Boundaries of the proposed Rose City Municipal Utility District. (Brian Crane/Tyler Morning Telegraph) 

Two local governments are looking at creating a new entity to administer sewer services in one of the most rapidly growing areas of Tyler and Smith County.

The proposed Rose City Municipal Utility District would be in charge of sewer infrastructure for households in the southernmost part of Tyler, a portion of the city of Bullard, and a portion of unincorporated Smith County between the two cities.

The new entity would be able to borrow money to build new sewer infrastructure in the district and use fees to pay off the debt, but could not pay the debt through taxes. The entity would have limited power to use eminent domain to build the infrastructure.

Texas Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, has sponsored a bill, H.B. 4749, in the Legislature to create the Rose City Municipal Utility District. The bill is in the Land and Resource Management Committee and scheduled for a public hearing Thursday.

On Tuesday, the Smith County Commissioners Court will decide at a regular meeting whether to pass a resolution in favor of the new entity. On Wednesday, the Tyler City Council will consider a similar resolution.

Under the bill, the entity would begin operations Sept. 1. A five-member board of directors would govern it. Three would be appointed by the city; the fourth would be appointed by the Commissioners Court; and the fifth would be appointed by Schaefer’s office.

“The creation of the Rose City Municipal Utility District will be a starting point from which the citizens may see better sewer and waste water services at lower costs, even if such relief does not occur in the short-term,” the Commissioners Court resolution reads.

The resolution also says the bill is intended to increase long-term local control to people in the jurisdiction; to provide increased accountability and competition in the long-term for sewer and wastewater providers; and to increase options within the jurisdiction.

Ed Broussard, the Tyler city manager, wrote in a memo to the City Council that the new district will help accommodate the city’s pattern of growing south.

“The city of Tyler continues to plan for the next century of growth and future development of the city,” the memo said. “This growth potential includes the southern and southwestern portions of the city and its extraterritorial jurisdiction.

“Such growth requires the assurance that adequate wastewater service can be provided to meet the needs of the future residential and commercial development in the area,” the memo said.

The Smith County Commissioners Court meets at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in the Smith County Courthouse Annex, 200 E. Ferguson St. The Tyler City Council meets at 9 a.m. at Tyler City Hall, 212 N. Bonner Ave.

Full copies of both agendas are available at TylerPaper.com.

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