At every MUD Board of Directors meeting there is an agenda item called "Citizen Comments". This is an opportunity at the meeting for anyone to address the Board of Directors concerning an issue of community interest that is not specifically on the agenda. The response of the Board is legally restricted to providing factual information or reciting existing policy in response to the inquiry. Any deliberation or actions by the Board regarding Citizen Comments must be delayed until the issue is specifically placed on the agenda at a subsequent meeting.
Below are some of the comments that the Board has received from concerned citizens and information provided: (NOTE: These questions/answers may be out of date. We haven't had any residents attend a board meeting in a while to ask questions, but all board members are residents of the neighborhood).
* My water was shut-off, and I just received a notice! (9/9/11) The Board received a rash of complaints about water shut-off notices and actual shut-offs that were being received very shortly after their bills were overdue. The MUD has not had a significant collections problem, so the shut-off notice policy was officically changed to be issued after a 60 day delquency. Water service will be discontinued when accounts are delinquent for 90 days.
* Why can't we pay our water bill automatically by credit card or pay by phone? (1/21/09) (Updated 1/23/11) The Board recently approved credit card payments as an acceptable form of payment and opened a merchant account when the MUD changed managers to Crossroads Utility Services. Please note that instead of the MUD incurring monthly merchant fees and transaction charges on behalf of residents choosing to pay by credit card, the Board elected to allow a 5% merchant fee to be passed through as a convenience charge directly to those residents who pay their bill using this method. None of the merchant fee is remitted to the MUD.
* Why can't I get my deposit back? (1/21/09) Most smaller utility districts generally retain deposits until accounts are closed. However, because the MUD has not had any significant issues with delinquent accounts, the Board recently voted to change the rate order to provide that customer deposits be refunded or credited after twelve consecutive months of timely payments.
* I don't want an additional garbage pick-up day - we should encourage more recycling! (1/21/09) We've had several comments on the garbage service, and they have been very mixed. Some neighbors, especially new residents, have requested trash service twice per week, which is the service offered in the City of Round Rock and the City of Pflugerville. Other neighbors have expressed concerns about the increase of fees that would be required and the unsightliness of garbage cans in the street more often. The neighbor making the comment above reported that the increased recycling efforts in Austin will soon be moving north to Round Rock, so we should be getting larger recycling bins. (We haven't confirmed that.) The Board has twice considered increasing trash collection services to twice per week, and both times the Board has moved to retain the current service offering of once per week, primarily because of the cost issue and the need for more resident input. Please let your new neighbors know that they can place additional garbage bags next to their bin for collection, which provides some relief for the trash generated from moving and settling in.