By Eleni Himaras
reporter@ltview.com
At last week’s meeting, the Board of Directors of the Lakeway Municipal Utility District announced that the new storage tank on Lohman’s Crossing was functional and approved a 5 percent raise for their employees in the upcoming fiscal year.

“The original substantial, beneficial completion date was June 11. We had a 15 day bonus period, $500 per day, for completing the contract early. Both contractors made that. We were pressure testing the pipeline in the last week or so of May,” LMUD General Manager Richard Eason said. “We put the tank in operation on June 1.”
While the tank is now functioning, the MUD is still working to complete the decoration on the outside of the tank and finish the landscaping to make it better blend into the scenery.
The current light blue base color is the final color of the tank but the smudged, brown arches are simply an outline for the pilaster [columns supporting] arches that will be affixed to the sides. Those will be painted a muted deep green to match the surrounding landscaping.
Eason set a completion date for the tank at Aug. 31, but believes they may be able to finish before that.
The board was split 3-2 on the amount of raise for their employees in the coming fiscal year. While their financial consultant, Ray and Associates, recommended a 4 percent raise, with 2.5 percent for cost of living adjustment (COLA) and 1.5 percent for merit, the board voted to pay 2.5 percent for COLA and 2.5 percent for merit.
“I was a bit surprised that her recommendation was as high as it was in view of what it was all based on,” Board Member Jerry Hietpas said. “My belief is that my esteemed counterparts on the APC committee are recommending a number that was too high. I thought I was being very generous on the 2.5 percent COLA and the 1 percent merit, for a total of 3.5 percent.”
Board President Tom Rogers stressed that the strong financial situation of the MUD allowed for the higher increase.
“I feel anything below 2.5 percent for merit is an absolute insult to our employees,” Rogers said.
Kay Andrews agreed with Hietpas that the five percent raise was too high.
“We just keep spending money, spending money, we go further in debt. Our poor customers are having a fit,” she said.
She attempted to table the motion until she and Hietpas could attend their respective conferences in June to find out what other MUDs were doing but was voted down.
“I believe in paying for performance,” Tom Priddy said. “It’s been my experience that if you pay people right, you’ll have people who take ownership of their job and you’ll get another ten percent out of them if you treat them properly.”
Andrews replied, “You are not considering the state of the economy or our customers who are trying to pay their bills.”
Priddy, Allan Hitchcock and Rogers voted on the five percent raise.