After months of discussion and public feedback, the Brown County Water Improvement District #1 (BCWID) board of directors voted Tuesday to require contracts and fees for waterfront property owners at Lake Brownwood who pump water directly from the lake for residential use.

The board reviewed several scenarios on how to charge waterfront customers and selected what they call Scenario 2 which has a four-tier fee structure based on the size of the property owner’s lot.

Below is the list of fees and lot sizes:

Lot Size                 Yearly Fee
0- ½ acre                   $100
½-1 acre                    $200
1- 1 ½ acre                $300
1 ½ – 2+ acre             $400

The board also voted in an amendment to allow the larger property owners the option to figure the cost based on a formula.

“We are going to do scenario number 2 with an amendment for the 1.5 acre to 2 acre lots or larger to have an opportunity to have their water rate calculated based on a formula that the LCRA uses,” said BCWID President Mark Campbell.

Several waterfront property owners from Lake Brownwood were in attendance at the board meeting to show their opposition to the board charging them to pull water directly from the lake.   One property owner addressed the board prior to the Tuesday vote as he has done in the past several meetings, expressing the view of many waterfront property owners.

“The state has mandated that you have a contract for ‘straws in the lake,’” said waterfront property owner Jim Bitter. “It does not mandate, again, that you charge for water for people that live on the lake.  I still adamantly am against you charging.”

BCWID General Manager Dennis Spinks said that the cost to waterfront property owners will be minimal compared to other water customers in the county.

“Truthfully, $8 per month at the minimum fee of $100 for whatever use you use that water, it’s much cheaper than if you were using treated water,” Spinks  said.

Spinks stated that waterfront property owners whose intake lines are out of the water because of the low level will not be charged, but will be prorated once the lake level increases where they can once again pull water from the lake for residential use.

The requirement to have a contract in place with the district will take effect January 1st.  The board also voted to waive the one-time $25 application fee for waterfront property owners who sign their contracts before January 1st.