The Northlake Town Council considered raising water and sewer rates, assisting with water service to the nearby town of Ponder and addressing concerns about noise and light pollution at its Nov. 14 meeting.
Northlake water and sewer rates
Town staff said a water and sewer rate increase may be necessary because of the increased wholesale cost of water and sewer, higher operational costs, needed infrastructure projects, and continue to meet Northlake’s debt obligations. The increase could hover between 4.6% and 4.9% because of how the town rounds its rates. If the rate increase goes through, the average resident in Northlake could see an increase of about $7 to their monthly water and wastewater bills in 2025.
The average monthly bill would then be about $157.80, while commercial tenants could see a bill increase of about $24.50 next year if the new rates are approved. The new rates will be taken up for a vote at the council's Dec. 12 meeting.
If approved, residents would get a notice and the new rates would be implemented in January.
Helping Ponder
Town Manager Drew Corn told the town council that a neighboring town, Ponder, may need some help with its water infrastructure. Northlake officials may be stuck footing the bill for some of the work, but this could result in the town getting some of its water infrastructure work done sooner and for cheaper.
He explained that Texas Senate Bill 2038 allowed property owners to petition to be released from a municipality’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, or ETJ, which can also be done by election. An ETJ refers to the areas outside the official boundaries of a municipality where a local government still has limited regulatory control.
“Ponder would like to control their own destiny and they need to get a water source,” Corn said.
Corn said Northlake residents still aren’t using the total capacity of their water lines, so the town has the capacity to help serve Ponder, but not without improvements to Northlake systems and a new water tank. He said Northlake will need the system improvements anyway and partnering with the town of Ponder could allow these improvements to happen faster and at a cheaper cost.
Town officials could also use the water service in the area to convince property owners to be incorporated into Northlake, he said. If Northlake officials decide to help the town of Ponder, work on water infrastructure would have to begin within the next year.
Nuisance
Town Council also discussed updating Northlake’s noise and lighting regulations to deal with nuisances in and around the town. The changes could include specific lighting and noise levels that town residents and property owners in the town’s ETJ would not be allowed to exceed during certain hours of the day and night. Currently, town police and staff don’t have tools to measure decibel levels in Northlake. However, Northlake Police Chief Robert Crawford said that will change soon. Crawford also said that there were about 160 noise complaints in the town between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31. Most times there’s a noise complaint, police ask the responsible resident to lower the volume and most people comply, he said. If people don't comply, they will be issued a citation.
Mayor Brian Montini said he had town staff bring this proposal to council because he’s heard noise complaints from residents.
“Everything the council has been doing in this term has been about public enjoyment and quality of life, and this falls into that category,” Montini said. “This is, 'how do we make our residents be able to sleep better and enjoy life more.'"
What else?
Town Council members also approved the annexation of about 57 acres of land into Northlake that will be used for four warehouses of just over 900,000 square feet, and cast their votes for a proposed member of the Denton Central Appraisal District. Northlake officials get 14 out of 5,000 votes for members of the district, which went toward retired U.S. Army Maj. Rob Altman.
