Brownsville manager outlines $110.6 million capital plan, broadband and public-safety projects

Brownsville City Manager Helen Ramirez on Thursday summarized the city’s major development and technology priorities, saying the administration has adopted a fiscal 2025 budget that includes $110.6 million in capital improvements and a five-year capital improvement program she described as about $300 million.

Ramirez told a Brownsville Chamber of Commerce audience that the administration has leveraged grants, federal stimulus and bond-market improvements to expand projects across downtown, the port and the airport. “One city is the philosophy that working collaboratively internally with the city and with our nonprofits, our churches, our businesses ... that’s the way we accelerate,” Ramirez said.

Why it matters: Ramirez said the package is intended to fund long-running infrastructure deficits and to enable the city to support a wave of private investment — from SpaceX’s Starbase operations to planned LNG and port projects — while improving public safety and downtown capacity for new businesses, hotels and housing.

What the city announced and detailed

Budget and capital program: Ramirez said the city adopted the FY2025 budget that includes $110.6 million earmarked for capital projects in the current year and a roughly $300 million five-year CIP for streets, drainage, sidewalks, trails and new facilities. Ramirez said the city has reduced its tax rate four years in a row and that Standard & Poor’s upgraded the city’s rating to double-A plus, which the city manager said will reduce long-term borrowing costs.

Grants and ARPA spending: Ramirez said the city’s grants office has secured more than $40 million in grant awards. The administration allocated $14.5 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds to strengthen downtown utility lines to increase water and sewer capacity for redevelopment, Ramirez said. She described the ARPA allocation as a strategic placement of funding to support future private investment.

Public safety facilities and design: Ramirez said the city has awarded a design contract to a firm identified as Metamorphosis (design contract award referenced in the presentation) for a new public-safety complex that will house police, fire administration, emergency operations and information-technology functions. She told attendees the current emergency operations center is in the central library conference room and that the city received a $1 million FEMA grant toward emergency operations capacity.

Broadband and private 5G: Jorge, the city’s chief information officer, described two technology tracks: the commercial fiber rollout by a new local provider (referred to in the presentation as OmniFiber, previously LiftFiber) and a city-owned private 5G pilot.

“The NTIA ... stated that the city of Brownsville was the worst connected city in the nation” in earlier federal reports, Jorge said, explaining why the city pursued additional last-mile options. Jorge said OmniFiber has installed service to some neighborhoods, reporting roughly 977 connected customers, 132 pending customers and more than 3,000 on a waiting list; he said the company offers symmetrical speeds and additional router signal strength compared with some incumbent providers.

On the private 5G effort, Jorge said the City Commission approved the project to use municipal fiber as a middle mile and to deploy radios that create a city-controlled cellular network. He and Ramirez said the pilot’s initial focus is downtown public-safety uses: improved camera connectivity, drone demonstrations for incident response, smart analytics (crowd counts, vehicle classification) and perimeter monitoring at the airport.

Airport and tourism infrastructure: Ramirez said the Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport is expanding; she cited a roughly $35 million runway project and said the Federal Aviation Administration awarded approximately $10.6 million toward it. Ramirez also said nonstop commercial service to Dallas, Houston and Monterrey is operating and that three new hotels will add about 300 rooms combined.

Zoo, downtown and housing initiatives: Ramirez described an ongoing Gladys Porter Zoo expansion that includes a new tall zipline and a lion exhibit; she said the zoo draws about 450,000 visitors annually. The city acquired the Samano building with gap financing to support a ground-floor grocery and awarded a contract worth more than $500,000 to stabilize another historic downtown structure’s roof. Ramirez said the city received 12 proposals for a downtown “renaissance” master plan and will begin broad community engagement.

Other operational initiatives: Ramirez said the city approved a new TxDOT mowing contract to improve roadside maintenance, launched the city’s first citywide recycling contract and opened a new senior center and youth scholarship program. She also highlighted internal investments such as adding equipment to in-house public-works crews and expanding the grants and communications teams.

Decisions and approvals recorded in the presentation

• FY2025 budget adoption (capital improvements: $110.6 million) — adopted (vote tally not specified in the presentation). Note: Ramirez described the adoption; the transcript did not record a roll-call or vote count.

• Allocation of $14.5 million in ARPA funds for downtown utility upgrades — approved/allocated (vote tally not specified).

• Approval of a city contract with TxDOT for mowing/right-of-way maintenance — approved (vote tally not specified).

• City Commission approval of the private 5G pilot using municipal fiber — approved (vote tally not specified).

• Award of the public-safety complex design contract to Metamorphosis — awarded (contract value not specified in the presentation).

• Award of a contract (more than $500,000) to repair a historic roof on a downtown building — awarded (exact contract amount described in the presentation as over $500,000).

Discussion, concerns and next steps

Ramirez repeatedly framed the changes as long-term, capital-heavy efforts that require coordination with federal agencies, the Port of Brownsville, Brownsville Independent School District, the Brownsville Public Utilities Board and county partners. She told attendees that some projects — stadiums, the port-related East Loop road, airport work — carry multiyear construction schedules and require patient sequencing with state and federal partners.

Ramirez urged business leaders and residents to engage with forthcoming community outreach for the downtown master plan, the city’s first comprehensive housing plan and multiple park and trail projects. She closed by inviting attendees to the State of the City address scheduled for March 26 and to use the city’s 546-HELP service for municipal questions.

Ending

Ramirez said the city plans extensive public engagement in 2025 and invited residents and business leaders to participate in master-plan and housing-plan processes: “2025 is the year of planning with you, not for you,” she said. The presentation concluded with a technology briefing from Jorge and an offer to answer questions from the audience.