Mayor highlights water, roads, jobs and new senior center at 2025 State of the City

Mayor Dan D. Yancey delivered Copperas Cove’s 2025 State of the City address and outlined ongoing and planned projects the city says will support population growth, infrastructure resilience and economic development.

“Coppers Cove is a city of resilience and strength,” Mayor Dan D. Yancey said as he opened the address. He told residents the city’s population is 40,638 as of January 2025 and that officials are preparing services and infrastructure to accommodate future growth.

City officials emphasized water supply and treatment as top priorities. Yancey and city manager Ryan Averill said the city purchased generators to keep water treatment and supply running during extended power outages and that council authorized an expansion of the regional water treatment facility. The city’s share is an additional 7,000,000 gallons per day when the project is completed in 2028, city officials said.

Officials also raised concern about raw water rights. The mayor said that if the city grows at 3% annually, “our raw water rights will be maxed out at around 2,040,” and the city is pursuing new water-supply options including an aquifer storage and recovery project with Fort Cavazos and Bell County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1 and regional cooperation to form a Central Texas Water Authority.

Economic development activity is central to the city’s plan. City and Economic Development Corporation (EDC) leaders said the EDC helped secure more than $14,000,000 in grants for infrastructure along State Highway 9 and the south side of U.S. Highway 190 and is updating a study for a truck‑rail multimodal facility in coordination with Fort Cavazos. EDC director Fred Welch also told the audience the EDC helped secure $10,300,000 for new highway ramps from State Highway 9 to Tank Destroyer Road and credited TxDOT with an additional $2,600,000 for that project.

Road and drainage work completed or underway include Oak Hill Drive and Deer Flat Drive reconstruction (estimated cost $1,900,000), replacement of a failed concrete drainage channel (just over $1,000,000), and restoration work that covered more than 51,430 square yards of roadway, officials said. The State Highway 9 to Business 190 interchange project is funded through the Killeen‑Temple metropolitan planning organization and TxDOT at about $1,400,000.

Parks and community projects cited by the mayor include the Raising Cane’s Dog Park (opened January 2023), replacement of ballfield lights, a new walking path and pedestrian bridges around the duck pond (procured with the city acting as general contractor and saving residents more than $200,000), and the voter‑authorized animal shelter at 2441 FM 1113 (behind Fire Station No. 2), which officials said will open in the coming months.

City council approved purchase of land and a building for a new senior center at 2402 Walker Place Boulevard in 2024; officials said land preparation and foundation work will begin soon and they expect completion in fall 2025 at an estimated cost of $3,500,000.

Public safety funding passed by voters was credited with helping police approach full staffing and improving recruitment for the fire department and emergency medical personnel, the mayor said.

Why this matters: City leaders framed the projects as preparation for continued population growth and regional economic opportunity, including the potential for Copperas Cove to host industrial and multimodal logistics facilities because of its location between I‑35 and State Highway 281 and along U.S. 190.

City leaders closed the event by urging residents to complete an upcoming citizen survey and engage with advisory committees and civic groups that feed recommendations to council.