During Tuesday’s three-hour special meeting of the Ector County Utility District, two board members said the board was out of compliance during the process of bidding materials.
Board members Will Kappauf and Troy Walker both voted no on the second agenda item that read “consider and approve bids for purchase of values, fire hydrants and other inventory materials for maintenance and repairs of water distribution system.”
Kappauf and Walker expressed during Tuesday’s meeting the board didn’t bid materials properly. Kappauf said the board can’t get purchase orders before bids.
“Purchase orders were issued prior to the board meeting and that’s what I believe was the illegal act,” Kappauf said during a phone interview on Wednesday afternoon.
After a failed motion from Kappauf to table the agenda item which was seconded by Walker, the board approved 3-2 to purchase the more than $500,000 of materials. ECUD claimed emergency use for the materials, but that belief isn’t shared by Kappauf or Walker.
Stephanie Shaw and Margaret Burton voted yes, while Kappauf and Walker voted no. ECUD president Tommy Ervin broke the tie with yes. After he broke the tie, Ervin said “I’ll ride the heat on this one.”
“There are three of us that believe it was OK,” Ervin said. “Could it have been done better? Yes. It could have been done better. As far as being incorrect or illegal, no, I don’t believe so and neither do the other two board members that voted in favor of honoring those purchase orders.”
The Odessa American spoke with Walker over the phone on Wednesday afternoon about the events that transpired on Tuesday evening.
“I’m not a politician. I’m not a lawyer. I don’t want to look for a loophole,” Walker said. “I want to follow the law to the best of my ability and give the citizens of Ector County in the ECUD water district a fair shake for the money they are having to spend. I feel like we need to be good stewards of the money that is entrusted with us to make sure that we provide the best possible service and the most water to the most people. I know in my heart of hearts that’s not being done.”
In addition to the belief the bids weren’t processed properly, Kappauf said there isn’t room in this year’s annual budget for Tuesday’s purchase of more than $500,000 of materials. Ervin said funds for Tuesday’s purchases are in the bank.
Mike Gardner, the Ector County Commissioner for Precinct 1, was in attendance as he spoke about ECUD’s importance of sticking to its budget, regardless of saved funds.
“It doesn’t matter how much money you have in the bank. I mean it matters how much money you have in the bank,” Gardner said during the meeting. “So far you guys are concerned, you live by a budget, whether you want to do it…. A budget in your world is not just a guideline to follow, it’s what you live by.”
Gardner also expressed he wants to give ECUD between $9 to $10 million in ARPA funds for the array of projects it proposed more than a month ago to the Ector County Commissioner’s Court, however, he said GrantWorks, which will oversee the use of ARPA funds, won’t let a similar bid process take place like it just did.
“I, as a commissioner, am not going to go back and pay Uncle Joe Biden back two or three million dollars, because you guys didn’t bid the right way,” Gardner said during the meeting.
ECUD also heard from Chuck Loy and Nick Weaver of GDS Associates via Microsoft Teams about rate changes. The board approved the rate change that would decrease the monthly minimum charge from $75 to $65. GDS Associates projects the revenue impact for the rate change would drop by nearly $500,000.
Ervin believes ECUD can make up for the revenue drop with new customers. The new monthly rates would begin Aug. 27. The board tabled the adoption of a purchased water adjustment clause, and water tap fees and other fees and charges in Ector County. The board will continue those discussions during its next scheduled meeting on July 13.
