{"id":446608,"date":"2026-09-24T20:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T20:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/446608\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T20:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T20:38:08","slug":"north-side-hoa-wants-a-415575-break-from-saws-connection-fees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/446608\/","title":{"rendered":"North Side HOA wants a $415,575 break from SAWS connection fees"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

The Villas at Timberwood Homeowners Association board member Tom Marty looks at the lift station for the subdivision\u2019s septic system on Aug. 31, 2026. The 75-home community is serviced by a failing septic system and the HOA is asking San Antonio City Council to waive the $415,575 fee to connect to the San Antonio Water System.<\/p>\n

Katina Zentz\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n

The City Council could be asked to grant another favor to a North\u00a0Bexar County subdivision that has already received $2 million from the county to fix a failing septic system that\u2019s plagued the community for more than a decade.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Misty Spears was instrumental in helping Villas at Timberwood homeowners land the county funding. She worked on their septic problem when she served as County Commissioner Grant Moody\u2019s constituent services director before she won the District 9 council seat in June 2025.<\/p>\n

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Spears now wants the City Council to let the Villas at Timberwood Homeowners Association off the hook for the $415,575 impact fee that San Antonio Water System says the HOA must pay to connect to its sewer system.<\/p>\n

The North Side councilwoman\u2019s proposal would require going against city policy, which limits such waivers to projects within San Antonio city limits.<\/p>\n

It also would be a financial hit for SAWS as it\u2019s trying to pay for costly improvements to its water and sewer systems\u00a0\u2014 and is asking the council to let it raise rates<\/a> to do so. The city-owned utility would absorb the cost of the waived fees, which would require covering them with ratepayers\u2019 money.<\/p>\n

SAWS charges impact fees for connecting to its water and sewer lines and other\u00a0infrastructure. For new developments, the expense is typically passed on to home buyers, but they\u2019re also charged for existing developments to connect to the system.<\/p>\n

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Council was scheduled twice in August to vote on whether to waive the Villas at Timberwood impact fee, but the item was pulled from the agenda both times. Withdrawing an agenda item is often a sign it doesn\u2019t have enough support to pass, but Spears says that wasn\u2019t the case with the impact fee.<\/p>\n

She said her office pulled the item because City Council members want to consider the issue more broadly, possibly creating a policy for waiver requests that are \u201cpublic health and safety-related.\u201d<\/p>\n

The delay has left the HOA\u2019s three-member board in limbo as construction costs rise and unforeseen repairs to the current system eat up some of the county money.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have any leverage other than common sense and morality,\u201d said HOA President Roy Block.<\/p>\n

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Failing system<\/p>\n

The Villas at Timberwood, a 75-home subdivision north of Loop 1604 and west of U.S. 281, has a communal septic system instead of the more common\u00a0one septic tank for each house. The system wasn\u2019t built to accommodate so many households and was poorly maintained by the developer, Block said.<\/p>\n

Residents are sometimes asked not to shower, flush toilets or run washing machines to prevent the system from backing up. Their annual HOA fees have climbed to $2,600 to maintain the system and cover legal costs.<\/p>\n

The HOA sued Timberwood Development Company and homebuilder Chesmar Homes in 2019 for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, deceptive trade practices and negligence. The lawsuit alleged that developer Jason Gale was aware of the septic system\u2019s problems but did not disclose them when he transferred control of the HOA to residents in 2012.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019ve been running this utility with no training, no finances, nothing,\u201d said HOA board member Paul\u00a0Colliander. \u201cWe just started from scratch and we\u2019re exhausted.\u201d<\/p>\n

The parties settled in May 2024\u00a0\u2014 a few months after Bexar County Commissioners Court voted to approve $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to reimburse the HOA for building a wastewater main to connect the neighborhood to SAWS\u2019 sewer infrastructure. The association is abandoning its beleaguered septic system altogether.<\/p>\n

Connecting to SAWS is \u201ca last resort\u201d for the community, Commissioner Moody said in an interview.<\/p>\n

The settlement amount is confidential, but Block said it was not enough to pay for the entire project, which has increased in price as a result of difficulty securing easements for sewer lines outside the subdivision boundaries.<\/p>\n

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The project\u2019s estimated cost is $2.8 million, according to city staff.<\/p>\n

Block said the HOA did not factor the impact fee into its calculations because SAWS had previously said the fee would not apply to the subdivision since it is not a new development, which the utility denies.<\/p>\n

All new connections\u00a0\u2014 not just new development\u00a0\u2014 are subject to the SAWS fees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSAWS has consistently informed ALL parties who have contacted us regarding the Villas of Timberwood that impact fees apply when new or existing infrastructure connects to the SAWS water and wastewater systems, regardless if it is an existing development,\u201d utility spokesman\u00a0Gavino Ramos said in a statement.<\/p>\n

