On Monday 1 December Sweetwater Park will temporarily close for the installation of the rubber pour-in-place safety matting. The installation should take approximately 1 week, weather permitting.

On Thursday 4 December Monarch Park will temporarily close for the installation of the rubber pour-in-place safety matting. The installation should take approximately 1 week, weather permitting.

Recent articles in the Houston Chronicle have raised concerns and created confusion about the role and operations of water districts. Please be assured that AWBD is aware of, and closely monitoring, coverage of MUDs. We are working to ensure that the narrative surrounding MUDs and other special purpose water districts reflects the truth about the work you do every day and the indispensable role our districts play in responsible growth, infrastructure development, and expanding homeownership opportunities across Texas. AWBD is committed to providing training and education for its members and when called upon, to represent MUDs to the greater Texas audience.

Contrary to recent reporting, MUDs ARE:

• Subject to the property tax restrictions of SB 2.
• Open and visible to the public. All homebuyers and land purchasers in a MUD are required to be given TWO separate Notices regarding the existence of the MUD, including the tax rate, the voted debt for the MUD, and any debt that has been sold. All MUDs are subject to the Texas Open Meetings Act and Public Information Act
• Financially responsible. MUDs prepare annual budgets annually in accordance with the Texas Water Code and are required to manage funds in accordance with the Public Funds Investment Act – just like other governmental entities.
• Transparent. State law requires that MUDs prepare multiple reports for inclusion in statewide online databases. MUDs are also required to post tax rate and contact and financial information online under SB 2.
• A proven method for financing quality infrastructure in some of the country’s best master-planned communities. Without MUDs, these communities and thousands of others simply wouldn’t exist or would have been unaffordable for most homebuyers.
• GOOD FOR HELPING TEXANS REALIZE THEIR DREAM OF HOMEOWNERSHIP!

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

YOU can play an essential role in shifting the narrative by sharing your own firsthand experiences about how your district positively impacts the community you serve. Whether it’s highlighting how new or rehabilitated water and wastewater infrastructure provides reliable service, explaining how thoughtful financial planning kept taxes stable during a period of rapid growth, or describing a community park, trail, or amenity made possible through MUD leadership, these personal stories resonate far more deeply than statistics alone. AWBD will use these anecdotes to create public relation pieces to be published in newspapers and periodicals. Please submit your stories to info@awbd-tx.org.

As these conversations continue in the public arena, AWBD will remain dedicated in advocating for our members and sharing the good news of special purpose districts’ impact in the growth and success of Texas. Your dedication to transparent governance, fiscal responsibility, and service to your communities is the foundation on which Texas neighborhoods thrive, and it deserves to be accurately represented. Thank you for your continued leadership, professionalism, and commitment to the residents you serve. Together, we will ensure that the value of MUDs is clearly understood and strongly defended statewide.

United Together,

Wendy Duncan

President, Association of Water Board Directors – Texas

The District has received several complaints that people are not cleaning up after their dogs at the dog park.

PLEASE, PLEASE follow the posted rules and pick up after your dogs in the parks; especially in the off-leash park)!! Dog waste stations are onsite.

Recently, each homeowner in Trinity Falls received a letter from the MUD regarding illegal yard drains. The intent of the letter was to provide information to homeowners about lot drainage. Just because you received a letter does not mean that you have an illegal drain on your lot. The MUD provides ongoing inspections of all MUD-owned property to ensure that no homeowner is causing damage to such property. This update from the MUD will hopefully provide further clarification about illegal drains.

• Most lots in Trinity Falls drain toward the street. As a reminder, your property line ends at the sidewalk in front of your home. The sidewalk and the strip of grass between the sidewalk and the curb are part of the road right-of-way and are owned by the MUD.
  • Many homeowners/builders/contractors have installed an underground drainage system to help transfer the drainage from the back of the lot to the front.
  • If installed correctly, there should be a “pop-up” drain at least 5 feet from your property line that forces the underground drainage to the surface where it can sheet flow to the street (see attached Exhibit “A” illustrating the correct location of the “pop-up” drain).
  • If your “pop-up” drain was installed between the sidewalk and the curb, then that “pop-up” drain was installed on MUD property without authorization. However, if the unauthorized “pop-up” drain is not causing damage to the sidewalk or curb and not causing erosion on the MUD property, then, at this time, the MUD is not going to ask the homeowner to relocate the “pop-up” drain onto the homeowner’s property. If at any time in the future, the unauthorized “pop-up” drain starts causing damage to the sidewalk or curb or starts causing erosion on the MUD property, then the MUD has the authority to require the homeowner to relocate the “pop-up” drain onto the homeowner’s property.
  • If your underground drainage flows directly into the street through a cutout in the curb, then this curb cutout is illegal. Curb cutouts severely weaken the curb and over time will cause the curb to crumble, which will result in future maintenance costs to the MUD. In addition, discharge from these curb drains on streets with flatter grades may result in the potential for standing water in the street, posing a public safety issue, and has the potential to prematurely degrade the street as the water soaks into and compromises the paving subgrade, resulting in failure of the concrete pavement.
• Some lots in Trinity Falls are designed for the backyard to drain to the rear. If your lot backs up to a greenbelt or park, then a portion of your lot may be designed so that drainage is forced to flow as a sheet (“sheet flow”) across the entire surface of your lot and is dispersed by the vegetation and topography. Sheet flow drainage does not flow through a drainage pipe.
  • The MUD owns and maintains a majority of the common areas behind the homes in Trinity Falls.
  • If your lot has a drainage system that is designed to capture the drainage and force it out the back of your lot then there should be a “pop-up” drain at least 5 feet from the back property line to allow the drainage to sheet flow off the back of your lot. Any outfall pipe that extends into MUD property, is an illegal drain that must be removed.

The MUD encourages all homeowners to walk the perimeter of their property and make certain that their lot does not have any of the illegal drain types discussed above. If you do have an illegal drain, suspect you may have an illegal drain, or have any questions about the drainage on your property, please contact Jody Dellinger, Regional District Manager, at jdellinger@mckinneymud1.com.

The reason the MUD is taking action to have these illegal drains removed is simple – any time the MUD spends money on a repair, all taxpayers in the MUD are paying for that expense. The MUD is trying to avoid instances where all taxpayers are paying for expensive repairs to MUD property caused by one individual homeowner with an illegal drain.

The Dog Park water fountains are off and wrapped due to the upcoming expected freezing temps.