Kelly Prew
News Editor
April 20, 2006 12:36 am
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In a longer than usual City Council meeting Tuesday, the Huntsville Comprehensive Plan was the main topic of discussion, followed by a variety of matters up for approval.
The city agreed to accept the terms of an agreement with CenterPoint Entergy Entex after nearly a year of battling the company over a base rate increase announced in June 2005.
CenterPoint’s 4,449 residential customers in Huntsville first saw the increase in November 2005, and based on the adopted agreement, will begin seeing a $9 per-year reduction beginning as early as May.
“Customers should see this in the next bill after the matter is dismissed,” said city attorney Thomas Leeper. “CenterPoint and shareholders will absorb the cost of (the legal battle) and the cost will not be passed on to customers.”
The settlement was developed in the days leading up to the Railroad Commission hearings involving this case.
The city’s battle with the energy company began after CenterPoint filed a statement of intent with the city on June 30, 2005. The city eventually joined the Alliance of CenterPoint Municipalities and maintained CenterPoint failed to publish notice of the increase in rates required by the statute, and the company failed to do so. On Nov. 3, 2005, CenterPoint implemented the rate increase, and the ACM issued cease and desist orders, which were appealed by the company to the Railroad Commission.
The appeal could have lasted years, and the outcome could not be known with 100 percent certainty. Therefore, the settlement agreement was the best compromise, Leeper said.
Some highlights of the agreement include:
• A $9 per-year rate reduction for customers
• Protection against base rate increases for the next three years, including cost increases resulting from hurricanes or weather events, inflation or escalation in the cost of goods and services, escalation in the cost of labor benefits and the cost of the installation, relocation and replacement of pipes.
• CenterPoint may only raise base rates if it first files with the Alliance of CenterPoint Municipalities, of which Huntsville is a part.
• Public notices on behalf of CenterPoint and general rate cases must be published in a manner similar to public notice requirements. The notice will have to appear in The Huntsville Item.
Also on Tuesday, council approved the reconstruction of 11 homes and the rehabilitation of one home in Huntsville as part of the HOME grant program, now in its third year.
Applicants in the program were required to be age 62 and older or have disabilities recognized by the state. All of them fall below 50 percent of the local median income, and many below 30 percent. Most of them also qualify for tax exemptions or tax freezes implemented by the city two years ago.
Davis Construction Management will rebuild each three-bedroom home for $53,385 and each two-bedroom home for $51,355. Davis submitted the lowest bid in March.
The $500,000 HOME grant was awarded to the city by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs in 2004, and in the same year, the city committed $100,000 of general funds, $25,000 of an in-kind match and $250,000 of interim working capital.
In a presentation before council began tackling agenda items, a representative from the Trinity River Authority gave an update on Lake Livingston Dam repairs following damage by Hurricane Rita in September.
The dam is classified as a high-hazard dam, and when Rita came whipping in, north winds off the back side of the hurricane created the same effect as an inland storm surge.
Embankments, nearly 11,000 feet, along the lake were severely damaged, and 85 percent of the dam’s structure was involved. More than 100,000 tons of stone was brought in to rebuild the embankment, and sandbagging was done to reinforce certain areas.
Although the lake is still four feet below normal levels, the TRA says work is ahead of schedule and the majority should be complete by May 1. Seventy-five percent of repairs to the dam were paid for by a FEMA grant, while the city of Houston, who depends on the lake for water supplies, paid the final 25 percent.
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