Council extends utility bill relief program

 The City Council voted Wednesday to extend until Dec. 30 the program that provides financial relief for Kyle residents who have had problems paying their municipal utility bills as a result of the pandemic or are below federal low income thresholds.

The item was part of the council’s consent agenda and that entire agenda was approved unanimously so there was no individual debate or discussion on the proposal from council members.

The program only applies to the utility bills residents receive from the City of Kyle. In order to be eligible for the program, residents must meet these three criteria:

• A residential customer living inside the city limits of Kyle with an active utility account;
• The primary individual under whose name the utility account is registered and established and;
• Experiencing a financial hardship due to loss of job or reduction in income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, or be at or below the federal income thresholds for low income.

To receive benefits from the program, applicants must be able to provide proof of income or pay reduction (latest pay stub), proof of approved unemployment claim or a letter from an employer confirming business closure, layoff or reduction in pay due to COVID-19.

The program covers all utility bills issued for services between March 1 and Dec. 30 and benefits may be used to pay for all utility services provided by and billed for by the City of Kyle (water, wastewater, solid waste and storm drainage); monthly service charges for utility services; late payment penalties; and service disconnection fees.

Residents can apply for the benefits or learn more about it here.

Is it safe to drink the water?

There are two places on tomorrow night’s agenda where legitimately someone from the City could step to the podium and directly answer the above question, which, of course, needs a direct "yes" or "no" answer. The first place would be during the Citizens Comments item which allows for anyone to speak on a subject that is not on the agenda. The second is during the City Managers (sic) Report, but that comes so late on what appears to be a long night for the City Council, most people may not be awake to hear it. After tomorrow night, however, I hope all upcoming agendas contain a standing item "Update on City’s Water Quality" until such time as the TCEQ says our water is OK.

A portion, but definitely not all, of Kyle residents received a notice this week in their water bill that began "The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has notified the City of Kyle, Texas, that the drinking water being supplied to its customers has exceeded the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for total trihalomethanes." The notice goes on to say what trihalomethanes are and how they are formed, but then the third paragraph of the notice reads: "Some people who drink water containing trihalomethanes in excess over the MCL for many years may experience problems with their liver, kidney or central nervous system, and may have an increased risk of getting cancer."

WHAT???? Can we have a little more specificity here. Who exactly are these "some people" you’re referring to here? How many is "many years"? What kind of "liver, kidney or central nervous system" problems may "some people" experience? And what exactly is the "risk" of "getting cancer" from Kyle’s water supply. And, most important, are the answers to these questions supported by medical evidence?

Now, after all that, the very next paragraph says very reassuringly "You do not need to use an alternative water supply." But that paragraph also contains a qualifier: "However, if you have health concerns, you may want to talk to your doctor to get more information about how this may affect you." Which, to me, translates into "It’s perfectly OK to drink the water, but you do so at your own risk."

Am I really worried about all this? Frankly, not that much. In fact, later this evening I plan to make myself a Manhattan that will be chilled from ice directly from my ice maker. I plan to swallow my medicine tonight, tomorrow morning and all the nights and mornings after with water from the tap, albeit water filtered through one of those Brita water filter gadgets. But I have been using those filters for years now. Even my dog gets that chilled filtered water. I make my morning coffee with it. Have been doing so for years and don’t plan to quit now. Does Brita filter out trihalomethanes? I don’t know, but, to be honest, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.

I guess what really bothers me about all this is the last paragraph of the City’s notice which begins "Please share this information with all the people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (i.e., people in apartments, nursing homes, schools and businesses)." What this tells me is not only is the City admitting it isn’t notifying all its citizens about this potential problem, but it doesn’t even intend to make any effort of any kind to do so. It is hoping a few homeowners will fan out to all the people living in apartments, all those confined to nursing homes, all the school administrators and everyone who works in Kyle. Fat chance.

It’s also interesting that no mention was made of the Seton Medical Complex in any of this. Why is that? Shouldn’t the nurses and physicians attending to patients in those facilities be aware of these potential problems?

Just saying. Now it’s time for that Manhattan.

Kyle: We just give you the lines, whether you ever have water is not our problem

Back on May 26 I wrote about the Planning and Zoning Commission’s consideration of the final plat for two planned subdivisions, the Meadows of Kyle phases five and six, a total of 90 single family lots on more than 22 acres on Windy Hill Road in northeast Kyle. The city was going to supply a lot of the infrastructure for the area, of course, but the subdivision had contracted with Goforth Water Supply to provide its water. Trouble is Goforth Water Supply is one of three entities that is seeking to obtain water from wells that a Houston company planned to drill near Wimberley until the Texas Legislature moved to quash those plans. (The well-killing bill passed by the legislature is awaiting the signature of Gov. Greg Abbott, but I have learned from capitol observers that he will likely allow it to become law without his signature.)

So the question was raised at its last meeting as to whether Planning and Zoning commissioners should approve the final plat of a subdivision that may have some concerns about getting any water. Turns out, that’s none of Kyle’s business. As Community Development Director Howard Koontz told commissioners Tuesday:

"These items were tabled until this evening so we could do a little bit more research on community development and City of Kyle procedure on approval of these plats. The question specifically was ‘Do we examine projects for adequate public facilities if the city is not the provider of the infrastructure or some of the utilities.’ I spoke with the city engineer, I spoke with the public works director and the answer to that is ‘no’. We do not check to find out whether or not the utilities themselves are adequate. We look from the standpoint of residential code or commercial code, depending on the type of project that it is, and make sure that the infrastructure is installed properly. So you make sure they have the correct size water lines or the correct size gas line and that there’s back flows and meters and whatnot. But as far as the idea of them receiving the actual commodity through that infrastructure at this point is a civil agreement with whoever the utility provider is."

With that, the commissioners unanimously approved the final plat.