Trophy Club voters defeat $2.4 million MUD bond

A property-tax conscious crowd defeated a $2.4 million bond election in the Trophy Club Municipal Utility District Saturday night.

More than 69 percent of the votes cast were in opposition to the bond, according to unofficial election results.

Bill Rose, a MUD board member who led the opposition, said paying for water infrastructure through property taxes wouldn’t be fair to those who aren’t serviced by the new line.

"It taxed an area in Westlake that did not receive benefits from it," Rose said.

He said a more equitable way to pay for it would be through increased water rates, that way people can control their consumption and customers with larger meters pay their fair share.

Kevin Carr, president of the MUD board, said the transmission line is needed to keep up with new water demand from restaurants, hotels and homes.

With the bond failing, the MUD board will look for alternate funding sources that will be tied to water rates rather than property taxes.

"Alternative funding will be required and the two most-viable funding methods are a revenue bond, which obtains revenue through water rates, or a bank loan, which would also be tied to water rates to pay the bank loan," Carr said.

The line would transport water from the storage tanks on the west side to the elevated tank at T.W. King on the east side.

"The pressure has been diminished by the increased construction and additional hotels and restaurants," Carr said.

In the Trophy Club Place 1 race, Alicia Fleury won with 68 percent of the votes, while opponent Chad Reithmeier had 32 percent.

Fleury is a 46-year-old airline pilot who made economic development and attracting quality restaurants and retail a key tenant of her campaign.

"We want to continue to make our community more of a destination spot just to attract more people from neighboring towns," she said.

Fluery will take over the seat occupied by Councilman Jim Parrow, who did not seek re-election after serving one three-year-term.

In Place 2, Eric Jensen received 84 percent of the votes in the Saturday election while Starr Vuchetich had 16 percent.

Jensen is a 44-year-old executive at Control Products Corp. who promised to keep taxes low, limit incentive money and balance the budget.

Jensen will replace Councilman Garrett Reed, who did not seek re-election after serving one three-year term.

Mayor Nick Sanders ran unopposed to retain his seat for a fourth term.

Westlake had four candidates running to fill three seats on the Town Council.

Incumbents Wayne Stoltenberg, 30 percent, Carol Langdon, 32 percent, and Rick Rennhack, 30 percent, all won re-election to their respective seats. Challenger Sean Kilbride received 8 percent.

The three candidates who got the most votes won.

Ward 1 Incumbent Holly Gray-McPherson defeated two challengers by receiving 75 percent of the votes.

Gray-McPherson is a 44-year-old business owner development/associate principal. Her priority is to redevelop the historic downtown Roanoke and improve streets and roads while managing growth. She’s served on the Council since 2002.

"My goal is just to continue what we’re doing," she said.

Challengers Kim Chabot and Chad Jacobson received 16 and 9 percent of the vote respectively.

Steve Heath won with 73 percent of the ballots in the Ward 3 race, defeating Christopher Ruten who received 27 percent.

Heath is a 59-year-old health-care executive who wants to better manage the city’s growth, amenities and infrastructure. Heath has been a fixture on the City Council since 1997.

"I want to continue the growth, providing services to the citizens and doing it the Roanoke way,” he said.

This story was originally published May 9, 2017 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Trophy Club voters defeat $2.4 million MUD bond."