Water availability is a major concern for Bulverde and will continue to be so as population in the area grows, Water Advisory Board Chairman Bob Mehall said in a presentation Tuesday night to the Bulverde City Council.

Bulverde now has only 400 acre-feet reserved from Canyon Lake, he said, enough for 800 homes. The forecasted need is 1,500 acre-feet by year 2020 and 4,000 acre-feet by 2030, based on a conservative 8 percent growth rate.

Mehall said the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority has a contractual commitment to the Bulverde CNN (the city’s certificate from the state authorizing it to supply water to a broad area in southwestern Comal County) to design, finance, build, maintain and operate the CCN water pipeline distribution system. But GBRA has put the construction of the system on indefinite hold.

His report also said the City Council should respond to this crisis by appointing a task force to get the water distribution system constructed now.

The report said Bulverde must also reserve and pay for additional water now, or depend on a future source of additional water supply other than Canyon Lake – A very uncertain outlook.

The council earlier had met in executive session to discuss contracts and outstanding issues with the GBRA. No action was taken on the GBRA issues.

In that closed-door session, the council also discussed issues regarding the proposed Uecker Subdivision master plan. The developers of the subdivision requested, and received, up to 90 days to come up with an acceptable water supply before the council takes any action on the master plan.

The council held a heated discussion on the proposed subdivision last week, but took no action March 7 due mainly to concerns about water availability.

The Dominion Group of San Antonio got an approval for the plan from the Bulverde Planning and Zoning Commission on Feb. 21, but during the City Council discussion last week, Councilman Mark Mobley opposed the plan, saying it called for individual wells.

“We have not had a master plan presented for approval that did not have an agreement with GBRA to provide water,” Mayor Sarah Stevick said.

The spokesman for The Dominion Group said they requested water from the GBRA pipeline and were turned down.

This week it was learned they had not been turned down, but were in fact still negotiating with GBRA.

The proposed subdivision consists of 116.2 acres and is bordered on the north by FM 1863, the south by Bulverde Humane Society property, on the east by the Cibolo Creek, and the west by Wiley Road. Part of the proposed development is within the city and part is in the ETJ,

The property would be developed with retail, office space, multi-family and single family residential areas.

Stevick said “multi-family” could mean anything from condominiums to apartment complexes.

Bulverde City Administrator John Hobson said the proposal met all of the requirements for approval of the master plan. He explained the approval would not be the last step in the development of the property. The developers would have to have a water availability study, meet flood plain requirements etc. Hobson said there were many checks and balances before construction could begin.

Since council member Robin Urbanovsky suggested the council take no action until the next regularly scheduled meeting and to have City Attorney Frank Garza present to provide guidance. The council agreed.

Also last week, Steve Gonzales representing the San Antonio River Authority gave a presentation showing progress on the Cibolo Creek Watershed Study being conducted in cooperation with The Edwards Aquifer Authority and the Army Corps of Engineers.

The main purpose of the study is to control flooding downstream and ecosystem restoration.

“When we have 281 North completely covered by water from the Cibolo Creek and other streams and creeks in the area flooding local roads, we as a city are isolated, which means EMS cannot get to and from San Antonio,” Stevick said.

Gonzales said no projects are on the books at this time and it could be 2011 before any are finalized. He said the presentation was merely an update to the city on the progress of the study.

The staff was given the authority to begin negotiations with HDR for professional services for a Land Use and Transportation Plan. The council also gave approval for the re-plat of Lot 4 Ridgeview Oaks Subdivision (Texas 46 and Mitchell Road) for a baseball practice field and youth sports center.

Tiffany Littlepage was confirmed as the city secretary and David Oden was approved to become a member of the Water Advisory Board.