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Moody said he didn\u2019t think the waiver would require City Council action because he thought SAWS could, and would, handle it internally. He said his \u201cexpectation\u201d was that \u201cSAWS would do the right thing and waive these fees so we could accomplish this for our residents and protect the aquifer.\u201d<\/p>\n

But only the City Council can waive a SAWS impact fee, a policy that has been in effect since 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Spears and the HOA board say connecting to SAWS would prevent sewage overflows into Mustang Creek, which contributes to the Edwards Aquifer, the city\u2019s largest water source.<\/p>\n

The Bexar County Environmental Services Department determined \u201cthat for the safety of the residents of Timberwood and the public, it is critical that this system be discontinued, and residents be connected to City sewer,\u201d according to a July 2023 memo from director Javier Flores.<\/p>\n

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But Ramos said the utility \u201cis not aware of any immediate threat\u201d from the community septic system contaminating the creek.<\/p>\n

Waiver policy, waived<\/p>\n

Villas at\u00a0Timberwood\u2019s impact fee is $415,575, or $5,541 each for the 75 homes.<\/p>\n

Residents can\u2019t afford it, Block said, adding that 18 households were past due on their HOA fees as of August.<\/p>\n

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Block said it\u2019s a \u201cmisnomer\u201d to refer to Villas at\u00a0Timberwood as \u201ca wealthy North Side neighborhood.\u201d It is an enclave within well-to-do\u00a0Timberwood Park, but Block said the subdivision is home to young families, retirees and retired military members.<\/p>\n

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality fined the HOA $17,625 in September as part of a settlement agreement for alleged septic facility violations dating back to 2020. The infractions included failure to comply with requirements for treated effluent, failure to submit quarterly progress reports and operating with an expired permit.<\/p>\n

But the state agency\u00a0agreed to defer more than $14,000 of the fine because it determined the\u00a0HOA was unable to pay. Instead, it\u2019s charging the association $100 a month for the next 35 months.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s waiver program is intended to support affordable housing, small business development and the rehabilitation of owner-occupied homes and of historic structures within San Antonio city limits. Waivers are capped at $250,000 per project.<\/p>\n

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SAWS said it doesn\u2019t maintain records of how often its impact fees are waived because those are council decisions.<\/p>\n

A review of City Council meetings shows the most recent impact-fee vote was in December when council unanimously approved a waiver for the Legacy Senior Residences and agreed to buck the $250,000 cap, waiving $787,750.<\/p>\n

Cornerstone Housing Group, the developer of the 18-unit affordable senior housing project in the Southeast Side\u2019s council District 3, sought the bigger waiver because it faced \u201ca funding shortfall due to unforeseen expenses for offsite utility improvements,\u201d according to a city staff presentation. The Neighborhood and Housing Services Department recommended council approval.<\/p>\n

City staff made no recommendation for Villas at\u00a0Timberwood\u2019s waiver request, which is going to City Council at an awkward time.<\/p>\n

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Council members will discuss it Wednesday\u00a0\u2014 in the same meeting where they\u2019ll once again take up the utility\u2019s request to raise its rates up to 30% over the next four years to pay for billions of dollars in capital projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many council members have openly criticized SAWS in recent months.\u00a0In June, a split council voted 6-5 to delay consideration of the rate increase\u00a0request until October. Council members are seeking more information about SAWS operations and waiting for the utility\u2019s responses to policy changes they\u2019re pushing for.<\/p>\n

Spears has been a leading critic of a SAWS rate hike. In January, she and council members Marina Alderete Gavito and Marc Whyte demanded an outside audit of the utility before considering a rate hike.<\/p>\n

Other members have criticized SAWS\u2019 impact fee structure, demanding changes that they say would make it more affordable for developers. The utility has stood by its policy, which it says ensures that \u201cgrowth pays for growth\u201d and that existing customers don\u2019t foot the bill for new connections.<\/p>\n

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The fees were last updated in 2024, with an increase unanimously approved by City Council.<\/p>\n

Spears said council should override the waiver program requirements for the Villas at Timberwood HOA because of the environmental risks the septic system poses. \u201cWe have to protect the aquifer at all costs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Connecting 75 homes to the SAWS system will generate revenue for the utility because the residents will pay its wastewater rates, she added.<\/p>\n

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The councilwoman said the city intends to annex the Villas at Timberwood in 2032, at which point it will become part of her council district.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Villas at Timberwood Homeowners Association board member Tom Marty looks at the lift station for the subdivision\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83],"class_list":["post-446608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}