The Bee Cave City Council unanimously approved a one-time waiver of 2025 annual operating permit fees for non-point-source (NPS) water-quality facilities (stormwater ponds) on Oct. 28, 2025, while staff consolidates records and revises program procedures.

Staff said the city has identified about 76 water-quality facilities within Bee Cave and its extraterritorial jurisdiction and that recordkeeping and owner awareness were inconsistent following the program’s reactivation. Staff reported that the recent inspection and notification process was carried out for 2024 inspections and that, as of Oct. 8, 2025, 58 facilities had paid, 13 had not paid, and 3 were inaccessible. Staff estimated current annual revenue from the permits would be roughly $30,000–$40,000 depending on facility size, and noted the city did not cover the full cost when it outsourced inspections this year.

Council members and staff discussed program details at length: the municipal permit program (cited by staff as City ordinance 7.3.3) requires annual operating permits but the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) requires only that the city have a program; TCEQ does not prescribe inspection frequency. Council debated inspection frequency, enforcement, fee structure, whether to handle inspections in-house or through third parties, and whether to reward consistently compliant owners with reduced inspection frequency. "We don't want to lower our environmental standards," one council member said, adding that incentive structures for compliant owners might be considered.

Staff committed to returning with: (1) a comparison of peer cities’ inspection frequencies and fee structures; (2) options for fee adjustments and administrative procedures (including reinspection and enforcement language); and (3) possible incentive models (for example, reduced frequency after successive clean inspections). The one-time waiver was adopted to avoid charging property owners for 2025 while administrative reconciliation and database updates are completed.

Council and speakers discussed enforcement mechanics and costs. Staff said the city historically handled permitting annually via in-house engineering staff but had outsourced inspections earlier this year because of staffing gaps; that outsourcing cost roughly twice the permit revenue for the year; and that in-house inspections by an engineer/EIT with administrative support would be the preferred long-term approach. Public commenter John Wickens urged the council to implement a database-driven approach to flag repeat offenders and streamline notices.

The motion to approve the one-time waiver carried unanimously. Staff will return with recommendations for fee structure adjustments, enforcement language and program staffing.