About Us

East Cedar Creek Fresh Water Supply District (ECCFWSD) is a local governmental entity created by the 65^th Texas Legislature on June 25, 1977. The District covers approximately 20 square miles in northwest Henderson County, adjacent to the north and east banks of Cedar Creek Reservoir.

Although the number of customers changes almost daily, the District currently has 5,550 water customers and 4,700 sewer customers. Much of the District’s service area consists of municipal and rural residential subdivisions that were developed in the mid to late 1960s and early 1970s following construction of the reservoir.

Most of the major challenges facing the District today in maintaining compliance with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) requirements and standards can be traced to original infrastructure put in place years ago by subdivision developers, which in large part was inadequate or substandard.

Over the years, the District has absorbed these subdivisions and their waste and wastewater systems, and worked to bring plant facilities and water distribution and wastewater collection systems into compliance.

As the District worked to replace old infrastructure, state requirements and standards steadily increased, requiring additional improvements to these systems. Although tremendous improvements have been made, especially in the district’s water and wastewater treatment facilities, there remains a lot of work to be done in replacing or upgrading old infrastructure, particularly the wastewater collection systems.

The District divides its customer base into northern and southern sectors with the dividing line being the south Gun Barrel City Limits on Highway 198. Approximately two-thirds of the District customers are in the north district and one-third in the south district. The District has a water treatment plant and a wastewater treatment plant in each of the two sectors.

The District’s main office is just off Welch Lane in Gun Barrel City at 115 Hammer Road. The administrative staff consists of seven, including a general manager, and a field staff of 24 works within an annual budget to provide water and sewer services to District customers. Questions or service needs should be called to the main office, telephone (903) 887-7103.

The field staff, operates two water treatment plants; maintain water storage facilities and water distribution lines; operate two wastewater treatment plants; and maintain the wastewater collection pumps, lines, manholes, and lift stations. Additionally, they prepare water and wastewater taps for new customers, and turn services off when accounts are closed.

The overall leadership and management of the District is vested in a seven member Board of Directors. These officials establish policies and priorities regarding the financial, staffing, purchasing and service needs of the District.

The Board of Directors employs a general manager to lead and manage the day-to-day operations of the district within the organizational structure and annual budget approved by the Board. The general manager is responsible for employing the remainder of the staff.

The organizational structure for the district includes 31 staffing positions. Seven staff members work at the district’s main office at the intersection of Welch Lane and Hammer Road in Gun Barrel City. The remaining 24 staff members work from the field shop on Hammer Road or at one of the four plants operated by the district.

At the main office, an office manager supervises the administrative staff and oversees a wide range of administrative functions including handling all human resource functions. A bookkeeper handles payroll, accounts payables, tracks budget line items, and prepares the district’s monthly financial reports, which are public records.

Customers calling to the district’s main office are greeted by one of two customer service representatives. These two employees receive all payments from customers, either in person or by mail. Their most important work is assisting customers with questions or concerns, and initiating work orders when appropriate.

A billing supervisor handles all monthly billings to customers for water and sewer services. He prepares a large volume of other correspondence related to customer billing and new service, and assists the customer service representatives with customer’s concerns or questions about their bills.

A customer service field representative works out of the main office and handles connections for new service, disconnections, reconnections, and accuracy checks on water meters.

All work orders are initiated at the main office, usually by a customer service representative (telephone 903-887-7103), and then passed to the field staff. Work orders are prepared for cost estimates, new installations of service, inspections, water leak repairs, troubleshooting of individual residence grinder pumps and main sewer line lift station pumps, water quality check, and other customer concerns.

As work is completed by the field staff, work orders are returned to the main office for close out, recording of inventory parts used, and filing of the completed work orders in customers’ residence or business files.

At the Utility Service Center, the operations manager oversees the operations and maintenance of two water treatment plants with two separate water distribution systems, and two wastewater treatment plants, each with its own collection system. A total of six employees operate the four treatment plants.

A field supervisor supervises six two-person teams who repair and maintain the water distribution systems and the wastewater collection systems. An additional two-person team reads and maintains water meters at businesses and residences.

Although teams are cross-trained, these teams normally work specific areas to include new installations, water and wastewater main line repairs and maintenance, grinder pump maintenance and troubleshooting, lift station maintenance, and wastewater collection line upgrades to eliminate groundwater and rainwater from entering the collection systems.

Additionally the field staff has a pump repairman and an inventory supervisor who maintain the necessary repair parts, piping, and pumps on hand.

Although the main office hours are limited to 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, plant operators and field team staff are working or on call 24 hours a day.

A customer calling the main office during other than normal working hours will hear a recording and given a chance to leave a message. If the call is an emergency then the customer is given an on call number (903) 887-7200 to speak to an on-call staff member. No service charges will apply to actual emergencies. If the primary on-call staff become overloaded, an alternate is called in to assist with the work load.

East Cedar Creek Fresh Water Supply District (ECCFWSD) was created by the state legislature in 1977. Although the district title states “Fresh Water Supply District” the district is actually a “Municipal Utility District” of the State of Texas, a governmental agency entitled to sovereign immunity under the constitution and laws of the state in the performance of the governmental functions of providing water and wastewater services.

The District’s governing authority is vested in a seven member Board of Directors. Board members qualify to serve by execution of the constitutional oath of office. Board members are elected for four-year terms with three or four positions elected every two years. Current board members include President David Burch, Secretary Jim Boyles, Treasurer Carol Meyer, Director W. Richard Watkins, Director Harry McCune, Director Howard Smith, and Director Helen Tippery.

The District’s first Board of Directors were appointed by the state and included Roscoe Welch, William W. Turner, Fred Willis, Jerome T. David, David S. Leinbach, C.P. Ackles, and Dalton Bynum.

Following this first appointed Board, directors are elected to office for four year terms. If at any time the number of qualified directors should fall below four, the Commissioner’s Court of Henderson County will restore the Board’s membership to seven by appointments.

The district’s next general election is in May 2010. Several board positions will be up for election. Anyone wanting information concerning the qualifications for office should contact the District’s main office at the intersection of Welch Lane and Hammer Road in Gun Barrel City.

The Board of Directors has the authority to do any and all acts necessary, proper or expedient to carry out the purposes for which the District was organized. As a public entity, the District’s Board of Directors conducts it's business in open, public session except for personnel, legal, and real estate issues which may be discussed in closed executive sessions. The Board is prohibited by state law from acting upon any issue in a closed session.

Currently, the District’s Board of Directors holds a general meeting each month, usually on the third Wednesday of the month. These public meetings are held at the District’s main office building at 12:30 pm. For an item or subject area to be discussed or acted upon by the Board, it must be listed as an item on a meeting agenda which is published and made public a minimum of 72 hours prior to any meeting.

Time is provided on the agenda for public comments. Anyone wanting to address the Board concerning a business or service matter should contact the main office by Wednesday of the week prior to the board meeting since the agenda is published on Friday of that week.

Occasionally, the Board may hold a special meeting to address special issues. Sometimes, they hold workshops where they may discuss issues but may not take action or make decisions. At all meetings, general, special, or workshop, the publication known as “Robert’s Rules of Order” constitutes the rules of order for the conduct of these meetings.

The current Board of Directors encourages public attendance to their meetings. As board members, they are public servants, striving to do what is best for the District’s customers while ensuring public health regarding the District’s services.

In meeting their obligations, the Board is oftentimes confronted with tough decisions concerning District policies, needs, rates and fees. As a non-profit entity, the Board strives to balance its annual budget with the necessary revenues to meet the necessary expenses.