza and Lydia Ramirez collectively introduced concerns over high water and utility bills in the past few months.
Davila, a 40-year resident, called her average water bill of $189 “extreme.”
“This is concerning to me and not only to myself. There (are) elderly people that I know,” Davila told the council. “I’ve spoken with people from Katy. I’ve spoken with people from Columbus. Their water bills are $110, $115. Katy, a little bit, $120 is higher.”
City Manager Tink Jackson explained how utility rates are set in the city.
Every December through February, winter months when water usage is traditionally low, Eagle Lake averages a residence’s usage to calculate the rate for March of the current year to next March.
Jackson also added the installation of new smart meters across town has had an impact on some ratepayers.
The minimum utility rate for Eagle Lake is $80.58 a month.
“If you went back and looked at the old meters around town, there was probably 75% of them weren’t working,” Jackson said. “People were paying the base rate, but they were using more water than … the base rate because the meters weren’t spinning. When the new meters went in, a bunch of people’s bills did go up.”
However, Jackson said the city is charging less than recommended by a rate study conducted last year.
To just sustain the city’s operations, the study recommended increasing the water rate by 17.6% and the sewer rate by 19.45%. However, the council ended up only approving a 5% increase to each.
“The council didn’t want to put that kind of an increase on everybody right away,” Jackson said. “It was an attempt to try to make sure that we can could replace pumps and do the things we needed to do.”
Davila noted she did see a decrease after the new rate kicked in.
Jackson said a lower-than-recommended rate comes with a high risk.
The city cannot afford a large expenditure if there is a major water operations emergency, such as a well going out or a multimillion- dollar wastewater clarifier breaking.
In such cases, the city would have to request a low-interest loan or grant from the Texas Water Development Board to fund crucial repairs or replacements. However, TWDB requires sustainable rates and likely would say no.
“They’re not going to give us any money until the rates that were recommended in here are adopted,” Jackson added.
City Secretary Lina Ferguson recommended residents check for stuck toilet flappers running water all day and review usage logs in the billing portal before asking city crews to check their meters.
Airport rentals
Pilot and local business owner Carl Sharon voiced concerns over what he termed steep increases in hangar rental rates over the past few years and poor customer service at the city-maintained regional airport.
Sharon, who has been renting since 2015, said costs have had double-digit-percent hikes the last few years.
“If your house payment or your car payment went up 50%, that’d be kind of tough to swallow,” Sharon said.
The council approved rate increases three years ago to keep up with maintenance and other operational costs, officials Jackson said comparisons to other cities’ rates may not be accurate because of differences in the ages of hangars, traveling distance and other factors.
Councilwoman Amy Maxwell said another look at costs is warranted.
“I don’t think I realized that it would have been like a 50% rate increase for the big hangars, because that’s exorbitant,” she said. “I think at this point we probably need to really look at our rental rates.”
Maxwell said airport management should also address and improve communication, quality of life and overall relationships with renters and pilots.
Sharon also said the city failed in its response after he submitted reports about needed maintenance at the airport.
Jackson, however, said the city received a quote for repairs for leaks and other damage to the hangar roofs last month. He also listed recent maintenance projects: new hangar lighting, security cameras, a search light, windsock replacements, new pathing lights and a new fire suppression system.
“We just had the inspector from the (Federal Aviation Administration) come in to test us, and he said it’s the best airport he’s ever looked,” the city manager said.
