SRBA OKs Metroplex funding agreement

MOUNT PLEASANT, Texas - Texarkana area water groups could potentially fund Sulphur River Basin Authority after the organization approved a new funding agreement Tuesday with five Dallas Metroplex entities.

Meg Shelton, SRBA's executive director, said the Dallas Metroplex agreement gives SRBA the flexibility to seek outside funding.

"It is a way for us to maintain our relationship with the Metroplex entities (formerly known as the Joint Commission for Program Development) and also work on building new relationships and trust in the region, for example Riverbend and Texarkana," she said. "It allows us the operational funding and time to seek other opportunities to be a better advocate for our stakeholders in the basin."

SRBA was created by the legislature in 1985 to protect and develop water resources in the Sulphur River Basin, but was not given a funding source. JCPD has solely funded them for almost 20 years. SRBA also manages the Clean Rivers Program with funds from the state of Texas.

The new, two-year Dallas Metroplex contract replaces all previous contracts, which had been renewed annually and eliminates the concept of the five entities joining together to develop water resources in the Sulphur River Basin.

The entities are the City of Dallas, the City of Irving, North Texas Municipal Water District, Tarrant Regional Water District and the Upper Trinity Water District.

Under the new agreement, each will pay an equal amount of $40,000 annually to SRBA, whereas previously each paid a different percentage of the $225,000 contract.

The 2019 contract also had a supplemental budget of $83,000 for costs associated with the Tentatively Selected Plan, which would determine if, and how high, Wright Patman Lake could be raised for additional water supply.

JCPD has funded millions in studies to determine water flow and availability in the basin, along with those related to the construction of the Marvin Nichols Reservoir. The contract, which has an effective date of Sept. 1, will now go to the five entities for approval.

"JCPD is willing to fund part of our budget and because of the Sunset requirement for us to seek additional independent funding, JCPD is acting in good faith and full compliance with the requirement," SRBA Chairman Chris Spencer said. "It supports SRBA in their efforts to seek independent funding."

House Bill 2180, passed in 2017 by the Texas Legislature, requires SRBA to seek the additional funding. The legislation, which included requirements from the Texas Sunset Commission's report on the river authority, also required SRBA to hire an executive director, increase transparency with stakeholders and the media and for all members to undergo board training.

Shelton was hired as SRBA's executive director in March.

Spencer also said he, Shelton and SRBA Attorney Brian Sledge met last week with Steve Mayo, water liaison for the city of Texarkana, Texas; Jeff Lewis, the city's attorney; City Manager Shirley Jaster; and Kyle Dooley Riverbend executive cirector/CEO about a possible funding agreement.

"The have expressed to for some time that they wanted to participate in potentially being a funding partner with SRBA and doing projects together and developing a good partnership," he said. "I just want to say that the people that were in that room representing Texarkana and Riverbend are first-class people and I thought that it went very, very well. I think that we can have a good collaboration between all of us."

The new Dallas Metroplex contract does not state that the funding parties will receive 80% of the yield from any water supply projects developed by the authority, as did the previous agreement.

"This contract does not because there is no project going forward," Spencer said. "We believe in a future contract, we hope there will be the existing benefit that was afforded the SRBA in the previous agreement, which was 20% of any new water developed."

Shelton said the new agreement doesn't give SRBA 20%, but it doesn't give the entities 80%, either.

"It's really a completely new agreement," she said. "It wipes out what we did before, starts fresh and allows us some time until we are able to evaluate what's necessary to move forward."

In other business, directors approved the 2020 fiscal year budget. The $300,000 budget is more than last year's $225,000, as it includes Shelton's salary and increases the travel/training line item by $5,000.

The next meeting will be held Sept. 24 at the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce, 1604 North Jefferson, Mount Pleasant, Texas.

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