New Director Guide

"The more rules you put in place, the higher risk you have of inadvertently not following your own rules." Zachariah T. Evans of McGinnis Lochridge, then the district's attorney, at the January 18, 2023 board meeting (video at 2:37:36) ⓘSpoken in open session. Source: the meeting video (YouTube) and its auto-generated captions, about 2:37:36 to 2:38:07.Copy.

Which rules and documents apply to a WTC MUD No. 1 director. Click ⓘ for the source of any statement. Not legal advice; see Limits of this guide.

Read these first

Read these 18 before your first meeting.

1. Public comment policy (2025) ACTIVE
   2 minutes per speaker. ⓘDocument: Resolution Adopting Policy Regarding Public Comment At Meetings of Board of Directors 2.19.25 (2025-03-04). Status: ACTIVE (time limit changed). Public comment: 2 minutes each (changed from 3 in Apr 2025).
   Summary: Public comment policy. Adopted Feb 19 2025 (Feb 19 2025 vote; p.3 "PASSED AND APPROVED this 19th day of February 2025"). Exhibit A: 3 minutes each, 30 minutes total, no donated time, board does not discuss comments except under an agenda item.
   Evidence: Apr 16 2025 vote changed 3 minutes to 2. The certificate (p.1) says the board met "the 15th day of January 2025"; no Jan 15 motion exists, so that date is a recital error (checked on PDF).Copy
2. Rules of Order (2022) ACTIVE ⚑
   How meetings run: schedule, agenda items, decorum, voting. Later motions changed some practice. ⓘDocument: Amended Rules of Order (2022-08-17). Status: ACTIVE (changed by later motions). Operating manual for meetings: schedule, agenda items, decorum, voting.
   Summary: Second Amended and Restated Rules of Order, adopted Aug 17 2022 (4-1). The operating manual for every meeting: schedule (3rd Wednesday, sec. 2.1), agenda items (up to two per director, sec. 2.7), decorum and removal from a meeting (4.4-4.5), voting and abstention (4.12), devices (4.13), public testimony (5.2). Any rule can be waived by a majority of the entire board (1.2(b)).
   Evidence: No repeal found. Later motions change practice without a rewrite: 5:30 pm start (Mar 19 2025 vote); agenda items go through the President, then the attorney (Feb 19 2025 vote, against sec. 2.7(b)); public comment 2 minutes (Apr 16 2025 vote); limit of two motions per director (Sep 12 2024 vote, resolution text not posted). Inside the Feb 18 2026 rescission review window (Feb 18 2026 vote).Copy
3. Committees resolution (2022) ACTIVE ⚑
   Committees only advise. The 2022 roster has expired. ⓘDocument: Resolution Re-appointing District Committees - June 2022 (2022-06-15). Status: ACTIVE (policies); roster EXPIRED. Committees are advisory only; the 2022 roster has expired.
   Summary: Committee resolution, Jun 15 2022. Sec. 1: up to two directors per committee, appointed by majority vote of the board; two-year terms; removal by 3 votes; committees are advisory only and "have no authority to set policy, expend funds, contract" (1.7, pp.2-3). Exhibit A lists 15 committees.
   Evidence: Exhibit A terms ended "11/2022" (pp.4-5). In 2021 the board let committees approve limited spending between meetings (Jan 11 2021 vote; Mar 31 2021 vote); sec. 1.7 says committees cannot spend funds. On Dec 18 2024 the board authorized the President to make committee assignments (Dec 18 2024 vote). Conflict: the Communications Policy says the President appoints the Information Management Committee. Inside the rescission review window (Feb 18 2026 vote).Copy
4. Communications Policy (2021) ACTIVE
   Director-to-director contact, social media, district technology. ⓘDocument: District Communications Policy (2021-04-07). Status: ACTIVE (re-adopted Feb 19 2025). Rules for director-to-director contact, social media and district technology.
   Summary: Communications Policy, adopted Mar 31 2021, 5-0, with seven changes (Mar 31 2021 vote; website says Apr 7). It replaces the Email Policy and the Technology Use Policy (Jun 17 2020 vote). Rules for director-to-director contact (talk with only one other director, pp.15-16), social media, district technology, the Information Management Committee (p.2), and a complaint and sanction procedure for directors (pp.18-19).
   Evidence: Re-adopted "as written" with two additions by Feb 19 2025 vote: only directors on a committee (and the President) contact that committee's consultant; a person removed from a meeting must leave the property. The additions are in the motion, not the PDF.Copy
5. Director fee policy (2025) UNCLEAR
   $150 a day, $7,200 a year cap. No adoption vote found. ⓘDocument: Amended Resolution Directors Fee and Expense Reimbursement Policy - February 2025 (2025-02-19). Status: UNCLEAR (adoption not found). Director fees and expenses: $150 a day, $7,200 a year cap. Board adoption not found.
   Summary: Director fee and expense policy, Feb 19 2025: $150 per day of service, approved by board vote, $7,200 a year maximum, one fee per day; expenses with receipts, $1,400 cap; claims on the bookkeeper's form; annual audit of compliance (secs. 2.2-2.6).
