City Council approved an agreement to consolidate the Chisholm Trail Special Utility District with the city's water utility.

The Chisholm Trail SUD provides water to more than 7,000 customers in a 375-square-mile area that includes northwestern Williamson County and portions of Burnet and Bell counties. A majority of the customers are within in the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction, or ETJ, which includes the unincorporated areas up to 3.5 miles beyond the city limits, according to a news release from the city.

The city's water utility currently covers 70 square miles and serves 22,000 customers.

"[Chisholm Trail SUD board of directors President] Pat Gower said what we are looking for is safe, reliable water at a reasonable rate," said Karen Mathis, chair of the SUD's Greater Water Committee. "The Greater Water Committee is confident in the city of Georgetown's ability and we are 100 percent in support of the [Georgetown Utility Services] board's recommendation to transfer the CTSUD's [service territory] to the city of Georgetown."

The Chisholm Trail board voted 6-1 in favor of a consolidation agreement at its Aug. 15 meeting.

"Georgetown and the greater Georgetown area will benefit from this, I think, greatly," said Mike Sweeney, Chisholm Trail SUD board member. "That's the most satisfaction I get out of this. It's something that I think this area will look back on many years from now and say this is a very historic situation because water basically defines Texas. To be able to improve the situation regionally is a very, very positive thing."

Under the agreement, the city would begin managing the Chisholm Trail SUD on Nov. 1, and each month the district would pay $15,000 to the city for its management until closing. District customers would remain with the district until closing, when they would become city customers paying the out-of-city water rate.

The city would take over all of the district's assets and debts as well as 17 full-time employees, said Jim Briggs, Georgetown general manager of utilities.

The merger must still be approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

The two utilities have been discussing the proposed merger for more than 2 1/2 years. The board had previously considered an agreement with the city that would have created a local government corporation, however, the board voted 4-3 in April to deny the agreement.

On July 18 board members directed the water utilities legal staff to draft a contract to merge the two utilities; however, on Aug. 1 the board voted 3-3, which tabled the contract.

"When I sit back and look at all of the work the district has completed in the last two years For my first time of being on this board, we actually have a pretty good view of what the future would look like for an independent Chisholm," Gower said. "When I sit back and look at the asset transfer and utility consolidation agreement, I see a better future for our customers than I do there."