As published in Lake Travis View, week of June 2, 2016.

Thanks to volunteers willing to serve on Lakeway MUD board

Election of Lakeway Municipal Utility District board of directors was held May 7. We wish to thank Kay Andrews for her 12 years of service and Mel Neese for his four years of service. We deeply appreciate their commitment to helping LMUD achieve new heights.

Re-elected to the board was Tom Brewer, who served as a director since June 2011. We appreciate his willingness to devote another term of service. Newly elected directors are Don Goff and Lawrence Christian. Goff was chairman of the Administrative, Personnel and Community Relations Committee and has been active in improving each of those areas during his tenure. Christian was the chairman of our Finance Committee and has been instrumental in supporting the outstanding financial results LMUD has enjoyed in recent years. We congratulate all three directors whose terms began at our monthly board meeting May 18, and we thank them all for their continued willingness to devote even more of their personal time to the betterment of LMUD.

A new board is always a fresh start and causes reflection on past events. We thought it might be interesting to look back on some of the historical happenings at LMUD. The first board meeting was Aug. 28, 1971, and the new MUD was named Travis County Municipal Utilities District No. 1. The second meeting was held Oct. 25, 1971, and the name was changed to Lakeway Municipal Utility District No.1.

Shortly after the second meeting, the city of Austin passed a resolution that LMUD could not furnish water or service to any customer in a subdivision within LMUD unless the Planning Commission of the city of Austin approved it.

The third meeting took place Dec. 6, 1971. One of the highlights was a request from the Texas Department of Public Safety that sufficient space be planned in LMUD’s district office to house two officers, including desk space, storage and a retaining cell for those arrested. The board members at that meeting seemed willing to consider that request, but there is no evidence it was ever mentioned again.

On Sept. 3, 1971, LMUD received its first invoice; it was a bill from Harvey Smith, surveyor, in the amount of $90. The charge was for six hours of office time at $15 per hour. This invoice was paid by the Lakeway Land Co., which was then reimbursed by LMUD No.1.

In December 1971, an article appeared in the Austin American-Statesman in which Austin Mayor Roy Butler was quoted as saying he was not happy seeing MUD’s sprouting up around Austin. It was his belief that this event would stunt Austin’s growth. It’s doubtful that today anyone familiar with Austin would claim that its growth had ever been stunted. Just as an interesting side note: In 1972, the Lakeway area was in ZIP code 78746, and it was an Austin address.

There was a special meeting of the board Oct. 17, 1972, where an attorney by the name of Doran Eskew appeared before the board and stated that he had been engaged by a group of citizens around the Lakeway area. Their purpose was to defend against any annexation by LMUD No. 1. The president of the board, Edward Plodzik, stated that LMUD No. 1 had no intentions of annexing any areas unless those areas actively sought out the help of the district.

In that meeting, the tax rate for 1973 was announced at 25 cents per $100 of evaluation; a far cry from our 2015 rate of $0.1536 even without adjusting for 40-plus years of inflation. Another interesting note: In January 1973, there were 426 customers, compared to over 4,200 today, and the total LMUD No. 1 billing was $6,645. The average bill per customer was $15 for two months.

On July 13, 1983, at a regular board meeting, the directors voted to change the name to Lakeway Municipal Utility District, and it has remained the same since that meeting. Originally, the thought was that there would be additional MUDs formed that would want to use the Lakeway MUD name. Since that did not happen, the No. 1 was dropped.

We hope you have enjoyed this little look at history. We want to remind you that from May 1 through Sept. 30 we are under Stage 2 Irrigation Restrictions. All customers are limited to two weekly waterings. Odd number addresses are Wednesdays and Saturdays, and even number addresses are Thursdays and Sundays. Commercial customers may water on Tuesdays and Fridays. While we have had an abundance of rain the last few months, forecasters are predicting a hot and dry summer and fall.

We thank everyone in advance for your cooperation in conservation. Please feel free to contact us with any questions at 512-261-6722, by email at [email protected] or by visiting our district office, 1097 Lohmans Crossing. You can also find useful information at www.LakewayMUD.org.