   Evidence: Signed by the President, attest line blank (p.3). No Feb 19 2025 motion adopts it (motions 1 to 20 of that meeting; minutes mention only a conference reimbursement). If adopted, it replaces the 2022 policy (sec. 5). Statute: Water Code 49.060 ($7,200 cap, verified statement of days).Copy
6. Code of Ethics (2011) ACTIVE
   Disclose interests, abstain, file an annual gift statement. ⓘDocument: Code of Ethics - Reimbursement Policy (2011-08-17). Status: ACTIVE (travel part UNCLEAR). Ethics policy: disclose interests, abstain, file an annual gift statement.
   Summary: Code of Ethics and Financial Management, Travel and Professional Services Policy, Aug 17 2011, the written policies Water Code 49.199 requires. Sec. 2.02: disclose any personal interest and abstain; sec. 2.03: each director files an annual gift statement within 30 days after fiscal year end.
   Evidence: No replacement found; the 2022 and 2025 fee resolutions recite it as current. Their travel rules may override Art. IV. No record that the annual gift statements are collected.Copy
7. Public information resolution (2025) ACTIVE
   The attorney is the Public Information Officer; 36 free staff hours a year. ⓘDocument: Resolution Proving for Public Information Act Policy; Providing Findings of Fact; Providing for Open Meeting 1.15.25 (2025-03-04). Status: ACTIVE. The attorney is the Public Information Officer; 36 hours a year of free staff time.
   Summary: PIA resolution, Jan 15 2025 (Jan 15 2025 vote, 3-1). (a) The district's attorney is the Public Information Officer. (Gov't Code 552.201(a): "The chief administrative officer of a governmental body is the officer for public information.") (b) A copy of every request given to "any director or contractor" goes promptly to the attorney. (c) 36 hours per fiscal year. (e) Adopts the rest of Gov't Code 552.275.
   Evidence: No later change. Does not mention or repeal the 2022 policy (pp.1-3, checked on PDF).Copy
8. Public Information Policy (2022) ACTIVE ⚑
   Full request procedure. Overlaps the 2025 resolution. ⓘDocument: Public Information Policy (2022-03-16). Status: ACTIVE (overlaps 2025 resolution). Full request procedure; overlaps the 2025 resolution (15 hours a month).
   Summary: Public Information (PIR) Policy, Mar 16 2022: the full procedure. Requests in writing (5(a)); directors must send requesters to the coordinator (5(f)); 15 hours a month and 36 hours a fiscal year of free time (7(a)); written time statement with each response (7(b)).
   Evidence: Not repealed. The Jan 15 2025 resolution adds to it and conflicts on one point (who is the public information officer). The 15-hour monthly limit exists only here.Copy
9. Records Retention Policy (2022) ACTIVE ⚑
   How records are kept and destroyed. The officer it names is out of date. ⓘDocument: Records Retention Policy (2022-03-16). Status: ACTIVE (named officer stale). How records are kept and destroyed. The officer it names is out of date.
   Summary: Records Management Order, Mar 16 2022 (website calls it "Records Retention Policy"). Records belong to the district; unauthorized destruction prohibited (sec. 3); retention follows TSLAC schedules (sec. 5); names a McGinnis Lochridge legal assistant as Records Management Officer (sec. 4).
   Evidence: Sec. 7 voids earlier orders. Mar 19 2025 vote authorizes consultants to shred records past retention each year in the month after fiscal year end. The named officer's firm is no longer district counsel.Copy
10. Notice to Purchaser (2025) ACTIVE
    Tax rate $0.2734 and bond authorization. ⓘDocument: Notice to Purchaser (2025-09-29). Status: ACTIVE (latest on file). Latest Notice to Purchaser: tax rate $0.2734 and bond authorization.
    Summary: Sep 17 2025 amendment to the information form and Notice to Purchaser: rate $0.2734; $25,751,525 bonds approved, $19,937,854 issued (Travis copy pp.2, 4).
    Evidence: Approved by Sep 17 2025 vote. An amendment is due within seven days after a change in the form, such as a new tax rate or a bond sale (Water Code 49.455(e)). No 2026 amendment is posted, but the meeting videos (unofficial transcripts; no minutes on file) show the board approving amendments on Sep 9 2026 for the tax rate and Sep 16 2026 for the bond sale.Copy
11. Audit Report (FY2025) ACTIVE
    Clean opinion, no debt. ⓘDocument: Audit Report - 2025 (2025-09-30). Status: ACTIVE (current audit). The current audit (FY2025): clean opinion, no debt.
    Summary: FY2025 audit (year ended Sep 30 2025), McCall Gibson, report dated Jan 30 2026. Clean opinion; no debt; $5,813,671 of authorized bonds not issued (p.21).
    Evidence: Approved by Jan 30 2026 vote.Copy
12. Investment Policy (2022) ACTIVE ⚑
    Who invests district money and how it is reported. ⓘDocument: Investment Policy (2022-03-16). Status: ACTIVE. Who invests district money and how it is reported.
