Georgetown could acquire Chisholm Trail Special Utility District

The city could also benefit from the acquisition by improving service to residents in the city's ETJ, including areas that have potential for being annexed in the future, and the provision of water capacity for development in high-growth areas, such as Williams Drive, Hwy. 29 and Hwy. 195, according to the release.

"[Acquiring the entire district] was seen as a way to create some potential economies of scale. Usually if something gets larger, it's less expensive for the individual pieces," Dishong said. "So customers might enjoy either continued stable rates or a slower increase in rates."

At its Dec. 15 meeting, the Chisholm Trail SUD board of directors also approved the creation of a due diligence committee. The board also approved $100,000 for the feasibility study and requested that staff develop an interlocal agreement with the City of Georgetown to allow the city to provide water services to the Shady Oaks subdivision by May 2012.

Dishong said that with the completion of the Lake Water Treatment Plant expansion in the next three or four months, the city will have plenty of treated water to take on the additional customers.

"It's the status about how many water rights do the existing entities have," he said. "I think in the long run, Chisholm Trail needs more water rights, and so we will be going out and trying to acquire those additional water rights in the future."

Dishong said a report and decision by City Council and the Chisholm Trail SUD board of directors could come sometime in May or June.

"We are very early in the process," he said. "We've just started a four- to six-month endeavor to come to a final recommendation and potential approval to put the two utilities together. "