CM-2017-1538 - 11/3/2017Law Offices of
BOOTH, AHRENS & WERKENTHZN
A Professional Corporation
Michael). Booth
Carolyn Ahrens, Of Counsel
Fred B. Werkenthin, Jr.
'Frey Nesloney
October 30, 20I7
Mr. Michael Thane, Director
Utility & Environmental Services
City of Round Rock
2008 Enterprise Drive
Round Rock, Texas 78664
Maia Corbitt
Governmental Consultant
(Not licensed to practice law)
RE: Engagement of Booth, Ahrens & Werkenthin, P.C., for Legal Opinion Related
to City of Round Rock's Lake Travis Wetter Supply
Dear Mr. Thane,
This letter confirms our agreement that the law firm of Booth, Ahrens & Werkenthin,
P.C. ("Firm") will represent the City of Round Rock ("City"), under your direction, regarding
certain water rights matters identified in the attached scope of work. Additionally, we will
represent the City in any other matters requested by you, provided that we do not have a
conflict of interest. We recognize your right to terminate this agreement at any time upon
notice to the Firm and payment of all outstanding bills for legal services incurred up to the
date of notice.
Consistent with my position as of counsel to the firm, I will be the account
representative and attorney in charge of this matter. Michael J. Booth, president of the firm,
will be associated with me in this matter, and you are welcome to contact either one of us for
information or status reports should that become necessary.
As the City has requested, we have identified $17,500 as an amount of compensation
to the firm that will not be exceeded without your prior written consent on behalf of the City.
However, this work is not undertaken as an agreement to perform work for a flat fee. Both
my time and Michael J. Booth's time will be billed at the rate of $390.00 per hour. From
time -to -time, the Firm may assign other attorneys to some aspect of the case, with the view
that we will use the lowest hourly rate qualified and available attorney for any particular
matter. Additionally, we use briefing clerks or legal assistants to perform those tasks not
requiring the time of an attorney. We bill briefing clerk and legal assistant time at the rate of
$60.00 to $160.00 per hour, depending upon experience and level of education. We also
charge for overtime wages to secretaries when the overtime is necessary to satisfy the client's
demands.
206 EAST 9TH STREET I SUITE 15011 AUSTIN, TEXAS 78701
OFFICE (512) 472.3263 1 FAX (512) 473.2609 1 WWW.BAW.COM
�/V- 2,D1 -7 -/4-3 J
Mr. Michael Thane
October 30, 2017
Paget of
It is the Firm's policy to adjust fees periodically to reflect current economic conditions.
We will notify you in writing of any modifications to the fee structure; however, the billing
rates referenced here for the City will not be raised before calendar -year 2019.
Our billing practices are designed to allow strict accountability for time spent an a
client's case. Monthly statements will provide a detailed description of the activities
performed by each timekeeper, time spent and dollar cost of the particular activity. Travel
expenses, phone costs, postage, facsimile transmissions, copies, and similar charges are
itemized on each statement. We submit out-of-pocket expenses incurred for reimbursement
with a fifteen percent (15%) overhead charge added. When possible, we ask the client to pay
statutory fees directly to avoid this overhead charge. All costs advanced by the Firm for items
such as filing fees, depositions, investigations, court costs and other expenses will be billed to
the City on the monthly statement.
We endeavor to have a statement of services rendered and expenses incurred in the
mail by the 15th of each month, and the statement is due and payable within thirty (30) days
of receipt. In the event that a municipal client's account becomes more than sixty (60) days
past due, the Firm will charge interest at the rate of twelve percent (12%) per year, or 1% per
month until such past due amount is paid in full.' We reserve the right to discontinue work
and/or withdraw as the City's counsel for reason of nonpayment of our charges for legal
services.
From time -to -time, we will send you copies of correspondence, memoranda and other
documents related to the services that we perform for the City. We recommend that you keep
them in your permanent files. Our office will attempt to check for and respond to any email
correspondence from you as regularly and as promptly as possible. You understand that email
correspondence is not secure and can be intercepted by third parties. By sending an email to
the Firm, the City consents to our responding in kind, as well as to the use of email to
communicate with City representatives in the future. The City bears all risks of loss that may
occur as a result of the use of email communications, and release the Firm from any liability
arising from electronic communications.
