RANKING MEMBER JOE BARTON COMMITTEE ON +yJpg^'q,i SIXTH DISTRICT, TEXAS ENERGY AND COMMERCE TELEPHONE: (202) 225-3641 2109 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON, DC 20515-4306 http:/lrepublicans.energycommerce.house.gov TELEPHONE: (202) 225-2002 FAX: (202) 225-3052 www.JoeBarton.house.gov Cottgreo of the Uniteb ,tateg4 ^.^oua of Rpregerttatibes Wagbtngton, 3D(C 20515-4306 June 12, 2009 The Honorable C.L. Brown City of Corsicanna 200 N. 12th St. Corsicana, TX 75110-4616 Dear Mayor Brown: This is to acknowledge your request for assistance concerning the Army Corps of Engineers. ? appreciate your r contacting me. On your behalf, I have written to the appropriate officials in regard to this matter. As soon as I receive a response to my inquiry I will be back in touch with you. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please contact my Constituent Liaison, Deborah Rollins, in my Arlington district office at 817-543-1000, or toll free at 1-877-263-2833. I look forward to this opportunity to be of assistance to you. 1 Sincerel e Barton Member of Congress M: 4- ENNIS OFFICE: ARLINGTON OFFICE. CROCKETT OFFICE: 2106A WEST ENNIS AVENUE 6001 INTERSTATE 20 WEST, SUITE 200 P.O. Box 958 ENNIS, TX 75119 RONALD REAGAN MEMORIAL HIGHWAY CROCKETT, TX 75835 ( 972) 875-8488 ARLINGTON, TX 76017 (936) 544-8488 (817) 543-1000 1 (877) 263-2833 (6TH DISTRICT ONLY) PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER 0012 From: Warren Brewer [BrewerW@trinityra. Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 4:23 PM To: Standridge, Connie; sgh01 @ennis-t( .com; [email protected]; [email protected]; thart@g )rg; don. [email protected]; [email protected]; mike.a( [email protected]; Ron McCuller; [email protected]; Danny ce; Sam Scott; John Owens Subject: Corps Stimulus program I have heard from some of you about your efforts to contact yo r Congressional representatives. Have you had any luck in persuading them to seek a solution? We keep hearing from sc irces that Cong Chet Edwards is a major power source that has influence over the Corps' decisions regarding backing th stimulus funding into local sponsor contracting parties' obligations, because of his Committee position. Have an, of you heard from Chet or his staff about this? If you have any information I can review, it will help; if I can share it wi- i the other parties, it will help them as well. 0013 CityManager From: Plaines, Dub [Dub. [email protected]] Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 10:10 AM To: Standridge, Connie; [email protected]; [email protected]; sgh01 @ennis-texas.com Subject: RE: Reference: Bardwell, Navarro Mills, and Joe Pool lakes Ron Wright got this email from the Corps. Dub Maines Deputy District Director Office of Congressman Joe Barton 972-875-8488 From: Longfellow, Don SWF [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 5:18 PM To: Wright, Ron Cc: Burger, Charles L SWF; Eckhardt, Elston D SWF; Collins, Troy D SWF Subject: Reference: Bardwell, Navarro Mills, and Joe Pool lakes Ron, The Fort Worth District of the Corps of Engineers received funds from the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to perform necessary repairs and maintenance to Corps Lakes. Water Supply contracts have previously been consummated with various non-Federal partners, which include provisions for paying a percentage of the repairs and'maintenance expenditures. The ARRA funding for the repairs and maintenance at Corps Lakes will require the communities to provide additional funds to comply with the water supply contracts. The Fort Worth District realizes that the relatively sudden receipt of long-awaited maintenance funds may have not been anticipated by the participating communities, and that an increase of this magnitude was not likely programmed into local budget forecasts. The Fort Worth District is researching possible alternatives to minimize the financial burden to our partner communities. I will share more information as it becomes available. Thanks. Don Don Longfellow Executive Assistant Fort Worth, Corps of Engineers 817-886-1517 (o) 817-228-1533 (c) -----Original Message----- From: Wright, Ron [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 10:10 AM To: Longfellow, Don SWF Subject: Bardwell, Navarro Mills, and Joe Pool lakes Don, please call me when you can. Ron Wright Chief of Staff 1 0014 U.S. Congressman Joe Barton 2109 Rayburn HOB Washington, D.C. 20515 (202) 225-2002 Cell: 202-870-8767 Sign up for Congressman Barton's E-Newsletter <http://7oebarton.house.gov/ContactJoe.aspx?T > 2 0015 DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY FORT WORTH DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS ^ P.O. BOX 17300 ^ FORT WORTH, TEXAS 76102-0300 REPLY TO ATTENTION OF- JUL 0 2 2009 Honorable Joe Barton Representative in Congress ATTN: Ms. Deborah Rollins 6001 West 1-20, Suite 200 Arlington, Texas 76017-2811 Dear Mr. Barton: Thank you for your letter dated