CITY OF SAN MARCOS
The city of San Marcos is suing a water authority after spending millions on water but never receiving a drop.
In the City of San Marcos v. Canyon Regional Water Authority, County Line Special Utility District, Crystal Clear Special Utility District, Maxwell Special Utility and Martindale Water Supply Corporation, the city alleges to have entered into a con- tract where it paid $8 million to fund part of the ongoing wastewater treatment expansion and “certain ongoing operation and maintenance costs,” according to the lawsuit filed by the city. The city of San Marcos said it has not received water or a “reasonable timetable for that to commence.”
In suit documents, the city claims to have also paid $490,647 for “its alleged portion of ‘city operations and maintenance costs’ with no end or limit in sight.”
The city claims the objection to certain “operations and maintenance” expenses is two-fold. The city claims the $8 million “buy in” was their only obligation to capital improvements. The city also claims that expenses labelled as “operations and maintenance” are not so, “especially since the city is not receiving treated water.”
The city of San Marcos said it could not comment on pending litigation.
“Meanwhile, CRWA’s ‘operations and maintenance’ invoices to the city continue to grow and increasingly include items that are plainly for capital improvements, which are unattributable to the city’s participation in the contract,” the plaintiff ’s original petition states. According to the website, the Canyon Regional Water Authority is a subdivision of the state of Texas and is a “partnership of water supply corporations, cities and districts responsible for acquiring, treating and transporting potable water. It is mandated with the duty to encourage water conservation, to reduce the reliance on a future uncertain supply of groundwater, and to protect, preserve and restore the purity of water.”
CRWA General Manager Kerry Averyt confirmed that there was a contract amendment executed for the Hays Caldwell Water Treatment, which included the city of San Marcos as a participating member. He said the commitments in the contract have not yet been fulfilled due to various factors, but CRWA is “working through it to get the issues all resolved.” When asked if he was able to share what those factors were, Averyt responded “not really.”
“It was mostly before my time,” Averyt said.
There has yet to be a settlement, but Averyt said they’re “still working through that with the city of San Marcos and other participating members.” The San Marcos city council discussed the case and a possible settlement in executive session during the Oct. 8 council meeting. No action was taken following the executive session.
