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Grogan's
Mill Village Association Newsletter
November 12, 2009
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Greetings!
We are interested in your concerns and comments.
Please let us know what we should do to make Grogan's
Mill a more vibrant community. Send your comments
to: suggestions@gmva.org.
Pass It On: If you find this newsletter of
value, please pass it on to your friends and neighbors.
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Township Meeting update - Future Water
Supply
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Jace Houston, Dep. Gen. Manager of the San
Jacinto River Authority made a presentation on
the need for and plans to use surface water. By
2015, 30% of Montgomery county's water will
have to be derived from surface water with Lake
Conroe being the source. Lake Conroe is a man-made
lake and was designed to be a reservoir. The
plan to accomplish this would have Conroe and
The Woodlands getting 50 to 60% of their water
from the lake. Both Conroe and The Woodlands are
large users and have an integrated water distributions
systems. The county would achieve its 30%
overall objective if this happens.
There are 200 utility districts in the county
who have to buy into the plan. If they
don't participate in the county plan, then they
will have to do it on their own. Participating
in the plan county-wide would be the most cost
effective. It will cost over $500 million
to accomplish this. Every water user in
the county will be affected and the
average water bill will go up by an estimated
$20 a month for the average user. (Current
use is 220 gallons per person per day.)
Opposition to the plan has primarily been from
residents living on Lake Conroe who are afraid
of property values going down if the lake level
lowers. According to Jace, 7 feet of water
are spilled each year to keep the lake at its
design level. The amount of water needed
to fill our needs is only one foot per year
for the first ten years going up to four feet
in 2055, therefore the level of the lake would
not be impacted by this plan.
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Flood Plain Maps
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Jim Stinson, head of the Woodlands Joint
Powers Authority, made a presentation on the
FEMA flood plain issue. The new flood plain
map was put out in 2008. The MUDs protested
it in January 2009, and in Aprill FEMA
extended the appeals plan until August 2009.
Comments received from FEMA were not
encouraging and JPA has gone to Rep. Kevin
Brady and he is preparing a letter to FEMA.
Stinson is convinced that FEMA is wrong
because of the subsidence that has taken place
over the last 30 years. He suggests that homeowners
not get involved in the process because of
cost. At this time we have to wait for
a decision and any other appeals.
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Online Village Elections Discussed
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It was recommended by the WCSC staff
that village and RDRC elections for this
February be done online. Karen Dempsey
of the WCS presented a plan on how it
would be done with online registration
for candidates and voters. Reasons for
doing so: low voter turnout (1% of residents),
costs, security questions have been solved.
After considerable discussion the proposal
was defeated. We are interested
in finding out what you think of having
the RDRC and Village elections online.
Please let us know at suggestions@gmva.org.
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