Harbor Point Resort - T.A.M.E.R. UPDATE

T.A.M.E.R. UPDATE - 04-01-13

Good Evening All,

I hope that you had a very good Good Friday and that Easter will be meaningful for all.

It is urgent that all review the bills that we have been working on for quite some time. Attached is a list of bills that would be very beneficial for all ratepayers of any of the large IOU"s, such as Monarch/SWWC & Aqua Texas.

Additionally there is a very bad bill by Representative Eddie Lucio III - HB 3857 that basically is a rehash of Rep. Doug Miller's bill from the 2011 session that would allow the large IOU's to raise rates 5% at least once per year with no hearing or ability to protest. This bill has been referred to the House Natural Resources Committee and not surprisingly Doug Miller and Bill Callegari are both on this committee. The IOU's were pushing hard in the Senate hearing on SB 567(Nichols & Watson) to have Lucio's bill amended to SB 567, didn't happen. We need to work hard to kill this.

Also attached you will find a list of State Senators by county that have Monarch/SWWC ratepayers. Following that is a list of State Representatives by County that have Monarch/SWWC ratepayers. (Open PDF File)

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO NOW - It is urgent that you contact your senator & representative by e-mail & phone starting Monday Morning to support all of these bills and to vote against Lucio III's HB 3857.

The following bills have been voted out of committee and onto the floor for consideration during this next week - Please contact as many people to flood the senators and representative's offices with e-mails and phone calls.

Some talking points about the bills:

SB 367(Nichols & Watson) & companion bill HB 1307(Geren) transfers the ratemaking, CCN's and other items from TCEQ to the PUC & OPUC. Cannot send a letter and increase rates 60 days later, shorter times to complete a rate case, legal help from the OPUC, requires an in depth submission of costs by the IOU's. There are many other factors.

HB -1600 (Byron Cook) Sunset Bill - reauthorizes the PUC & OPUC and transfers the ratemaking from TCEQ to PUC. Voted out of committee and on the floor.

HB 1456(Gooden) gives counties the right to intercede on behalf of the ratepayers. Out of committee and to the floor. We need this badly.

EVERYONE IT IS NOW OR NEVER, FLOOD THE PHONES AND E-MAILS.

More later - we still need money - many thanks to those who have and are donating.

May you have a blessed Easter.

Orville

"May the force be with us!"

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FEBRUARY 20, 2013

Good Morning All,

This is a very important e-mail and I hope you will share it with many of your neighbors and friends, as it is the filing of legislation we have worked so long and hard to achieve. Prior to discussing each of the bills I would like to cover several other items.

1. FINANCES - My apologies for not having contacted individually or the HOA's/POA's or subdivisions that have sent in checks to help us continue the fight. We are looking into a method of sending a thank you as we receive the checks, not just your getting the canceled check back. While we have paid down our indebtedness to our legal firm, this is an ongoing process all through the legislative session and then we will be faced with at least one more rate case to be filed in November 2013 and to go into effect in January 2014. Without increased and ongoing funding we could be winning the legislative war and losing the next rate case.

Several groups have been very generous and continue to give, while some have either given very little or not at all. Please exam what we have saved you over the years and help us not only win the legislative battle, but also defeat the IOU's in the next rate case. I have also attached the rebate document as to those who have given and those who haven't.

If some of you know some of these groups that we haven't heard from and can contact them it would be greatly appreciated.

2. TAMER BOARD & ANNUAL MEETING FOR ALL MEMBERS - Once the legislative session is complete we will be having the annual meeting to elect board members, have a great update, share a marvelous BBQ lunch and hear from the legislators who fought the battles for us this session.

Your board had a teleconference to discuss several issues and not the least of which is how to continue to raise funds. We also discussed how to get to each of our groups with either a video or a CD that could better explain all that is happening. Additionally we are looking for a method to convert much of our information into Spanish, since we do have numerous groups that have a large Hispanic population. If you are fluent in Spanish and would be willing to donate some of your time to help us on this let me know.

As you know we have an excellent website (TamerTx.org) and we would encourage you to visit this and to share with many others. If you have news articles that you would like to have posted please contact Chris Jackson (TAMER VP) at cjackson335@mac.com.

3. SENATE BILL 567- This bill is sponsored by Senator Robert Nichols & Senator Kirk Watson. The attachement is basically 54 pages long and covers the transfer of the Rate Making process, CCN's and other items from the Texas Commission on Natural Resources (TCEQ) to the Public Utility Commission (PUC) & the Office of Public Utility Counsel (OPUC). PLease read this carefully.

We are also very fortunate that Represntative Charlie Geren (Tarrant County) has filed a House Bill 1307 as a companion bill. It is the same bill as SB 567, but with a HB designation. Please read and share these bills with many.

After I discuss the other two bills briefly I will outline what each of you need to do to help get these passed and signed into law.

4. House Bill 1456 - This Bill is sponsored by Representative Lance Gooden. This bill would allow Counties to intervene in the rate cases as we have discussed in previous e-mails. It is short and two the point.

5. House Bill 1457 - This Bill is sponsored by Representative Lance Gooden. This bill would limit to 50% for ratemaking purposes the amount of rate case expenses the IOU would occur. As you know as it now stands the TCEQ has allowed IOU's like Aqua Texas to recover horrendous sums for legal & expert fees by was of an additional assessment over and above the final rates. TAMER has successfully prevented Monarch/SWWC from doing this in the last 3 rate cases, but there are no future guarantees. Short and to the point bill.

