Media Advisory
LAKE AMANDA WATER CONTROL & IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT NO. 1 SECURES FINANCING, SET TO START RECONSTRUCTION OF DAM
WHAT: The Lake Amanda Water Control & Improvement District No. 1 (“LAWCID or District”) will host an official groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the funding and start of reconstruction on the Lake Amanda dam that was lost during the Memorial Day flood in May 2016.
WHEN: Friday, August 10, 2018 at 11:00am
WHERE: Westside of Lake Amanda dam located just east of Colmesneil, Texas.
(Participants will meet at Amanda Haralson’s home on the south side of the lake (call for directions) and walk a short distance to the west side of the dam for the ceremony.)
INVITED ATTENDEES: LAWCID Board members: Kirwin Drouet (president), Heyward Fetner (vice president and past president of LAPOA), Don Sousley (treasurer), Cindy Shapley (secretary) and Lynn Wiggins (investment officer)
LAWCID attorney: John Stover
Clay fill contributor: Amanda Haralson
LAWCID owner’s representative: Brigham Bigby
TWDB director: Kathleen Jackson
U.S. Representative for 36th District: Brian Babin
State Senator for District 3: Robert Nichols
State Representative for District 19: James White
Tyler Co. Judge: Jacques Blanchette
Tyler Co. Commissioner Precinct 3: Mike Marshall
BACKGROUND: Lake Amanda Water Control and Improvement District No. 1 (“LAWCID or District”) was formed in 2016 by the Tyler County Commissioners Court upon petition by the approximate 165 families that own property around Lake Amanda. The LAWCID was formed in response to the catastrophic loss of the Lake Amanda dam during the Memorial Day flood in May of 2016. The LAWCID’s formation was ratified and its board of directors elected in the November 2016 general election and the District’s voters approved a bond issue of $1 million to repair the dam. The District’s property owners funded the engineering to repair and build a new spillway at the dam and such engineering designs were approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in June 2017. Based on these designs, the LAWCID advertised for public bids to repair the Lake Amanda dam and HC Oilfield Service LLC of Chester, Texas was determined to be the lowest bidder of the three bids submitted in 2017. In August 2017, the District began discussions with the Texas Water Development Board (“TWDB”) about funding the dam repairs using loan proceeds from their D Fund account. In May 2018, the District voters overwhelmingly approved an increase in the bonds needed to rebuild the dam from $1 million to $1.5 million. A formal loan application was made to the TWDB by the LAWCID for this increased amount and on June 11, 2018 the TWDB board of directors approved a thirty-year loan to the District in the amount of $1.5 million. The LAWCID received the proceeds from this loan on August 3rd, 2018.
Media Contact: Kirwin Drouet, LAWCID president, 713-816-1101
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