    Summary: Investment Policy order, Mar 16 2022. General Manager (Inframark) is Investment Officer (4.01); quarterly reports (4.03); annual review by written resolution (3.02); annual broker list (6.03).
    Evidence: Repeals all earlier investment orders (6.04). Annual reviews: Jan 15 2025 vote and Jan 30 2026 vote ("has not changed"). Its training cite is Gov't Code 2256.008, which "does not apply to a district governed by Chapter 36 or 49, Water Code" (2256.008(e)). Water Code 49.1571(b) sets district training: 6 hours in the first year, then 4 hours in each two-year period.Copy
13. Drought Contingency Plan (2026) ACTIVE
    Four stages; the General Manager starts and ends them. ⓘDocument: Drought Contingency Plan (2026-07-08). Status: ACTIVE. Four drought stages; the General Manager starts and ends them.
    Summary: Drought Contingency Plan 2026: four stages tied to Cedar Park and lake levels; the General Manager starts and ends stages, grants variances and enforces (pp.2-15); the board must inform the public (IV, p.1).
    Evidence: Approved Jun 17 2026 (Jun 17 2026 vote). Engineer: review every five years.Copy
14. Rate Order (2025) STALE COPY
    Rates, deposits, billing, disconnection. The posted copy is not the latest. ⓘDocument: Rate Order (2025-09-19). Status: ACTIVE but posted copy is STALE. Rates, deposits, billing and disconnection. The posted copy is not the latest.
    Summary: Rate Order dated Jun 16 2025: rates, deposits, taps, inspections, leak adjustments, payment plans, billing, disconnection, developer deposits, civil penalty up to $5,000 for theft of water. Authority: Water Code 49.212.
    Evidence: The board approved an amended Rate Order Jun 18 2025 (Jun 18 2025 vote) and amended it again Dec 10 2025 (Dec 10 2025 vote) and Apr 15 2026 (Apr 15 2026 vote, fire fee $35.35). None of those texts is posted. On Sep 16 2026 (meeting video; unofficial transcript, no minutes on file) counsel said the amended Rate Order could wait a month (Sep 16 2026 transcript), and a motion approved the waste contract fourth amendment ($6.55 per extra cart) to be put into the Rate Order (Sep 16 2026 transcript). Ask the attorney for the current consolidated order.Copy
15. Trash cart resolution (2022) ACTIVE ⚑
    Carts stay out of public areas except on collection days. ⓘDocument: Resolution Requiring Trash Carts to be Stored Outside Public Thoroughfares (2022-08-26). Status: ACTIVE. Trash carts must be stored out of public areas except on collection days.
    Summary: Trash cart order, Aug 17 2022: carts out of streets, sidewalks and common areas except 24 hours before and after noon on collection day (sec. 2); civil penalties up to the justice-court limit (sec. 3). Authority: Water Code 54.203, 49.004.
    Evidence: No repeal found; sec. 4 supersedes earlier policies. No fine schedule is in the order.Copy
16. Park and Pond Rules (2026) ACTIVE
    Hours, prohibited acts, reservations, rates. ⓘDocument: Park and Pond Rules and Regulations (2026-04-15). Status: ACTIVE. Hours, prohibited acts, reservations and rates for parks and ponds.
    Summary: Park and Pond Rules, amended Apr 15 2026: hours, prohibited acts, court memberships, instructors and commercial users (registration and insurance), reservations and rates, director use of the District Building for district business at no cost (5.1).
    Evidence: Approved effective May 1 2026 (Apr 15 2026 vote). Fee conflict on p.3: table says $75/$250, paragraph 1.A still says $60/$200.Copy
17. Park Master Plan (2022) ACTIVE
    Five-year plan; now in Year 5. ⓘDocument: WTC MUD 1 - 5-Yr Park Master Plan (2022-09-02). Status: ACTIVE (Year 5 of 5). Park plan; this is Year 5 of 5.
    Summary: Parks Master Plan 2022 (Verdunity): seven 5-year goals (PDF p.40) and a yearly project list; Year 5 is FY 26/27 (PDF p.55).
    Evidence: The board still follows it (Jan 30 2026 vote; Mar 18 2026 minutes). A new plan will be needed after FY 26/27.Copy
18. Deed enforcement order (2025) ACTIVE
    Notices, $50 penalties, board decides on a lawsuit. ⓘDocument: Resolution of Deed Enforcement - Travis County (2025-04-16). Status: ACTIVE. How deed-restriction violations are handled: notices, $50 penalties, board decides on suit.
    Summary: Deed restriction enforcement order, Apr 16 2025 (Travis County recording). The contractor inspects and photographs; the Deed Enforcement Committee decides every notice; reminders, three notices, then three $50 civil penalty notices by certified mail; then the board decides on a lawsuit. Appeals to the board, 3 minutes (pp.4-8).
    Evidence: Adopted 4-1 (Apr 16 2025 vote). Ends the Jan 17 2024 order by name (p.8); Mar 19 2025 vote superseded earlier procedures. Sets no cure periods and does not name the statute for its penalties. The 2022 order cited Water Code 49.004, which lets the board "set reasonable civil penalties for the breach of any rule of the district" (49.004(a)).Copy

