By Michael V. Hannigan
Henderson County Commissioners’ Court has a public hearing scheduled for 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, July 15, to discuss a proposed Fresh Water Supply District in Pct. 4 off FM 1615.
Afterward, commissioners will decide whether to allow creation of the proposed district.
A Fresh Water Supply District (FWSD) is a political subdivision of the state — a government entity — meaning it has the power to levy and collect taxes, hold bond elections, build infrastructure, and is run by an elected board.
The proposed water district would be the Wilson Ranch Fresh Water Supply District No. 1. The proposed district is about 1,090 acres completely inside Henderson County, with no part in the City of Athens extraterritorial jurisdiction, according to the petition. The proposed district is made up of four tracts of land.
You can read more about the proposed district here.
Creation of the district is at the discretion of Commissioners’ Court.
Chapter 53 of the Water Code reads, “The commissioners court shall have jurisdiction to determine all issues pertaining to the sufficiency of the petition and shall allow any interested person to appear before it in person or by attorney to offer testimony relative to the sufficiency of the petition.”
According to documents HCN obtained through an open records request, one of the temporary supervisors listed if the FWSD is approved is State Rep. Lance Gooden of Terrell.
Multiple calls to Gooden’s office this week to request a comment on the FWSD were not returned.
The other temporary supervisors would be: Monty Bennett of Dallas; Marissa Bennett of Dallas; Scott McClintic of Rockwall; and Jennifer York of Garland.
Monty Bennett of Dallas; Marissa Bennett of Dallas; Scott McClintic of Rockwall; and Jennifer York of Garland.
Why would people from Dallas, Rockwall and Garland be supervisors of a Water District for Henderson County???? Would this make it possible for the County to stop people from drilling water wells on their own property?