A public meeting to discuss the 2015 Consumer confidence Report. The meeting is set for 6 p.m. Monday, July 11, in the Choke Canyon Room at the Water Utilities Building located at 2726 Holly Road.
No break for residents on city water bills despite 13 days without drinkable water during a recent boil-water notice in Corpus Christi. Several residents came to city council meetings in May and June asking for discounted rates because they were paying for water they could not use. In a press release June 30, the city formally announced there will be no discount.
Several factors were cited as “critical in determining the viability of a discount,” according to Texas Government Code Section 1502.057, which requires:
• The municipality to impose and collect charges for services by a utility in amounts to sufficiently pay all operations and debt.
• Utility rates must be equal and uniform.
• A municipality many not allow for free utility services.
“Unfortunately the City will not be able to offer water customers a discount based on the boil water advisory,” said Interim City Manager Margie C. Rose in the press release. “The City of Corpus Christi remains committed to determining the cause of the latest boil water advisory and working to improve the overall municipal water system.”
The 13-day, boil-water notice in May was the third in 10 months. An investigation to determine why the city’s water system failed to meet Texas Commission on Environmental Quality standards so often in the last year is under way.
2015 CONSUMER CONFIDENCE REPORT
Meanwhile, another press release the next day (July 1) announced a public meeting to discuss the contents of the 2015 Consumer confidence Report. The meeting is set for 6 p.m. Monday, July 11, in the Choke Canyon Room at the Water Utilities Building located at 2726 Holly Road.
The meeting is an annual event required by the EPA and TCEQ for distribution of the report to customers in the city’s water distribution system. The report was also mailed in brochure form to customers in their May utility bills, distributed in June.
Attendees of the meeting will get a free reusable shopping bag.
The report does not directly address one of the two boil-water notices in 2015. A foot note under a section for fecal coliform and e. coli mentions the first and only city-wide boil-water notice which occurred July 23-25. Another boil-water notice in September that effected only three areas of town for 11 days is not specifically mentioned.
WHAT HAPPENED THIS YEAR
May 2016 was a tough month for Corpus Christi. A state agency issued a boil water notice because of bad water samples, the city manager resigned over it and the city council began holding daily media conferences and even a special meeting. Now an investigation is under way.
“People in Corpus Christi don’t deserve this,” council member Michael Hunter told Corpus Christi Business News. “I think a lot of people have questions. People want to be informed, and (city council members) need to be as informed as everybody.”
As the boil water notice was lifted on the afternoon of May 25, the city announced plans to continue testing its water supply and investigate the reasons for the boil notice to better prevent it from happening again. May’s boil water notice was not only the third in 10 months, it was the longest citywide notice.
“What’s important now is how we move forward and making sure we are accountable to you,” said Mayor Nelda Martinez, addressing residents during the final media conference on the issue May 25. “We understand the importance of providing you a safe water supply. That is a fundamental service that we have. We will all be working together to find out what went wrong and how we can do better to make sure that, in the future, this is a city we can all be proud of.”
