East Texas

NEW CHAPEL HILL — The Jackson Oaks Subdivision Local Organizing Committee will hold a meeting at 7 tonight inside the Campbell Davis Community Center on Farm-to-Market Road 2767.

Committee members had been in discussions with Smith County Municipal Utility District 1 about funding a multi-million dollar sewer project.

The committee retained counsel recently to advise residents of their options regarding any future project. Organizer Nola Chandler said attorney John Stover, of Lufkin, will speak along with other utility agency representatives to discuss how the community should proceed. Ms. Chandler said she hopes everyone in the community will attend and continue to stay involved with moving the projects forward.

In April, MUD and county representatives attended a meeting to discuss grants and the application process that might allow the area to receive funding for a large portion of the proposed $8 to $10 million project from the Texas Water Development Board.

Ms. Chandler said that, since that time, the grant and funding application process has been mishandled by MUD and that the utilities district has been unable to come to terms with the community’s water service provider.

MUD manager Tommy Vice said he has maintained contact with community members and informed them of the arduous task of sifting through the “red tape” associated with TWDB funding. He said the process has moved along quickly by utility standards and still hopes to begin construction by spring 2009.

Ms. Chandler said the community is seeking avenues outside of MUD to create a viable sewer system for Jackson Oaks. She said the committee is still in the design and organizational phase of the project and urged the community to attend tonight’s meeting and share their input.

For more information regarding the meeting, call Ms. Chandler at 903-566-0446.