Commerce council opts to finance urgent wastewater plant repairs with certificates of obligation, rejects state loan

Commerce — The City of Commerce council voted Feb. 18 to pursue locally issued certificates of obligation to fund a phased rehabilitation of the city’s aging wastewater treatment plant and approved an engineering design phase, after hearings and a presentation by the city’s financial advisor and staff.

City Manager Lisonbee told the council the plant — which the city estimates can treat about 1 million gallons per day in current condition though its design capacity is 2 million gallons per day — has repeated capacity and equipment failures and a TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) notice tied to screening equipment. Lisonbee said the plant floods during major rains because the stormwater storage pond’s liner is compromised and the city has been forced to use the plant for storage.

The most immediate council actions were a motion not to pursue a loan application with the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) and approval of a phase‑2 engineering amendment to an investment‑grade audit agreement with Schneider Electric to complete project design and construction documents.

Why it matters: Lisonbee and the city’s financial adviser presented three funding scenarios that vary by timing, borrowing size and potential subsidy. Staff said delays tied to pursuing TWDB funding could add roughly 9–12 months to the project timeline, risk requiring rework under the board’s procurement rules, and increase total construction costs by an estimated amount staff described qualitatively. Council accepted staff’s recommendation to stage borrowing — $2 million in the current fiscal year and $6 million in fiscal 2026 for construction — and to proceed with design work so construction can start in fiscal…