Author: HMUD

• The approaching arctic air outbreak will be the coldest air mass since February 2021.
• It is forecast that temperatures will drop quickly Thursday Night into Friday Morning.
  • Temperatures likely to be in the teens north of Highway 105, near 20 degrees near I-10, and in the mid 20s south of I-10
  • Many areas could be below freezing for 20-36 hours
• Many areas will likely not get above freezing on Friday.
• Though warming into the upper 30s will occur on Saturday, temperatures will drop below freezing on Saturday Night/Sunday Morning

Important to Protect the Four Ps

Cold weather can pose a danger to the health and safety of Houston residents, and proper care should be taken to reduce your exposure to these conditions. When cold weather occurs, Houstonians should remember to protect People, Pets, Pipes, and Plants.

People

• Dress in warm clothing, wear gloves, coats and layers when you’re outside.
• Never leave children or the elderly in vehicles during cold weather, as they act as a refrigerator and can result in sub-freezing temperatures.
• Never use a generator, grill, camp-stove or any gasoline, propane, natural gas or charcoal-burning device to heat your home (or any enclosed area). This can generate carbon monoxide, which cannot be seen or smelled, but is deadly.

Pets

• Protect your pets by ensuring that they have a warm, safe place to sleep. The best place for a dog or cat is to sleep in a heated environment.
• Be sure not to shave your dog down to the skin in winter, as a longer coat will provide more warmth.
• Never leave your animal in a car during cold weather. Cars can cat as refrigerators in the interior, holding in the cold and causing animals to freeze to death.

Pipes

• Protect pipes from freezing by leaving them on a small, slow drip during the freezing hours.
• Open lower cabinet doors to expose pipes to the warmth of the home.

Plants

• Protect plants from freezing by covering them with plant-cover fabric, or a light blanket with plastic sheeting on top of it.

Be sure to group plants that are in containers together, and near your home. Remember that soil in containers can get just as cold as the air temperature, and cause the roots to freeze, even if the above-surface leaves survive.

National Weather Service Information

• Thursday into the Christmas Holiday
  • The Arctic front is on track to move into the area on Thursday. It will bring periods of freezing temperatures (and likely some <25°) into much of the weekend.
  • Too early to confidently pinpoint exactly just how low readings will fall, or how many consecutive hours below freezing any single location will get.
  • Confidence is high that we will see some bitterly cold air and freezing temperatures, but don’t focus on any individual model, or model run, this far out.
  • The specifics will change as time progresses.
• All businesses and residents should begin preparation for some hard freezes before the coldest weather is set to move in on Thursday.
• For industry that needs an extended amount of lead time, the NWS encourages individuals to review plans/actions that might need to be implemented should conditions warrant (any extended durations of subfreezing temperatures, gale force winds, high seas, low water conditions, etc.)

This communication is to notify you that Heatherloch Municipal Utility District, your retail water and sanitary sewer provider, is:

• prohibited from imposing late fees or disconnecting retail water or sewer service for nonpayment of bills that are due during an extreme weather emergency until after the emergency is over;
• required to offer a payment schedule to a customer who requests such a schedule for unpaid bills due during an extreme weather emergency; and
• prohibited from disconnecting retail water or sewer service for nonpayment of bills due during an extreme weather emergency until after a payment schedule has been offered and the customer has either declined to accept the payment schedule in a timely fashion or violated the terms of the payment schedule.

For purposes of this communication, an “extreme weather emergency” is defined as a period beginning when the previous day’s highest temperature in an area did not exceed 28 degrees Fahrenheit and the temperature is predicted to remain at or below that level for the next 24 hours according to the nearest National Weather Service reports for that area. An extreme weather emergency is over on the second business day the temperature exceeds 28 degrees Fahrenheit.

