The North Texas Municipal Water District filed a response with the Public Utility Commission of Texas in regards to the petition from the cities of Plano, Garland, Mesquite and Richardson and called for a motion to dismiss the petition due to lack of jurisdiction. In December the four member cities asked to have the PUCT review the water contract with the NTMWD, stating the current contract is not in the public’s interest. The PUCT is seen as a third party in the matter. The NTMWD’s response filed today stated that the contract between the district and the cities is incontestable and not subject to challenge under the district’s Enabling Act. “The duration of the contract is specifically tied to the amount of time necessary for the District to pay off the bonds and the related interest,” said the NTMWD in its response. “Moreover, the contract unconditionally obligates the [petitioning cities] and all other member city signatories to pay their share of the Annual Requirement, including debt service.” The NTMWD’s said the cities could ask the PUCT to evaluate the water rate, but has no jurisdiction to evaluate the contract and terms of the contract. The district said the petition does not challenge the water rate set but challenges the contract terms that determines the method for allocation of the district’s cost. Within the next several days, the PUCT director of docket management will look at the filing and issue the next steps. The next steps could be a referral to the State Office of Administrative Hearings to begin the hearing process or it could be a request for preliminary action from the commission on some issues needing to be addressed, said Terry Hadley, a spokesman for the PUCT. The four cities requesting the review are the four largest contributing NTMWD member cities. Other member cities include Allen, Frisco, McKinney, Farmersville, Forney, Princeton, Rockwall, Wylie and Royse City. "We will be filing a response to the district's motion to dismiss with the Public Utility Commission of Texas," city of Plano City Attorney Paige Mims said in an email.