11-8-2011 - TCEQ Meeting Announcement The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will host a public hearing on November 8 at 10 a.m. at the William P. Clements Building, 300 W. 15th Street, 4th floor Room 404 to discuss allowing Monarch Utility to merge utility systems from more than 32 counties into one single entity. You can view the TCEQ meeting announcement at www.cityofpflugerville.com/monarch The closest parking garage is J. Please let me know if I can provide any additional information. Both city staff and legal counsel will be attending this meeting. 10-17-2011 - Join Our Mailing List We are using email to keep our homeowners informed of what is happening in our neighborhood. Also, beginning January 2012, we will start sending eNewsletter rather than paper newsletters. To ensure you get our emails, please join our email list. 9-28-2011 - Pflugerville to host Public Hearings on Monarch Rate IncreaseSome of you may have received this message from the City Manager’s office, but I wanted to share this information with you in case you have not heard. Today, the City of Pflugerville announced the City will hold two public hearings on the proposed Monarch rate increase. Since the City will be holding these hearings, we do not need to petition the City to hold a hearing. The meetings will be heard on Tuesday, October 18 and Tuesday, Nvember 1 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Due to the interest in this issue, the City Council will meet at First Baptist Church Pflugerville, 306 South 10th Street, to accommodate the anticipated audience. The City has invited representatives from Monarch and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to the hearings. “These public hearings will give the public an opportunity to speak to Monarch representatives and the City Council directly about the proposed rate increase,” City Manager Brandon Wade said. “The City of Pflugerville is continuing its commitment to do all that we can to assist Pflugerville residents who are facing a staggering water bill increase. The approach Monarch has used to fund its improvements is rather shocking and reprehensible, as you put the cart before the horse when you spend money that you don’t yet have funded.” (News Release) http://www.cityofpflugerville.com/Archive.aspx?ADID=3373 I encourage you to attend these meetings and protest the proposed rate increases.
9-14-2011- Monarch Rate Increase Update MCH homeowners should have received a letter from Monarch “NOTICE OF PROPOSED RATE CHANGE.” Monarch is proposing a 63% increase in your water bill. The letter also states “If the City receives protest to the proposed increase from 10 percent of the ratepayers located inside the city limits before the 91st day after the effective date, a public hearing will be scheduled.” It is our (MCHHOA Board) understanding from talking to the attorney representing the City of Pflugerville, the City can call a hearing without protest from Monarch ratepayers inside the city limits. It is the City’s intention to hold a hearing. If the City does call a hearing, then we do not need to gather signatures for protest. However, if the City decides not to hold a hearing, then as a community we will need to quickly gather signatures and force the City to hold a hearing. We believe the City will hold a hearing soon. Once we know the date and time of the hearing we will notify you immediately. For your information here is a comparison of rates between the City of Pflugerville and Monarch. TCEQ has scheduled an October 10, 2011 hearing regarding the Monarch rate increase for all Monarch ratepayers. In a way this is bad news for us because whatever decisions are made at this hearing it will impact us, unless the City holds a hearing before October 10th. If the City holds a hearing, then the City will have a voice in the TCEQ hearing. This move will benefit us since the City holds jurisdiction over Windermere Utilities. As of right now the City of Pflugerville does not have a say at the TCEQ hearing. So I encourage you to call the City Manager’s Office and express your concerns. City Manager’s Office - http://www.cityofpflugerville.com/index.aspx?nid=1153 In addition to the rate increase, Monarch is attempting to merge Windermere Utility Company to Monarch. If Monarch is successful in the merger, this will be bad news for us because Monarch can increase rates for improvements made to water systems in North Texas. So it is important that the merger is not passed. Windermere customers should contact their State Representatives today. State Representatives - http://www.cityofpflugerville.com/monarch Also, the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) is holding a hearing on the Windermere/Monarch merger on November 8, 2011. We don’t know the location or the time of the hearing but as soon as we find out we will let you know. SOAH DOCKET NUMBER FOR STM---PRELIMINARY HEARING SET
(9-9-2011) - The TCEQ has acted very promptly in getting a SOAH docket number and a date for a preliminary hearing for Monarch’s STM applications. All filings at SOAH will be available online. This is true for the rate case as well.
