Improvements mean higher water bills

Clarendon and Hedley residents will see an increase in their monthly water bills as Greenbelt Municipal & Industrial Water Authority begins making capital improvements.

Greenbelt General Manager Bobbie Kidd says bonds have been secured for a $5.3 million project which will add a new storage facility at Childress and install new filters and a new chemical treatment process at the plant north of Clarendon.

The Childress project, which will increase the authority’s holding capacity there by at least 50 percent, will cost about $2.6 million. Work at the filter plant will cost $2.5 million.

Member cities in the Greenbelt system have signed supplemental contracts with the authority and have raised their rates to meet Greenbelt’s new demand charges, which will increase by 23.32 percent, Kidd said.

Clarendon Aldermen last week raised the minimum charge for water from $15 for 5,000 gallons to $18.90. The price for the second 5,000 gallons used is unchanged at $1.40 per thousand, but after that the cost increases from $1.50 per thousand to $1.60 per thousand.

In Hedley, city aldermen raised rates minimum rates by $4 with rates for each additional 1,000 gallons going up by 25¢ per thousand.

Hedley’s new rates became effective this month, and Clarendon’s will begin September 1, 2001.

While most of the 23 percent increase is related to upcoming construction costs, Kidd said eight percent reflects an increase in utility costs – namely electricity.

Greenbelt Water Authority is made up of Clarendon, Hedley, Childress, Crowell, Quanah, and the Red River Water Authority. Each of the five cities has one representative on the Greenbelt Board, and Red River has none.

Each member pays a percentage of Greenbelt’s budget based on its water usage for the previous year, Kidd said. Hedley pays 2.17 percent, Clarendon pays 9.00 percent, and Childress pays 51.04 percent. Crowell and Quanah pay 6.96 percent and 14.12 percent respectively. Red River covers 16.71 percent.

The authority also sells water to a few area cities as well as for some industrial uses.