912 Fahrenthold

El Campo, TX 77437

Phone (979) 543-0085

Fax (707) 215-0290

January 3, 2003

Sunilandings Customers

As most of you know about 6 months ago I was approached by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) now called the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to be the Temporary Manager of the Sunilandings Utility. Although under the same name, Sunilandings is composed of 2 separate divisions, water & sewer. The rates for each are set by the adding all the expenses and depreciation of each and simply dividing by the total number of customers. For example, if the total cost to maintain just the water system including labor, electricity, repairs, chemicals, governmental testing, paperwork, and depreciation added up to be $24,000 per year, and we had 100 customers, then the cost to each water customer would be $24,000 divided by 100 or $240 per customer per year or $20 per month. If we only have 50 customers then the total would be $40 per month. The water utility is presently providing water to about 25 customers and the TCEQ calculated cost to maintain the plant is $17,151 which comes to $57.17 per month. As you can see if we had 100 customers the cost would only be about $15 per month due to the fact that expenses would be about the same except for the added electricity and billing. In addition to the normal everyday expenses to maintain and run the plant we now are faced with the mandatory upgrades as required by the TCEQ.

As you can see, the cost of a good quality, safe drinking water for Port Alto will not be as cheap as it has been in the past. And while we are on the subject of "the past", it is because of the low $7 per month rate over all these years that you will now be faced with what seems to be an exceedingly high water bill. If the plant had been cared for and maintained properly and the rate would have been closer to the normal rate of between $25 & $35 per month there would have been plenty of monies in the coffer to facilitate the normal upgrades and repairs that are now so badly needed. In other words we now have to play "catch-up". We are now faced with installing a larger water storage tank, better chlorination facilities, higher capacity pumps, spare parts, pumps, chlorinators, etc., all of which are designed for your safety and convenience.

As for the sewer plant, I have already spent close to $18,000 simply to get the plant to run. The company that originally designed and installed the plant came out to see what it would take to get the plant back operational. I had to guarantee $600 cash in hand before they would show up due to the fact that Mr. John Leiman the former operator of the plant charged several thousand dollars worth of parts and repairs and never paid

Jesse Wood

jwood@wcnet.net

Sunilandings Utility,

Enchanted Harbor Utility