Res 1994-166 - Laserfiche WebLink

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" 3"KB OFFICE MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor Kathy M. Morris and City Council Members FROMMark B. TaylQ),~ City Attorney SUBJEfJitards Aquifer Interlocal Contract DATE: November 10, 1994 . The resolution on this subject for your November 14th meeting is intended to express the City's dissatisfaction with this contract, both as to its substance and as to the process used to formulate it. Mayor Morris asked me to provide you with a summary and background for the contract. As you know, the legislatively created Edwards Aquifer Authority has not yet organized because of Voting Rights Act concerns involving the methods of selection of its governing body. Instead, the Edwards Underground Water District (EUWD) has continued to exist, although S. B. 1477 called for its abolition. With implementation of S.B. 1477 stalled, the EUWD earlier this year began negotiating with the Medina County Underground Water Conservation District (MCUWCD) created by the Texas Legislature in 1991, and the Uvalde County Underground Water Conservation District (UCUWCD), created in S.B. 1477, to develop a regional plan to manage the Edwards Aquifer, as an alternative to the plan contained in S.B. 1477. The EUWD embarked on this in spite of the fact that the State of Texas was seeking approval of S.B. 1477 under the Voting Rights Act in federal court, and in spite of the announcements by key state leaders that legislation to cure the Voting Rights Act concerns in S.B. 1477 could be introduced and passed quickly in the 1995 legislative session. A committee of EUWD Board members participated in the negotiations. All meetings were unannounced and closed to the public, confidentiality among the negotiating groups was strictly maintained, and the resulting contract was not publicly discussed or disclosed prior to being passed out at the EUWD Board meeting at which it was considered.