June 9, 2009, requesting assistance in responding to the Honorable C.L. Brown, Mayor of Corsicana. A copy of the letter from the Mayor is being returned for your reference. In May 2009, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers received approval from the Office of Management and Budget to execute the designated American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding in a precise, prescribed manner. The plan included line items to perform required maintenance at many of our lakes, including Navarro Mills Lake. In recent years, the Corps has been underfunded for maintenance of this critical but aging structure that directly supports flood damage reduction and water supply. The ARRA funding will allow us to address the tremendous maintenance backlog that has accumulated as a result of the underfunding. The Corps entered into a water storage contract with the Trinity River Authority (TRA) on March 31, 1959, for a period of 50 years. TRA is provided an estimate of the billing as soon as potential annual budgets are known. This year, they were notified in May after the Omnibus Appropriations and ARRA potential funding amounts were known. The TRA is then billed in December for expenditures incurred during the previous Fiscal Year, with a due date of January. The TRA, in turn has subcontracted with the City of Corsicana to provide raw water for their use, essentially passing through all costs. Terms of the contract called for the TRA (ultimately the City of Corsicana) to pay 25% of the annual Operations and Maintenance costs, without regard to the type of funding used. There was no provision in the contract to have ordinary O&M expenditures deferred or avtiraged ,in .any nlainner. There was, however, language included in the original contract stating, "Consideration will be given to any extraordinary expenditures made or expected to be made by the Government and which are not recovered during the original contract period." The Fort Worth District realizes that the relatively sudden receipt of long-awaited maintenance funds may have not been anticipated by the participating communities, and that an increase of this magnitude was not programmed into local budget forecasts. 0016 -2- In this specific instance, we are initiating negoti ns to renew the original contract. As indicated by the original contractual language cited ve, it is our intent to include provisions which would average O&M expenditures over perh a five year period, thus reducing the impacts of fluctuating O&M costs. Total relief of t: obligations, such as those suggested by Mayor Brown to exempt ARRA funding from any i ractual obligations, would, however, require Congressional action. If you have any questions regarding this matter, lease feel free to contact Mr. Elston D. Eckhardt, Acting Chief, Civil Branch, t(817) 886-1378. Si Christo, er W. MIn Colonel District Engineer. District ommander Enclosure Copy Furnished: Honorable Joe Barton United States House of Representatives 2109 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515-4306 0017 RANKING MEMBER JOE BARTON =s6= COMMITTEE ON SIXTH DISTRICT, TEXAS ENERGY AND COMMERCE TELEPHONE: (202) 225-3641 21 D9 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON, DC 20515-4306 http://republicans.energycommerce.house.gov TELEPHONE: (202) 225-2002 FAX: (202) 225-3052 www.JoeBarton.house.gov Congre!5g of the Oniteb 6tateg ^ou!5e of Repre.5entatibe!5 Wa5bittgton, ^DC 20515-4306 July 7, 2009 The Honorable C.L. Brown City of Corsicanna 200 N. 12th St. Corsicana, TX 75110-4616 Dear Mayor Brown: In response to the inquiry I made on your behalf, I have received the enclosed letter from the Army Corps of Engineers. I hope the agency's reply provides information you find helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions. I appreciate the opportunity to have been of service. If I can be of further assistance I hope you won't hesitate to contact my office. Sincerely, Jo Barton Member of Congress JB: dr Enclosure ARLINGTON OFFICE. CROCKETT OFFICE: ENNIS OFFICE: 6001 INTERSTATE 20 WEST, SUITE 200 P.O Box 958 2106A WEST ENNIS AVENUE RONALD REAGAN MEMORIAL HIGHWAY CROCKETT, TX 75835 ENNIS, TX 75119 ARLINGTON, TX 76017 (936) 544-8488 (972) 875-8488 (817) 543-1000 1 (877) 263-2833 (6TH DISTRICT ONLY) PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER 0018 Trinity River Authority of Texas Northern Region Office 2210/2410/2110(2) July 8, 2009 Ms. Connie Standridge City Manager City of Corsicana 200 North 12'h Street Corsicana, Texas 75110 RE: Preliminary Fiscal Year 2010 Budgets Joe Pool Lake, Bardweli, Navarro Mills rs Dear Ms. Standridge: In June, we sent a budget comparison for FY 2010 the cities with contract water rights in the federal reservoirs of Joe Pool, Bardwell and Navar Mills which showed the Corps' 2010 budgets, both with and without the ARRA stimulus funds api opriated by Congress which are being included in the Corps' upcoming work program.