The docket number is: SOAH Docket No. 582-12-0224. The preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 8, 2011. We will try and find out the location of the preliminary hearing and the Administrative Law Judge who has been assigned to the docket. TECQ Hearing Set
(9-9-2011) - A preliminary hearing concerning the Monarch Water rate increase will take place on October 10th at 10 a.m. at:
Norris Conference Center Red Oak Ballroom 2525 W. Anderson Lane Austin, Texas 78757 The hearing is open to the public and the judge will be accepting public testimony. A representative from State Representative Mark Strama office will attend the hearing as well as an attorney on behalf of the city of Pflugerville. Pflugerville joins Coalition of Cities to protest Monarch Utility Rate Increase
(9-9-2011) - At the August 23 City Council meeting, the City of Pflugerville approved Resolution 0055 whereby Pflugerville will participate in a coalition of cities to include the hiring of counsel and experts to represent Pflugerville residents that receive water from Windermere Water Company that are facing a steep proposed increase in water rates. The city joined the coalition to protest the proposed increases of 62.3% to the water rate and 33.6% to the wastewater rate for Pflugerville residents that receive water and wastewater service from Windermere Water Company which was recently purchased by Monarch Utilities. “This is an extraordinarily frustrating situation as there are a few different water companies that are allowed to operate here,” City Manager Brandon Wade said. “The city does not have the right by state law to provide water to the affected residents, and we can’t take over an investor-owned utility. The city does not support the new rate increase, and we are doing all that we can.” Visit http://www.cityofpflugerville.com/monarch for a list of commonly asked questions, background information and video from the August 23 Council meeting. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will host a public hearing on Monday, October 10 at 10 a.m. on the Monarch rate case at the Norris Conference Center Red Oak Ballroom, 2525 W Anderson Lane. Customers are welcome to attend. Additional Information Pflugerville City Council Passes Resolution in Regards to Monarch Rate Increase
On August 23, 2011 the Pflugerville City Council passed a resolution allowing the City to suspend the requested effective date by Monarch for 90 days. Monarch effective date is January 1, 2012. With the passing of the resolution pushes the effective date to April 1, 2012 to allow time for the City to review the propose rate increase. In addition, the City is authorized to join other cities in the coalition of cities (COC.) Mr. Brandon Wade, City Manager will be the COC representative for Pflugerville. Lastly, the resolution allow the city to authorize the law firm of Herrera & Boyle to file an intervention on behalf of the city. The link below is a copy of the resolution.
City Council Resolution - http://tinyurl.com/3vsvl83 This is the time for Windermere customers to join together to file a petition and forward to TCEQ and State Representative Mark Strama. the MCH HOA Board will develop a path forward and plan to gather signatures from our homeowners and communicate to other HOAs whose homeowners receive water and sewer from Windermere.
Meeting Notice - Residential Water Rates Doubling in 2011
As many of you have learned, Monarch Utilities I, L.P., our new water and sewer provider, will be instituting a drastic rate increase for residents of the former Windermere Water District. Our base rate will be almost doubling. It will cost each household just over $100 just to have the privilege of accessing water.
On Tuesday, August 23 the City Council of Pflugerville will be discussing our plight during their City Council meeting. Members of the City Manager's Office have stated their willingness to fight with us against these predatory rate increases.
Please make time to attend this meeting to let the City Council know that this matter is important to us as taxpaying citizens of Pflugerville; and to encourage the city to begin providing water service to our neighborhood.
Location: Pflugerville City Hall, Suite 500
Date: Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Time: 7:00 pm
Monarch/Windermere Water Increase Proposed
Monarch Utilities I, L.P., has filed for a water and sewer rate increase with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Earlier this year, Monarch filed an application to consolidate eight (Diamond Water Company, Hornsby Bend Utility Company, Huntington Utility Company, Midway Water Utilities, Inc., Mid-Tex Utilities, Inc., SW Utility Company, Water Services, Inc., Windermere Utility Company, Inc.) regulated water and sewer utilities into Monarch. You are included as current customers of Monarch. Current and proposed rates for customers of these former utilities, which are now all Monarch Utilities I, L.P.Windermere Utility Company, Inc.: Current and Proposed Water & Sewer Rates (PDF 29 kb) |
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