CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — The Nueces River Authority (NRA) conducted a board meeting that lacked the required number of members to establish a legal quorum.
On February 7, 2025, the authority held a board meeting and voted on several significant items, including authorizing its executive director to negotiate a lease with thePort of Corpus Christi for a seawater desalinization treatment plant.
However, concerns have emerged regarding the meeting's legal standing.
After a resident reached out to KRIS 6 News with questions about the meeting's legitimacy, 6 Investigates reviewed the NRA's bylaws and state law, 6 Investigates requested those bylaws on February 7 and received them two weeks later.
A subsequent review of that document revealed that the board voted without the necessary quorum required by its own bylaws.
A resident challenged the meeting at the time and later received communication from a board member that the NRA checked with its attorney and "he reassured us that the quorum is based on the number of active members at the time of the meeting."
Wednesday, NRA Executive Director John Byrum acknowledged the procedural error in a statement, explaining that the quorum calculations were based on 18 current members, rather than the total 21 board positions. "An additional attendee was necessary to ensure the presence of a majority of the total Board positions," Byrum stated.
In response to the discrepancy, the NRA plans to hold a special meeting in the coming weeks. The authority intends to:
- Secure a proper quorum
- Reopen votes on agenda items from the February 7 meeting
- Continue negotiations with the Port of Corpus Christi regarding the proposed seawater desalination plant
The NRA said it remains committed to resolving the quorum issue and continuing its discussions about the potential desalination project, which aims to provide water supply for the Nueces River Basin.
The Nueces River Authority is continuing its efforts to pursue a water secure future for the Nueces River Basin, and to that end, we are committed to the necessary steps to make desalination water a reality for our region. It has come to our attention that the Nueces River Authority’s Board Meeting earlier this month fell just short of a quorum – the quorum calculations were based on total current members (18 current members) and not the total board members (21). An additional attendee was necessary to ensure the presence of a majority of the total Board positions. The Nueces River Authority authorizing statute is silent on this matter, but the bylaws state that a quorum is a majority of the authorized positions on the Board of Directors.
As a result, we will be holding a special meeting in the weeks ahead, during which we will ensure a quorum is secured and open votes are taken on necessary agenda items, including those that received votes at our February 7, 2025, meeting.
The Nueces River Authority will continue dialogue with the Port of Corpus Christi to negotiate a lease agreement for a portion of Harbor Island to construct a Seawater Desalination Plant to provide much needed water supply for Nueces River Basin. Our intent is to work with other water purveyors within the basin to augment water supplies as requested.
