Way grant pulled if Aqua Texas chosen

Peter Way has informed the city of Wimberley that his $1 million grant for the proposed sewer system will only pertain to the current plan for city-owned treatment plant.

On Monday afternoon, Way emailed Wimberley Mayor Susan Jaggers to tell her that he was no longer interested in considering amending the grant language to include an Aqua Texas proposal.

“I have been increasingly concerned about the lack of progress being made on addressing the issues we discussed over a month ago---questions that, we agreed, need to be answered definitively in order to move forward on your alternative plan for the sewer,” Way said in an email to the mayor. “…Time is of the essence with this project lest the City be harmed by the delays. At this stage, I believe further delays will cause imminent harm. I do not want to be party to the delays. Therefore, given the lack of concrete progress on an alternative plan and my concerns for our City, I want to now make it clear that I will no longer consider modifying my grant for use for an alternative plan.”

Way shared two emails with the Wimberley View detailing meetings he had with Jaggers about the grant. The first email, dated July 6, says that Way considered keeping the grant intact for an Aqua Texas proposal, even though it says both parties agreed that the grant was contractually for the city-owned system only.

“As you know I am interested in what is best for Wimberley,” Way said in the first email on July 6. “At this time I still believe that a City owned system is better for Wimberley than an Aqua Texas one. I said that your Aqua Texas plan is an interesting one and it is a shame it was not on the table five years ago before much effort and money was spent with our present plan, but of course, that is history.“

Way requested that a “price and timeline” on the Aqua Texas plan be given. In an August 6 email to the mayor, Way indicated that he had not seen such information. He made it clear that his grant would still be available should the city decide to stay the course with the current city-owned plan.

“I respect that you have been working hard searching for an alternative. But, at this stage, we don’t have a viable alternative, and I do not see a path forward in any realistic time frame.

There is a solution on the table and we need to move forward with that plan.”

Jaggers did not immediately return phone calls for a request to comment on the issue.