Clarendon okays Greenbelt agreement

The Clarendon City Council authorized a supplemental contract with Greenbelt Municipal & Industrial Water Authority during a called meeting July 3 that will allow the water authority to proceed with an $18 million project to develop groundwater resources for its members cities.

Clarendon’s approval came after Greenbelt agreed to amendments to the contract, City Administrator David Dockery said. The most notable concession was that Clarendon will have the right to withdraw from the Greenbelt system after the current 1975 series bonds are paid off in 2027.

“Clarendon will can pull out of Greenbelt with one year’s notice at that time,” Dockery said. “It gives Clarendon a much stronger position in the future.”

Dockery said the city and the water authority are also working on possible changes to the contract under which Clarendon sells city groundwater to Greenbelt.

The Texas Water Development Board in April approved more than $18 million for a new water supply project for the Greenbelt Municipal and Industrial Water Authority. The project would develop 2,800 acres of groundwater rights the water authority acquired in northern Donley County in 2017. Greenbelt would construct three water wells, well field piping, electrical distribution equipment, and a 12-mile transmission line to transport water to its existing water treatment plant. Ten million dollars of the project is fully funded by the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, and $8.11 million would be financed with Clarendon paying about six percent of that cost.