Northlake staff outlines infrastructure needed to supply neighboring Ponder, proposes cost-sharing

Town staff briefed the council on an interim water-service proposal to help the neighboring town of Ponder, which faces supply constraints after some property owners decertified service and removed areas from Ponder’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.

Drew Korn told the council Northlake has an oversized section of pipe on Florence Road and sufficient pumping capacity after recent upgrades, but would need an elevated storage tank, ground storage and some pump-station and treatment tweaks to reliably push water to Ponder. He said some necessary work—site design and ground storage—might be needed within one to three years even without the Ponder scenario.

Korn suggested cost-sharing or developer-funded construction as possible financing approaches: "We could partner with Ponder and have them pay subsidized for some of our future infrastructure that we're gonna need anyway," he said, and added that developer contributions could cover much of the build-out in areas where developers are already building line extensions.

Council members pressed staff on timing, right-of-way needs, how flush/testing costs would be handled, and whether serving Ponder speeds voluntary annexation of properties into Northlake. Staff emphasized the town will not agree to subsidize Ponder’s system and said negotiations should seek proportional cost-sharing based on urgency and benefit.

Next steps: staff will return with more detailed cost estimates, negotiation parameters and suggested terms for any interlocal or developer agreements.