2008-010-ORD-NO ADDITIONAL RAW WATER FROM LAKE PAT MAYSE BE SOLD

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ORDINANCE N0. 2008- 10 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS, REQUIRING THAT NO ADDITIONAL RAW WATER FROM LAKE PAT MAYSE BE SOLD BY THE CITY OF PARIS TO ANY PERSON, CORPORATION OR OTHER LEGAL ENTITY OUTSIDE OF LAMAR COUNTY, TEXAS WITHOUT FIRST PUTTING THE ISSUE TO A VOTE OF THE REGISTERED VOTERS OF THE CITY OF PARIS, TEXAS; MAKING OTHER FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE SUBJECT; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, on January 14, 2008 the City Council of the City of Paris entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Irving to study the feasibility of selling excess raw water, if any, from Lake Pat Mayse and to exclusively negotiate with Irving a possible water supply agreement for any excess water from Lake Pat Mayse; and, WHEREAS, in consideration of the City of Irving's payment of $40,000 cash and commitment to fund up to $160,000 of the City of Paris' engineering, financial, legal, legislative, public education and consulting expenses related to determining the feasibility of selling and supplying excess raw water from Lake Pat Mayse to the City of Irving, the City entered into an exclusive negotiating agreement with the City of Irving for a period ending December 31, 2008; and, WHEREAS, on or about March 18, 2008 an Initiative Petition was filed with the City Clerk of the City of Paris proposing a City Ordinance, which among other things, would require that prior to any future decision to sell or to negotiate the sale of raw water from Lake Pat Mayse, Lake Crook or any other source of water in Lamar County to any person, entity or corporation, an election shall be called and the issue shall be decided upon by the majority vote of the duly qualified and registered voters of the City of Paris: and WHEREAS, the City Council cannot agree with the proposed ordinance submitted by the Initiative Petition, because the ordinance would hinder the City in meeting the additional water needs of local industry and business and would also block efforts to attract new industry and business to the City of Paris and Lamar County; and WHEREAS, the City Council agrees that Lake Pat Mayse and its fresh water supply is one of the City's most valuable resources and that the condition and capacity of the lake, as well as, the local need for a reliable raw water supply be carefully studied before entering into any contracts to sell raw water from Lake Pat Mayse to any person, entity or corporation outside of Lamar County; and WHEREAS, in order to insure that the City of Paris maintains a safe, sufficient and reliable raw water supply to meet the future needs of its residents, businesses and industry and to protect and preserve the recreational function and beauty of Lake Pat Mayse, the City Council of the City of Paris, Texas does hereby propose an ordinance to prohibit the sale of additional raw water from Lake Pat Mayse, beyond what is needed by the City or its