Occasionally, we include a client's name in announcements, Firm resumds, legal
directories, and newsletters. if the City has any objections to the Firm using your name in this
manner, please let us know and we will gladly respect your wishes.
If this agreement is acceptable to the City, please sign the duplicate original herein and
return it to us for our records. We appreciate the opportunity to serve the City and look
forward to working with you.
' If a lower interest rate should become required by law, this interest rale will be reduced.
Mr. Michael Thane
October 30, 2017
Page 3 of3
Very truly yours,
Carolyn Ahrens, Of Counsel
Booth, Ahrens & Werkenthin, P.C.
AGREED TO AND ACCEPTED:
Michael I Boot resident
Booth, Ahrens & ; erkenthin, P.C.
Date: October 30, 2017
AGREED TO AND ACCEPTED:
Ms. Laurie adley�Ci
City of Round Rock
Date: —Z — S .12017
The State Bar of Texas investigates and prosecutes professional misconduct committed by Texas
attorneys. Although not every complaint against or dispute with a lawyer involves professional misconduct, the
Slate Bar Office of General Counsel will provide you with information about hots to rile a complaint. For more
information, please call 1 800 932 1900 This is a toll free call.
SCOPE OF WORK
BOOTH, AHRENS & WERKENTHIN, P.C.
City or Round Rock lake Travis Water Supply
The City of Round Rock has requested our opinion regarding the legal context for evaluating
reliability, during a drought, of its contract supply for raw surface water from Lake Travis. That
supply is part of an overall water portfolio that includes surface water supplied to the City by the
Brazos River Authority ("BRA") in and through Lake Georgetown, as well as groundwater.
We will answer part of the City's question by surveying the statutory and agency regulatory
provisions administered by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality ("TCEQ") to address
the distribution of limited water supplies during a drought. The law also includes provisions
applicable to water supply in emergencies, some of which have been controversial and challenged
in recent years.
Another level of inquiry will follow the contractual arrangements under which the City has secured
the Lake Travis supply. As we understand it, the supply became available to the City after
legislation allowed the Lower Colorado River Authority ("LCRA") to sell water to BRA for resale
to entities in Williamson County. Answering the City's question also requires first briefly
reviewing the legislation and then evaluating LCRA's contract with BRA and the City's contract
with BRA for provisions that may address the contingency of water shortages.
Legal constraints on how LCRA manages Lake Travis as part of the Highland Lakes reservoir
system also significantly impacts the reliability of contractual commitments from that supply. We
anticipate considering LCRA's water rights, its Water Management Plan, and its Drought
Contingency Plan for bearing on the City's question. As the City is aware, LCRA has taken
advantage in the past of the State's water emergency laws to temporarily set requirements that
otherwise limit the authority's management of its reservoir system. Certain elements of the serial
emergency orders entered upon LCRA's petitions to the TCEQ for that relief may also be
instructive. Most recently, there also has been regional controversy regarding whether watermaster
supervision should be extended through the Colorado River basin.
Although the City of Round Rock has partnered with the cities of Cedar Park and Leander to create
the Brushy Creek Regional Utility Authority ("BCRUA") for accessing Lake Travis water, we do
not interpret the City's question to include any consideration on our part of the City's physical
infrastructure or how arrangements with or through BCRUA would affect distribution of water to
the City or among the member cities during a shortage. Please advise if that understanding is not
correct. We also do not propose to address general matters of contract enforcement.
The deliverable for this project is a written legal opinion letter from the firm that surveys the legal
factors to consider when the City evaluates the overall reliability of the Lake Travis raw water
supply. We also anticipate using our experience and knowledge of the river basin to identify
questions that the City may want to have answered in follow-up consultation with its technical and
engineering advisors and in discussion with LCRA.
This scope of work has been reviewed by Mr. Michael Thane for the City with a request that he
please let us know if the City would like us to address any additional questions as part of the
project.
. Last Updated October 30, 2017 Page l or i