Flying L receives grant for equipment
At the May 26 regular meeting of the Commissioner’s Court, the Flying L Public Utility District (PUD) was granted $42,830 for a generator and back-up power equipment to comply with TCEQ requirements.
PUD President Judd Ryan, presented the request to the court for the final two payments to their electrical contractor for the generator installations.
According to Ryan, in March 2020, the PUD did a walk-through with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). During that inspection, it was determined that all of PUD’s lift stations, wells and sewer plant needed to be on generator back-up.
Ryan said that the TCEQ submitted a “DO” list to the PUD with a deadline of one year.
Subsequently, the PUD pulled a government loan that they considered to be sufficient enough to cover the costs for three generators.
“Last year was a big year for price hikes. By the time the generator’s parts had been put together, and all the steel, concrete, copper wire, hard-wiring, transfer switches had been installed, even the diesel to fill the tanks, costs had almost doubled. So, when we heard there were local COVID recovery funds, we put in our application. We’d greatly appreciate your consideration of this request.” said Ryan.
Commissioner Bobby Harris reminded the court audience, “All the people that live in Flying L PUD are Bandera County tax payers. In addition, they pay tax to this PUD.”
Per Bandera County Judge Richard Evans and County Auditor Darryl Sadler there were sufficient funds to cover the request and the PUD’s need met the requirements of the federal act from which the funds are derived.
Under 603 (7)(c) of the Social Security Act, some of the criteria for use of the funds include: to respond to the public health emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19) or its negative economic impacts, including assistance to households, small businesses, and nonprofits, or aid to impacted industries such as tourism, travel, and hospitality; to respond to workers performing essential work during the COVID–19 public health emergency by providing premium pay to eligible workers of the metropolitan city, nonentitlement unit of local government, or county that are performing such essential work, or by providing grants to eligible employers that have eligible workers who perform essential work; to make necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure.
Commissioner Jody Rutherford made a motion to approve the request for the funds. All commissioners voted in favor of the grant.
Flying L spokesperson Steve Childers responded, “The Flying L Public Utility District would like to thank the Bandera County Commissioners’ Court for approving the much-needed funds. Over the past two years, the Flying L PUD has gone through extensive upgrades and improvements to our water and sewage systems for the residents of Flying L. It is incredible how our community is growing, and it has been necessary to update our systems to meet this growth. Along with the growing demand, the PUD was forced by the state to provide backup power for our systems. The $42,000 given to the PUD represented 16 percent of the generator project. Because of all the updates to our system, the Flying L PUD is currently being reviewed by TCEQ to be rated a Superior Water System in the state of Texas.”
Ryan told the Bandera Bulletin he was thankful to all parties involved that assisted with the aid. He especially appreciated the help from Commissioner, Jody Rutherford, Sadler, the Commissioner’s Court, Childers for doing a great job in putting in the application, and Flying L resident, Nancy Rowton, for alerting the PUD about the Covid funds.