Dear Editor,

Over the weekend of 24-26 October, 2008, our car club, the Alamo A's Model A Ford Club, visited your town. Tony was very helpful in the planning of our stay. He was in constant contact with us over the weekend. I want to thank everyone in the city and surrounding area for making us feel so welcome to your town. Gage's BBQ was very gracious and served some great food. The residents that we were able to meet when we parked our cars at the square made us feel welcome and showed genuine appreciation of our cars. The museum, the jail, the Methodist church and your local merchants made our stay very enjoyable. Please let your readership know that we appreciated our time there and will tell our friends of the great things to do there and the friendly people of San Saba.

Brian Martin

President Alamo A's Model A Ford Club

Dear Editor,

Some customers of the North San Saba Water Supply Corporation (NSSWSC) have been placing blame on the City of San Saba for their high water rates. The facts do not support that claim, and I would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight.

1. The City of San Saba has sold water to the NSSWSC for 18 years and not raised the price. In July, 2008 the rate was raised by approximately 35%. That increase was much smaller than what it could have been; however, it did cover the increased cost of providing water to the NSSWSC.

2. The NSSWSC has now and has always had the right to drill their own wells and not buy any water from the City of San Saba.

3. The City of San Saba is selling water to the NSSWSC for $1.61 per 1,000 gallons.

4. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has stated that any price under $2.00 per 1,000 gallons is a very good price.

Let’s put this into some real numbers that makes sense:

The cost for one gallon of water is $0.00161.

If a NSSWSC customer used 2,000 gallons of water in a month, then $3.22 would be to pay for the water from the City of San Saba.

One customer of NSSWSC recently paid $84.07 for 8,000 gallons of water. Their share to the City of San Saba would have been $12.88. It is plain to see that the high cost of providing water to the NSSWSC is not due to any actions by the City of San Saba.

The City of San Saba has tried to work with our neighbors in the county that need water, and we have offered our advice to the NSSWSC on their system.

Sincerely,

Stan Weik

City Manager

City of San Saba

Dear Editor,

The North San Saba Water Supply Corporation (NSSWSC) has been in violation of the Environment Protection Agency's (EPA) established health-based Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for two different radionuclides for several years. In 2007, NSSWSC had the highest level of MCL of any public water system in the state.

The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) provides low interest rate loans to finance projects for public drinking water systems for health protection. Water supply corporations with the most severe health risks are ranked at the top of the eligibility list for DWSRF loans. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) provides the health based ranking for eligibility to the loan administrator, Texas Water Development Board.

NSSWSC has been one of the highest ranking water supplies for years and last year had the highest eligibility ranking. NSSWSC has not applied for low interest loans in the eight years the funding has been available.

Also, they have not taken advantage of a free program through the TCEQ for financial, managerial and technical assistance.

It appears there are several programs that NSSWSC could have looked into to improve the quality of the water sold to its customers.

Sincerely,

Charles Terry

San Saba, Tx.