Remnant of Don Chovanec Administration Still Paying Dividends for City of LG

Public Comment

The La Grange City Council authorized the creation of its seventh public facility corporation at their meeting Monday night, Dec. 9.

The City established the first such corporation many years ago under former mayor Don Chovanec. State law allows cities to create these public facility corporations. The corporation issues bonds with the City as a sponsor. It then purchases natural gas on the open market and sells it to other cities and other public entities. Third party contractors store and transport the gas. The enterprise has been very lucrative for the City, bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

“I wouldn’t describe it as the icing on the cake,” Thompson told the Record Monday night. “It’s more like the sprinkles that are on top the icing.”

Thompson said the City uses profits from these companies to fund capital improvement projects for the City.

“It’s not something we want to rely on,” Thompson said.

These public facility corporations come with an expiration date of sorts. Periodically, they must be dissolved. So on Monday, the City formed a new one – Texas Municipal Gas Acquisition and Supply Corporation VI, or TexGas VI for short.

The City partners with the firm Municipal Energy Resources Corporation (MERC) to manage day-to-day operations. A board of directors appointed by the City Council governs each of the companies. Those directors serve without compensation, Thompson said. Council appointed Deborah Bradley, Shawn Raborn and John Pineda to serve as the initial board of directors for TexGas VI.

Councilmembers Bonnie Busch and Ken Taylor abstained from voting on the item due to potential conflicts of interest. Busch is Pineda’s spouse and Taylor is a retiree from the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA). Taylor said LCRA purchases gas from the City-sponsored corporations.

Also at Monday’s meeting, local resident Theresa Von Rosenberg spoke during the public comment period.

Von Rosenberg praised the City for installing the new Christmas decorations at Fayette Public Library and City Hall.

She also praised City Manager Jack Thompson for his work since the City hired him back in February.

“I thought we paid some big bucks for him, but he’s worth it,” she said.