Copeville utility would pay $7.85 million for a second hookup near Farmersville to the water district Princeton helps run

Copeville Special Utility District would pay the North Texas Municipal Water District $7.85 million for a second connection to the district's system, near Farmersville, under a new 20-year contract the district's board is set to approve Thursday.

Copeville is a customer of the regional district, which means it buys treated water but does not appoint board members the way the 13 member cities do. Princeton is one of those member cities and has two seats on the board.

Directors take it up Thursday afternoon, Oct. 22, at district headquarters in Wylie, a day after the Water Committee reviews it. Copeville's own board approved the contract Oct. 8 and signed it Oct. 12, according to the district staff memo.

A second delivery point

The two utilities first signed a supply contract in August 1998. Copeville asked for a new connection, called Point of Delivery No. 2, and more time to build the facilities it needs to take water there. The memo places that connection near the curve of County Road 558 by County Road 605 in Farmersville, tied into the district's 24-inch Wylie-Rockwall-Farmersville pipeline.

The contract would give Copeville an extra 36 months to finish its side of the work. It could cover the $7.85 million in one payment or spread it over 10 yearly installments at a fixed 5.17% interest rate, the memo says. The district says the amount was figured under its operations policy and is meant to keep the customer from paying twice for pipeline capacity.

How customers are charged

Copeville would buy water at the rate the board sets for member cities plus 5 cents. Starting in fiscal 2029, a two-tier system would apply:

• Water up to Copeville's fiscal 2028 annual minimum plus 5% would stay at the member city rate plus 5 cents.
• Anything above that would cost the member city rate plus 10%.
• The blended price would be capped at the member city rate plus 2.8%, and once a customer reaches that cap its rate could not drop below it.

The memo says that phase-in is open only to customers that sign the district's new contract template before July 31, 2028. Staff wrote that the method gives customers rate certainty, encourages conservation and lets the higher charges phase in.

The contract sets Copeville's annual minimum at about 219 million gallons and its maximum at about 648 million gallons a year. Taking water faster than 2.2 times its daily average, or beyond what the district's drought plan allows, could cost three times the normal rate.

Sources

ntmwd.legistar1.com

webapi.legistar.com

ntmwd.com