Author: KMMUD

District Alert: Prepare for Winter Weather

Kings Manor MUD would like to advise residents of potential winter weather and cold conditions coming later this week. While meteorologists are still uncertain regarding how cold it will get, there is the potential for a hard freeze in all non-costal locations. With temperatures expected to drop below freezing, it is a good time to refresh on the four P’s: People, Pets, Pipes, and Plants.

People

  • Avoid going outside if it is not necessary. If you do, make sure you layer up from head to toe.
  • To keep you and your family safe, it is imperative your home is warm.
  • Make sure your heat is set to an appropriate temperature to make your entire home comfortable. Remember, heat rises so if you sleep upstairs, your room may be warmer than rooms downstairs.
  • Never use your stove or oven to heat your home.
  • If you smell smoke or see flames, call 9-1-1 immediately.

Pets

  • While protecting your family, it is imperative to protect your pets as well.
  • Pets, like humans, are vulnerable to cold temperatures. If not taken care of properly, they can succumb to frostbite and even hypothermia.
  • If you have a dog that typically lives outdoors, consider letting them inside when temperatures drop to freezing. While their fur does help to keep them warm, it provides little help in freezing temperatures.
  • If you absolutely cannot bring them inside, make sure they have a warm shelter, plenty of food and fresh water so it does not freeze.
  • If your pet looks like it has any symptoms resembling frostbite or hypothermia, call your vet.

Pipes

  • All garden hoses should be disconnected from outside spigots.
  • Make sure to cover all your exposed pipes with a cover. You can also cover your pipes with towels, duct tape or another adhesive strip as long as they are wrapped tightly.
  • You should also open up the cabinets to let warm air circulate throughout your home. Just make sure any harmful chemicals are out of reach for children and pets.
  • The operator asks that you do NOT drip your faucets. The Regional Water Authorities (WHCRWA, NFBWA, NHCRWA) receive their water from City of Houston and dripping faucets could put a strain on the system in these types of events resulting in low pressure or even depleting the water system resulting in a boil water notice.

Plants

  • When cold weather hits, it’s a good idea to bring in all of your outdoor plants.
  • If you can’t bring in the plant, cover it with a blanket to make sure they do not die.

Additionally, there are a few vehicle-safety tips to observe during winter weather:

  • Keep vehicle gas tanks full
  • Have tire pressures checked
  • Keep a phone charger, first aid kit, blankets, and jumper cables in personal vehicles
  • Check local road conditions at www.houstontranstar.org. State highway information is also available at www.drivetexas.org.

Lastly, here are some safety tips recommended by local Fire Departments regarding space heaters and other supplemental heating sources:

  • If you use a space heater, make sure to keep it away from anything that may be flammable including curtains, indoor plants, bedding, etc. Also, do not keep it running overnight and do not keep it running in an unoccupied room. Always turn off space heaters when leaving the room and/or going to sleep
  • Do not power space heaters with extension cords or power strips; do not use power strips or extension cords as an alternative for permanent wiring
  • Never leave a space heater unattended, or a child unattended with a space heater
  • Keep all combustible materials (and people) at least three (3) feet away from space heaters
  • If you use a fireplace, make sure you have a screen to catch any embers that might escape or a rolling log.
  • Never overload outlets or breakers

Kings Manor MUD hires new garbage provider, Best Trash.

Residents of Kings Manor MUD,

Monday, April 3, 2023, Best Trash will be your new trash collection provider.

Best Trash Welcome Letter (PDF)

TRASH COLLECTION DAYS ARE MONDAY AND THURSDAY

Best Trash will only service trash in resident supplied trash cans that are between 30-50 gallon in size or bags up to 40-lbs.

Please have trash out to the curb by 7:00 a.m.

Trash

On each regularly scheduled collection day, Monday and Thursday Best Trash will collect residential refuse located at the curbside in your own personal trash cans that are between 30-50 gallons in size, or you may place trash out in trash bags not weighing over 40 pounds. Any trash must be placed at the street by the curb by 7am on the day of collection.

Excluded Items

Dirt, sod, mulch, rocks, bricks, tile, concrete, tires, batteries, motor oil, cooking oil, sheetrock, insulation, construction debris, waste generated by a private contractor, or any materials or items deemed hazardous materials. Please do not dispose of gasoline, motor oil, paints, cooking oil, or any other liquid items in a container that are not visible to Best Trash personnel.  If such items result in spillage that causes a stain, Best Trash is not responsible for the cleanup.  Best Trash will leave a tag explaining the reason for any non-collected item(s).

