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Reported water loss concerns Leander council

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The Leander City Council discussed the loss of 12.8 million gallons of water and an increase in green fees for Crystal Falls Golf Course during its regular meeting Thursday.

In its monthly report, the city's public works department reported a water loss of 15 percent after comparing the amount of water the city purchased to the amount of water billed to citizens.

Councilmember John Perez raised concerns about the unusually high number, saying he hopes most of the lost water is still in the lines. Wayne Watts, public works director for Leander, said due to errors in the report, the unusually high number was not accurate.

“Even if we could accurately quantify every leak or break, it still wouldn't come to this 12 million gallons,” Watts said, pointing out the city's average water loss of 4.2 percent - an acceptable number by industry standards. He suggested giving the department two months to prepare the regular water report instead of just one. Perez said he knew of at least one citizen who had gotten an outrageous water bill out of the blue, and called for greater accountability in the reports.

Watts said the department would work out the errors in the report.

The council also passed an ordinance to increase golf course fees on the Crystal Falls Golf Course by $4. The increase is meant to help make the course profitable, and follows other measures such as requiring golf carts during peak hours and raising cart fees last year.

Grant Collyns, general manager for the course, said he does not think the increase will drive many golfers off.

“I think our product is a good product,” he said. “If you want to shop around, go ahead. We'll see you in two weeks.”

The new fees will take effect Oct. 1.

The project for adding sidewalks to Bagdad Road took a step forward Thursday night as well, with the council awarding a contract for the southern portion of the project to KSA Engineers Inc. This contract would not be eligible for money from a TxDOT grant for sidewalks, which the city hopes to apply to the northern half of the project.

Also Thursday, Mayor John Cowman requested permission to form a committee on people with disabilities. The committee will look for ways to make Leander more accessible to people with disabilities, especially the thousands of disabled veterans coming into the area from Fort Hood.

E-mail amy@hillcountrynews.com

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