BELL COUNTY, Texas — Dog Ridge Water Supply customers welcome new leadership after years of outages as State Rep. Hillary Hickland explores funding options for infrastructure improvements. The District 55 State Representative held a Town hall meeting August 6th at 6pm for Dog Ridge customers to voice concerns.
- Dog Ridge Water Supply has new leadership after three board members, including the president, resigned Wednesday morning.
- Customers expressed excitement about the change following years of water outages and quality issues.
- State Rep. Hillary Hickland met with residents Wednesday evening to discuss concerns and potential funding options.
- Some residents suggested bringing in professional management to handle day-to-day operations of the water supply.
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BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Customers of Dog Ridge Water Supply Corporation are now under new leadership after the president, vice president and office manager resigned Wednesday morning. Many customers expressed excitement about the change following years of water outages and quality issues.
"Our president and vice president have resigned over the weekend," a board member announced at Wednesday's emergency meeting.
By Wednesday afternoon, Dog Ridge neighbors met with State Rep. Hillary Hickland to voice their concerns about the future of their water supply.
"Why aren't we charging these developers money to not only run the lines for them but fix some of ours that are there?" one resident asked during the meeting.
Locals shared several concerns including lack of transparency with funding and rate increases, worries about new developments with the current aging infrastructure, and the absence of fire hydrants throughout neighborhoods.
Hickland explained she has been in contact with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and is exploring funding options.
"Governor Abbott gave a significant amount of money for the state to use for the water fund, this effort, this alliance was established so we can collectively petition for those funds for local projects right here in Bell County," Hickland said.
That's welcome news for Dog Ridge customers. Darlene Travis, who had to carry buckets of water from a nearby creek to feed her horses during ongoing water outages, expressed relief about the management changes.
"There is so much relief in knowing there is even a small amount of change, the pressure that we were forcing with a board we couldn't get passed, with the meeting this morning and the changes that were made, it truly is revitalizing to me," Travis said.
The Dog Ridge Water Supply Board elected Heidi Curtis as the new board president. At the meeting, Curtis explained she doesn't have water management experience other than being a customer, which motivated her to join the board.
While many residents look forward to the new management, some voiced preference for a professional management firm to handle day-to-day operations.
"The board sets a policy, and they need a professional manager to run that," one resident said.
As for next steps, Rep.Hickland plans to work with the board and connect them with state agencies for resources.
Some customers asked the current Dog Ridge president Heidi Curtis about investigating the prior management, Curtis explained that is something she is looking in to. 25News Reporter Dominique Leh is coordinating an interview with Curtis to discuss the new leadership.
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