What do you need to do now -

A. It is imperative that you contact your State Senator & State Representative now and ask for them to support these bills. Remind them that as ratepayers to the monster IOU's you are paying outrageous sums for water and sewer, that your property resale values are being affected and that you need relief. We need to know the responses you get, if any. Remember even if you do not speak to the Senator or the Representative personally it is effective to talk to the staff. Send them letters & make phone calls. E-mails are not as effective during the legislative session. Drive to their district offices and let them know you vote too.

If you are not sure how to contact them by mail I will include the proper mailing address at the bottom.

B. Get your neighbors involved. Send copies of your letters to TAMER and also let us know whom you have contacted at each office.

C. Contact the media and give them your opinions.

D. Last but not least recruit more people to fight the battle.

E. To send letters they should be addressed as follows:

The Honorable (Full Name)

Texas Senate

P. O. Box 12068 - Capitol Station

Austin, Texas 78711

Dear Senator ________

The Honorable (Full Name)

Texas House of Representatives

P. O. Box 2910

Austin, Texas 78768-2910

Dear Representative _______

In closing let me again emphasis how important it is that each of us get involved and that means contacting the legislators, giving additional donations, knocking on doors and getting your neighbors involved.

This is the best opportunity we have had to change the odds in our favor, without your help it could be tough.

Regards,

Orville

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Sent: Mon, Jan 7, 2013 3:34 pm
Subject: T.A.M.E.R. UPDATE - 1-7-13 - IMPORTANT

Good Afternoon All,

A belated Happy & Healthy New Year.

Tomorrow Tuesday January 8, 2013 begins the most important legislative

session that those of us who have been fighting the large IOU's

(such as Monarch/SWWC, Aqua Texas, San Jose Water and others) have

seen in over the past 13 or more years. We stand an excellent chance of having

the rate cases, CCN's and other regulatory functions transferred to the PUC & OPUC.

THERE IS BOTH GOOD NEWS TO THIS AND SOME NOT SO GOOD NEWS

SO LETS LOOK AT BOTH THE POSITIVES AND THE NEGATIVES.

Lets look at the positives first.

1. The first attachment spells out TAMER's positions that we have presented

to the legislators and hopefully you will present this to all in your subdivisions and HOA's/POA's and towns. Even though the legislature has not been in formal session

David Frederick, C. A. Cockrell, & I have testified to a special subcommittee

(previous e-mails to you) in Austin and have been meeting with legislators regularly

to get our message out. Additionally Bill Hudgins has worked hard to get the new

legislators in the Houston, Magnolia & Conroe area to work with us.

Colin Michaud & Bennie Newman have worked with the new State Senator from

their area to bring her into the fold. We have an impressive list of legislators in both

the senate and the house who will be filing bills and fighting for us.

The attachment listed as News-Athens shows that Senator Robert Nichols &

Representative Lance Gooden will be helping us we need each of you to contact

your legislators and get them on board. Use the TAMER Policy Initiative as your guide.

2. From the negative side you have been receiving propaganda from

Monarch/SWWC about how the cities have raised their rates more, subsidize the

operations with property tax dollars and use only percentages, not real numbers.

Additionally they have hired a huge number of THOSE NASTY LOBBYISTS to sell

their message. As you will see in the TAMER Policy the amount of money they are

spending we cannot match. Shortly we will have a rebuttal letter to the one sent out by Monarch/SWWC that shoots holes in their misstatement of facts and signed by Chuck Profilet. Monarch/SWWC has also hired a PR firm to deluge the legislators with garbage.

3. Good news is that the coalition of cities is fighting along side us to be sure

that our story gets to the maximum number of legislators and their staffs.

A little good news is that from my previous e-mails concerning our need for additional finances there have been a few donations and I thank those who have donated.

Bad news is that many of you have committed nothing or very little to this battle and

we can't win without some soul searching and donations from you. Attached is the

rebate document that shows who has donated and who hasn't, since 2007.

Look around you and you will see that this is affecting real estate values downward in neighborhoods served by these monopolies vs small water companies & cities that are charging reasonable rates. If we do not win this battle to change the laws your property values will continue to decline. We have several realtors who will testify to this, if needed.

A few people have said what is your donation plan and my response to that is with the exception of a few groups donating we have no clue as to how we are going to pay for

this battle. Going forward through the legislative session and the rate case we know

will be filed in November of 2013 we need in excess of $200,000 to pay for our attorney, expert witnesses and all of the associated costs of fighting the next increase. Some have said we need to have an assessment, how does that work when some groups seem to

feel that they should not have to contribute, but are allowed to come along for the

ride and do not respond to e-mails or phone calls.

4. On the marvelously positive side our attorney and his firm (who have been with us

since 2002) have never raised their rates, have continued to carry us believing what

we are doing is right and just. Yes, we do owe them considerable money at this time

but they cannot do this forever. Generosity starts at HOME (your home).

I have attached a letter drafted by Joe Haley, President of the Wildewood HOA

that pretty much sums up the need for money and perhaps you will use this in your group.

In Closing for this e-mail we need your help contacting your legislators, we need your donations, and we need you to contact all of your neighbors. Whether you are a Monarch/SWWC, Aqua Texas, San Jose Water, Algonquin, Corix, Texas American or

one of the other company ratepayers without your financial support

we could lose this battle.

Remember donations should be made to T.A.M.E.R. and be sent to:

T.A.M.E.R.

P.O. Box 1590

Chandler, Texas 75758

List what group your donation is from.

(Harbor Property Owners Assn.)

With great hopes you all will rise to the battle,

Orville Bevel

Attachments:

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