Heavy Trash

Trees, shrubs, brush trimmings and fencing must be no larger than 4” inches in diameter, no more than 4’ feet long, tied in bundles not exceeding 40 pounds.  Tied bundles are required to allow quick pick up and size limitations are required to avoid damaging the equipment in the compacting process.  The limit is up to 8 tied bundles per collection day.  Grass clippings and leaves are picked up on both garbage collection days, the limit is 8 bags not exceeding 40 lbs. per day.  Items such as appliances, furniture, mattresses, carpet (up to 1 room of carpet, cut less than 4 feet wide, tied in bundles not exceeding 40 pounds), will be picked up on both garbage collection days.  The limit is 2 large items per collection day.  By Federal Law, refrigerators, freezers, and any other items containing Freon must be drained of Freon and have an accompanying bill to validate such service was performed.

Special Collection Service

For more than normal amounts of residential refuse, yard trimmings or bulk items, Best Trash does have the ability to provide a special collection service.  For pricing information, please email your district name, address, and several pictures of your items to customerservice@besttrashtexas.com.

Holiday Schedule

If your regular trash collection day falls on a holiday (New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day) the collection will be made on the next regularly scheduled collection day.  The next observed holiday will be Monday May 29, 2023.  There will not be any collection on Memorial Day.  Services will resume on Thursday, June 1, 2023.  Please have your trash out to the curb by 7am.

Best Trash – FAQ
(281) 313-2378
customerservice@besttrashtexas.com

Handy Tips to Avoid Frozen Pipes This Winter

The National Weather Service has advised that subfreezing temperatures are likely beginning Thursday night and into Friday morning following the passage of a strong cold front. Freeze Warnings and possible Hard Freeze Warnings can be expected. High temperatures could quite possibly remain below freezing throughout the day on Friday and not warm up above freezing until during the day on Saturday.

If you experience any issues with pipe bursts please contact Municipal District Services LLC (MDS) at (281) 290-6503.

Steps for Winterizing your Home

  • Insulate pipes with insulation sleeves, wrapping or using slip-on foam pipe insulation. Do not leave any gaps without insulation as cold air can affect the pipe in these spaces.
  • Winterize your sprinkler system by turning the water off to your irrigation system and drain your backflow preventer.
  • Maintain a heating source inside the building to protect pipes against cold.
  • Open cabinets underneath faucets.
  • Exterior hose bibs are normally left unattended, disconnect hoses and insulate faucets with covers or blankets.
  • House Shut off valve: Know where your shut off valve is located in case of an emergency. Valve is usually on the side of the house near the garage. Some homes the valve is inside the garage wall.
  • If you choose to leave a faucet dripping, please only let the faucet drip slowly. NO STEADY STREAMS.
  • If traveling for the Holidays, it is recommended that you turn the water off at the street and drain all your plumbing.

Notice of Public Hearing on Tax Rate

The KINGS MANOR MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT will hold a public hearing on a proposed tax rate for the tax year 2022 on Thursday, October 13, 2022, at 12:00 p.m., at the offices of Bacon, Wallace & Philbin LLP located at 6363 Woodway Dr, Suite 800, Houston, TX 77057. Your individual taxes may increase at a greater or lesser rate, or even decrease, depending on the tax rate that is adopted and on the change in the taxable value of your property in relation to the change in taxable value of all other property. The change in the taxable value of your property in relation to the change in the taxable value of all other property determines the distribution of the tax burden among all property owners.

Visit Texas.gov/PropertyTaxes to find a link to your local property tax database on which you can easily access information regarding your property taxes, including information about proposed tax rates and scheduled public hearings of each entity that taxes your property.

Click here to read the notice.

Latest Tax News

The Board of Directors of Kings Manor MUD is pleased to announce that for the year 2021, a $20,000 tax exemption in the assessed valuation of properties within the District owned by persons 65 years and older or disabled persons has been adopted. This is an increase of $10,000 from the previous year.

To qualify for the age 65 or older local option exemption, the owner must be age 65 or older and live in the house. If the age 65 or older homeowner dies, the surviving spouse may continue to receive the local option exemption if the surviving spouse is age 55 or older at the time of death and lives in and owns the home and applies for the exemption.

A disabled person must meet the definition of disabled for the purpose of receiving disability insurance benefits under the Federal Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance Act.

To apply for the 65 years and older or disabled exemption, please contact the appraisal district for more information.

Notice of Waterline Flush

Flushing of the District’s Water Lines Will Be Performed During These 5 Days: Monday, January 4 through Friday, January 8, 2021

Kings Manor MUD’s water and wastewater operating company, Municipal District Services (MDS), is conducting a comprehensive water line flushing program throughout the neighborhood. MDS will begin at 8:00 A.M. on January 4th and continue throughout the day until 4 P.M. on each of the 5 above dates. The flushing will continue until all of the water lines have been flushed.

Read Notice (PDF)