In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, and in line with recently issued Governor and Secretary of State proclamations, Newport MUD has opted to delay the May 2nd Bond Authorization election until an appropriate later date.
Why did we come to this decision?
We take the safety of our residents very seriously and could not in good conscience create a situation where Newport residents would have to violate social distancing guidelines to exercise their right to vote.
What does this mean for the Bond Authorization?
As we have tried to share with the community, the bond authorization is imperative to rehabilitate the existing infrastructure, expand the service capacity, and bring our District in line with TCEQ and Subsidence District requirements by 2025. We will still need to conduct an election when we can all gather safely in public again.
Tell me more about the Bond Authorization Election!
The Newport MUD Board of Directors held a bond authorization election in November 2019. While the election was close, it was evident by the votes that the residents were not ready to authorize the entire amount to fund a ten-year Capital Improvement Plan. We have since met with many members of the community to hear their concerns and to continue to explain the capital improvements needed to maintain service and state law compliance. Earlier this year, the Board of Directors took the feedback received and adjusted the authorization request to cover only the next six years of the ten-year Capital Improvement Plan.
After the board voted to call a May 2nd election, we continued to hold community discussions to inform residents about the new plan. As COVID-19 became a present threat to residents, we stopped having those community discussions as a safety precaution as we considered our options. Now that the board has officially postponed the election, we plan on continuing to educate our residents about the upcoming Bond Authorization election through our website as well as mailing information with each monthā€™s bill that outlines a new topic related to the Bond Authorization. As we near the day we can gather in public again, we want our residents to be fully informed about the goals of the District when the election is called once more.
Again, we hope that all residents of Newport MUD are safe and healthy during these uncertain times. Resident health, safety and transparency is always our goal. Please look for updates regarding our district and upcoming elections with your water bill, on districtā€™s website and in our district alerts.
For more information, please feel free to navigate to the District website, https://www.newportmudtx.org/. You can also reach out to the Board and their consultants via the Contact page.