2012 Newsletter

 Dear North Alamo Member:

 It seems hard to believe that it’s been a year since we sent out our last newsletter.  But time does fly quite fast when you get busy, and busy we have been.  One of our biggest goals this past year was to improve our customer service.  We have implemented several new procedures with-in our daily operations to better serve our customers.  We hope that you, as our valued customer, have noticed a change for the better when you’ve made a call, or if you needed to visit our office.   If you have experienced less than acceptable customer service, please let us know.  We need your input to improve.  If you have received good customer service also let us know, our employees would greatly appreciate your comments.

 The following are updates on all our projects still under construction from our last newsletter.

 Project:  Santa Rosa Project

 This project is pretty much completed, except for the service connections for qualified houses.  There has been a change order issued to expand this project to include the areas around Pomelo, Ratliff and Thompson Roads.  We hope to have this project completed by June of this year.

 Project:  Delta Regional Water Plant

 This is a four million gallon a day water plant.  It is proposed to be built just north of Edcouch and Elsa.  This project was advertised for bids in January, 2012 and the North Alamo WSC Board of Directors will consider our Engineer’s recommendation at our regular scheduled Board meeting in February.  If the Board accepts the bids, construction should start in early spring of this year.  Completion time is just over one (1) year.

 Project:  Donna Reverse Osmosis Plant

 This is a two million gallon a day reverse osmosis water treatment plant.  It filters brackish ground water through membranes to remove all the total dissolved solids.  The finished water is blended with the water from our conventional plant, then pumped into our distribution system and ready for our customers to use.  By constructing  this plant we have increased our production at this location to a total of 12 million gallons per day.  The two million gallon increase does not use water from the Rio Grande River which helps in times of drought.  This plant was placed in operation in February of 2012.

 New Project:  Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant 

This is a wastewater plant which will provide badly needed sewer service for several colonias north of Donna, Alamo and San Juan.  We are currently acquiring funding, and if all goes well we could be in construction in about two or three years.

 Project:  Pay Stations, and On-Line Payments and Paperless Bills

•  Pay Stations have been a great success; our customers can use any participating pay station, as well as HEB and Walmart to make their payments.  Customers in the counties of Willacy, Cameron and remote areas of Hidalgo do not have to make the expensive trip to our main office in Edinburg to make their payment.  This also saves time, since payments can be made on weekends.
•  Online Payments have also been a success, once you have registered through our website, you can make your payment online.
• Paperless Bills – We are currently working on a proposal for this option and hope to have it available by the Spring of 2012.

North Alamo Water Supply Corporation understands that our customers’ time is very valuable, that is why we will continue to strive in finding ways to make access of our services to you as easy as possible.

The Board of Directors, management and employees here at North Alamo WSC appreciate your past support and we look forward to serving you this coming year.  I encourage you to use our website (www.nawsc.com) for information on any of our services.

 Sincerely,

North Alamo Water Supply Corporation

Steven P. Sanchez

General Manager

REF:    NSF CHECKS

If your Meter is DISCONNECTED FOR INSUFFICIENT FUNDS the following are your options:

• Pay Cash at Main Office.
• Pay by Credit Card online at:      www.nawsc.com
• Pay by cash at other pay stations.    Wal-Mart, H.E.B

A $15.00 return check will be added to your account.  Also, a $30.00 unlock fee will be added to your account.  All fees must be paid before unlocking the meter.

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Our customers have voiced their request for additional payment options. An immense request for on-line payment option has prompted serious consideration. On-line payment option for our customers has been in the works for over a year now and we are glad to announce that North Alamo Water Supply Corporation’s (NAWSC) is currently accepting on-line bill payments.

In addition to On-line services our organization is proud to offer other new payment options available now. NAWSC in partnership with your local HEB, Wall-Mart and other local merchants are accepting NAWSC bill payments, effective February 2011.

NAWSC’s commitment toward customer satisfaction is our priority. We appreciate you and are glad to provide you with more convenience options when paying your bill.

The Mission of the North Alamo Water Supply Corporation is to provide the highest quality water, and wastewater service, with adequate flow pressure, for the lowest possible price.

AS OF 12/31/09

This newsletter is being sent to each of you to inform you of events that occurred during the past year.

During this past year we continued to grow at a moderate pace.  Membership grew from 35,150 members as of 12/31/08 to 36,326 members as of 12/31/09, an increase of 1,176 members.  The general economic conditions which exists in the area and around the country has resulted into the slower growth of our system.

The reverse osmosis treatment plants located on Owassa Rd and Doolittle Rd next to the main office, both in Hidalgo Co continue to operate as planned.  The Lasara plant in Willacy Co and the North Cameron plant in Cameron Co are also operating well.  We also plan to construct a new 2 million gallon per day reverse osmosis treatment plant next to plant 5 on Victoria Rd bring the total number of plants to 5.  Construction is 99% complete on the Hidalgo Co. Empowerment Zone Project Phase I project, which includes a 500,000 gallon elevated water tower and 6 miles of 12” water lines.  We also plan to construct a 4 MGD surface water plant in the Delta area.

Three years ago we purchased a tract of land that will be the site for the North Weslaco wastewater project.  This project will be funded by U.S.D.A. and the Texas Water Development Board and involves constructing a new wastewater treatment plant and a collection system that will serve the area north of Weslaco.  This project will connect about 1,000 new customers and will bring in additional revenues for the Wastewater Department.

Last year I notified you that we may have to increase the monthly water rates.  We have not increased rates since February 2002.  We were able to hold rates the same this year.  However, the Board voted to increase the monthly minimum rate from $14.70 to $16.00, an increase of 8.84%, for residential users, and all other user groups will increase proportionally.  In addition, all usage rates will increase 10 cents per 1,000 gallons.  On your January bill we notified you by message on your monthly water bill of this increase.  This rate increase is effective February 1 and will be reflected on your March bill.

At this year’s annual meeting, there will be an election held for the terms of three board members.  The nominating committee met and nominated the following persons:

District 1 – Leonard Camarillo

District 2 – Manuel Garcia

District 3 – Steve Krenek

As usual, at this year’s annual meeting, we will have a drawing to give away a used Ford Ranger pick-up truck.  Everyone who returns a proxy card or is in attendance at the meeting will be eligible for the drawing, except for board members and employees of the Corporation.

The Board of Directors, management staff and employees appreciate your past support and we look forward to serving you this coming year.  Thank-you.