⚑ = adopted Nov 2020 to Nov 2024, inside the board's Feb 18 2026 rescission review. Check the latest minutes first.

11 things every new director should know

1. It takes three votes to act. Three of the five directors make a quorum. A majority of the directors present is enough for strictly procedural matters. ⓘ"A concurrence of a majority of the entire membership of the board is sufficient for transacting any business": Water Code 49.053; five directors: Water Code 54.101. The Rules of Order repeat this and add the procedural-matters rule (sec. 4.12(c), PDF p.11-12).Copy
2. Before you act: oath, sworn statement and a $10,000 bond paid for by the district. ⓘWater Code 49.055Copy
3. Two trainings within 90 days of your oath: Open Meetings Act and Public Information Act. ⓘOne to two hours each. The district keeps the certificates for public inspection. Gov't Code 551.005; Gov't Code 552.012Copy
4. No deliberating outside a meeting. A member who knowingly joins a series of small talks that the member knows will reach a quorum and be a deliberation commits a crime. District policy: discuss district business with only one other director. ⓘGov't Code 551.143(a): the member "knowingly engages" and "knew" the series would involve a quorum and "constitute a deliberation". Communications Policy pp.15-16: a director discussing district business "must engage only one other director".Copy
5. Texts and e-mails about district business are public information, on "any device". A director keeping them on a personal device forwards them to the district or keeps them for the retention period. Public information requests go to the district's attorney. ⓘGov't Code 552.002(a-2); Gov't Code 552.004(b). A director's personal e-mail address is public only if the district does not publish an official address (Water Code 49.065(d)). Directors send a copy of any public information request to the district's attorney promptly (Jan 15 2025 PIA resolution item (b), p.3).Copy
6. Conflicts of interest. A director files an affidavit and abstains when a vote would have a special economic effect on the director's business or land, different from its effect on the public. A director files a disclosure statement within seven business days about ties to a vendor that has, or is being considered for, a district contract. A director may not vote to appoint the director's own relative to a paid position. ⓘA director with a substantial interest in a business or land abstains if the vote would have a "special economic effect" on it "distinguishable from the effect on the public". The disclosure statement is due if the vendor paid the director or family over $2,500 or gave gifts over $100 in 12 months. Relatives: third degree by blood, second by marriage. The Rules of Order allow abstaining only for a legal conflict of interest (sec. 4.12(a)). Local Gov't Code 171.004; Water Code 49.058; Local Gov't Code 176.003; Gov't Code 573.041, 573.002Copy
7. Fees are limited: $7,200 a year maximum, with a verified statement of days and duties. ⓘDistrict policy: $150 per day of qualifying service, approved by board vote. Water Code 49.060; Feb 2025 fee policy sec. 2.3, p.2; its adoption vote was not found, see Questions to ask the district's attorneyCopy
8. Meetings: third Wednesday at 5:30 pm. Each director may place up to two items on an agenda, through the President, then the attorney. Public comment is 2 minutes per person. ⓘRules of Order sec. 2.1 (third Wednesday) and sec. 2.7(a) (two items). 5:30 pm: Mar 19 2025 vote. President, then attorney, since Feb 19 2025 vote. Two minutes: Apr 16 2025 vote.Copy
9. Committees only advise. They cannot set policy, spend funds or contract. Exception: the Deed Enforcement Committee decides every notice sent to residents. ⓘCommittees "have no authority to set policy, expend funds, contract, or assume obligations". A committee with fewer than a quorum of directors is not subject to the Open Meetings Act. committee resolution sec. 1.7, pp.2-3; Water Code 49.064; see Deed restrictionsCopy
10. Missing half the regular meetings in 12 months lets the other directors remove a director by unanimous vote. The board used this on Aug 26 2026. ⓘ30-day appeal to TCEQ (Water Code 49.052(g)). See the removal resolution in District documents.Copy
11. Professional services are hired on qualifications, not bids. Construction over $25,000 needs competitive bids. For one year after leaving the board, a former director may not contract with the district or "be employed by an organization to which the district has awarded a contract". ⓘThe board approves the contracts. Construction over $150,000 must be advertised; $25,000 to $150,000 needs written bids from three bidders. Gov't Code 2254.003; Water Code 49.067; Water Code 49.273; Water Code 49.072Copy