Aviso Sobre Emergencias Climáticas Extremas

Esta comunicación es para notificarle que su proveedor de agua y alcantarillado sanitario Heatherloch Municipal Utility District es:

• prohibido imponer cargos por demora o desconectar el servicio de agua o alcantarillado por falta de pago de las facturas que vencen durante una emergencia climática extrema hasta después de que termine la emergencia;
• obligado a ofrecer un plan de pago a un cliente que solicite dicho acuerdo para las facturas adeudadas durante una emergencia climática extrema; y
• prohibido desconectar el servicio de agua o alcantarillado por falta de pago de facturas adeudadas durante una emergencia climática extrema hasta que se haya ofrecido un plan de pago y el cliente se haya negado a aceptar el plan de pago de manera oportuna o haya violado los términos del plan de pago.

A los fines de este comunicado, una “emergencia climática extrema” se define como un período que comienza cuando la temperatura más alta del día anterior en un área no superó los 28 grados Fahrenheit y se pronostica que la temperatura permanecerá en ese nivel o por debajo de este durante las próximas 24 horas. de acuerdo con los informes del Servicio Meteorológico Nacional más cercano para esa área. Una emergencia climática extrema termina el segundo día hábil en que la temperatura supera los 28 grados Fahrenheit.

The HEATHERLOCH UTILITY DISTRICT will hold a public hearing on a proposed tax rate for the tax year 2022 on Monday, October 17, 2022 at 5:00 PM at Old Bridge Lake Clubhouse, 182 Old Bridge Lake, Houston, Texas, 77069. Your individual taxes may increase at a greater or lesser rate, or even decrease, depending on the tax rate that is adopted and on the change in the taxable value of your property in relation to the change in taxable value of all other property. The change in the taxable value of your property in relation to the change in the taxable value of all other property determines the distribution of the tax burden among all property owners.

Visit Texas.gov/PropertyTaxes to find a link to your local property tax database on which you can easily access information regarding your property taxes, including information about proposed tax rates and scheduled public hearings of each entity that taxes your property.

Click here to read the notice.

On behalf of Heatherloch Municipal Utility District (Heatherloch), we are providing this notice to inform Heatherloch’s customers and residents adjacent to the water plant site that Heatherloch has entered into a contract with Wharton-Smith, Inc. (the “Contractor”) to expand Heatherloch’s Water Plant No. 1. The main work items include replacement of an existing 125,000-gallon ground storage tank (GST) with a new 600,000-gallon concrete GST, associated plant piping improvements and replacement of the existing emergency natural gas generator with a large generator sized to run the entire water plant during power outages. The proposed improvements are required to replace aging infrastructure and to ensure adequate water plant capacity for the district.

We anticipate Wharton-Smith will begin moving on site in October 2022. Due to the extensive nature of the improvements, the construction contract is anticipated to take approximately 18 months. Working hours have been set for Monday through Friday from 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM. However, work on Saturday may be required, but will be limited.

If you have any questions concerning this notice or Heatherloch’s water plant expansion project, the District engineer’s and operator’s contact information is noted below:

Heatherloch MUD Engineer

Quiddity Engineering, LLC
1575 Sawdust Road, Suite 400, The Woodlands, Texas 77380
Construction Manager: Tyralyn Spriggins
District Engineers: Ms. Pam Madrigal/Mr. Wesley Lay, 281-363-4039

Heatherloch MUD Operator

H2O Innovation
2200 Sciaaca Road, Spring, Texas 77373
Mr. Richard Rankin
281-939-3195

North Harris Regional Water Authority – Service Rates

• Surface Water: $5.05 per 1,000 gallons

Heatherloch MUD – Service Rates

Section 3.01. Water Service Rates. The following monthly rates for the sale of water shall be in effect for each Separate Connection within the District from the effective date hereof until such time as the Board of Directors amends said rates:

Section 3.02. Sewer Service Rates. The following monthly rates for the collection and disposal of sewage shall be in effect for each Separate Connection within the District from the effective date hereof until such time as the Board amends said rates:

 

NHCRWA implements Stage 1 of the Drought Contingency Plan

The City of Houston (COH), the primary source of water for the North Harris County Regional Water Authority (Authority), entered stage one of the COH Drought Contingency Plan on June 21, 2022, due to the observed drop in annual rainfall amounts and higher­ than normal daily temperatures. The COH’s drought response calls for voluntary water conservations efforts to reduce water use, that will reduce the daily volume of water delivered. The Houston Public Works Release can be found under https://nhcrwa.info/coh-stage1.