Problems in posted documents

Who does what

The district has no employees. Contractors hired and overseen by the board do its work. ⓘ2025 audit, notes: "the District does not have employees". The law lets a district "employ or contract with" the people the board needs (Water Code 49.057(a)).Copy

Contractors also have duties under district documents. ⓘContractor duties under district documents: forward any public information request to the attorney (Jan 15 2025 resolution (b), p.3); follow the Rules of Order at meetings (Rules sec. 4.4(b), p.9); communications rules for "Personnel" including consultants (Communications Policy pp.11-13); investment reports and training for the Investment Officer (2022 order 4.02-4.03); running the drought stages (Drought Contingency Plan VI-XIII, pp.2-15); stormwater practices written into every maintenance contract (SWMP MCM 6, pp.30-33); deed enforcement inspections only "on the directive of the Deed Enforcement Committee" (Apr 16 2025 order p.5).Copy

Questions to ask the district's attorney

1. Was the Feb 2025 director fee policy adopted, and when? ⓘNo adoption motion was found (motions 1 to 20 of Feb 19 2025).Copy
2. Was the 2020 COVID emergency order ever ended? ⓘIt lets the President cut check signers to one director and "shall expire upon termination by the Board" (sec. 9). The board ended its deed-enforcement pause on Oct 1 2020 (Sep 14 2020 vote) and its disconnection pause on Jun 13 2021 (Apr 28 2021 vote); no vote ends the order.Copy
3. Which public information policy controls: the Mar 2022 policy or the Jan 15 2025 resolution? Or both? ⓘMar 2022 policy: 15 hours a month, 36 a year, President as officer. Jan 15 2025 resolution: 36 hours a year, attorney as officer.Copy
4. Who appoints the Information Management Committee? ⓘThe President (Communications Policy p.2) or a board majority (2022 committee resolution sec. 1.1)? Does the Dec 18 2024 delegation to the President (Dec 18 2024 vote) still run?Copy
5. Which documents has the Feb 18 2026 rescission review identified, and has anything been rescinded since Jul 2026? ⓘFeb 18 2026 vote.Copy
6. Which sets the notice times for billing and disconnection, and which Rate Order text is current? ⓘThe 2003 Service Rules (Rule 11.02) give 30 days' and 10 days' notice. The posted Rate Order (p.10) gives 16 days' and 15 days' notice. The board amended the Rate Order on Jun 18 2025, Dec 10 2025 and Apr 15 2026; those texts are not posted.Copy
7. Deed enforcement: what authority supports the $50 civil penalty notices, and are the 2020 non-enforcement resolutions still in force? ⓘThe 2025 order cites only Water Code 54.237; the 2022 order cited 49.004. Does delegating case decisions to a committee meet 54.237's "reasonable judgment of the board"? Are the 2020 sign and sidewalk resolutions and the non-enforcement list still in force?Copy