The Authority is implementing Stage 1 of our Drought Contingency Plan immediately. The Authority’s Drought Contingency Plan request that any customer receiving water from the Authority or well owner whose well is included under the Authority’s Harris-­Galveston Subsidence District aggregate water well permit:

• Check for and repair all leaks, dripping faucets, and running toilets.
• Utilize water conservation measures such as displacement bags, tow-flow shower heads and leak detection tablets. Additional water conservation tips can be found at https://wateru.nhcrwa.com and www.irrygator.com;
• Limit irrigation to no more than two days per week, between 7:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. following the schedules below:
  • Sundays and Thursdays for single family residential customers with even-numbered street addresses.
  • Saturdays and Wednesdays for single family residential customers with odd-numbered street addresses.
  • Tuesdays and Fridays for all other customers.
  • No watering on Mondays.

Compliance to the above recommendations is voluntary.

• Please lock your vehicles. Most thefts from vehicles are through unlocked doors. It takes seconds to break a window but doing so makes noise – and criminals hate noise. You also want to make sure that all windows are rolled up before locking your vehicle. Also, if you have a car alarm, please make sure it is working properly – and use it!
• Hide valuables from site. Even better, take all items of value with you. If a criminal doesn’t see anything, they’re less likely to break in to your vehicle and will proceed to the next vehicle to “window shop.” Remember to hide valuables before parking and leaving your vehicle. Give a would-be thief absolutely no reason to burglarize your car.
• Take your keys. Unfortunately, it is still common practice for individuals to leave their keys in their car and/or in the ignition when unattended.

There is no 100% fool-proof way to prevent all crime. You can make yourself less likely to be a victim of motor vehicle burglary by following the above practices and using common sense. Simply locking your vehicle and removing property is half the battle.

Dear Residents:

On behalf of Heatherloch Municipal Utility District (Heatherloch), we are sending this letter to inform Heatherloch’s customers of the upcoming City of Houston hearing regarding the Heatherloch Section 1 partial replat on Thursday October 28, 2021. You may have received a letter from the City of Houston Planning and Development Department notifying all property owners within 250 feet or within 500 feet along Bickford or Benfer Road from Heatherloch’s Water Plant property of this upcoming hearing. The notification does not require any action from the property owner and is to inform the public of the hearing.

This notification is required by the City of Houston’s Code of Ordinances to inform the public of Heatherloch’s intent to combine the two Heatherloch owned tracts into one. Heatherloch is in the design phase of a water plant expansion project. The boundary needs to be extended to the Heatherloch owned tract immediately west of the existing Water Plant property to construct new infrastructure and provide more resiliency to Heatherloch’s water system. Enclosed is an exhibit showing Heatherloch’s two properties.

If you have any questions concerning this letter or Heatherloch’s water plant expansion project, please contact Mr. Wesley Lay or Mr. Justin Abshire (Engineer for the District) at (281) 363-4039.

The District has implemented an email and text alert system for the residents of Heatherloch Municipal Utility District. This system is designed to keep you informed of issues related to the District in a quick and timely manner. You may receive messages in either email or text alert format, or both, related to the water service in the District, drainage and sewer related topics, and other news that is relevant to the District.

The email alerts that you may receive will contain the majority of the relevant information and may occasionally direct you back to the District’s website for more details.

Text message notifications will contain a short amount of information with a link back to the District’s website where the remainder of the information can be viewed.

These notifications are a great way to stay up to date on news and issues within the District and we highly encourage you to sign up and share this information with your neighbors.

To sign up for email and text notifications, please click here to visit the sign up page.