Brownsville presents design for $70M public safety complex as CIP centers on safety and streets

Brownsville officials on Sept. 16 offered commissioners and the public an update on a planned consolidated public-safety complex and formally acknowledged a $150 million certificates-of-obligation sale that will fund the city’s FY2026 capital improvement program.

The city manager introduced John Piercy, the lead architect, who described the project's layout: roughly 13 acres on a 55-acre site, a single connected building ('one big roof') housing police, fire, an emergency operations center, IT/cybersecurity offices and community space. Piercy said design development is complete and the project team expects to finish design by about February, with construction to follow. He noted site features meant to reduce maintenance costs (native landscaping, durable materials), a secure rear parking area of roughly 300 spaces and a public-facing plaza and training/conference space for community events.

Deputy City Manager and CFO Alan Gard told the commission the city recently sold $150 million in certificates of obligation at an interest rate of about 4.35 percent. He outlined the FY2026 CIP allocations: roughly $70.25 million toward the public-safety complex, $20.2 million in debt for multimodal transportation projects matched with $23.2 million in grants, $26.9 million for engineering and public-works street projects (with $4.3 million in grants), and airport projects leveraging approximately $25.2 million in federal grants. Gard also highlighted funding for downtown parking-planning, landfill improvements, parks projects and equipment replacement for fire, EMS and public works.

Engineering staff (Maribel Guerrero and City Engineer Carlos Lasra) explained how street projects are prioritized using pavement-condition index data, traffic counts, safety concerns, drainage needs and funding availability. They described specific projects included in the CIP such as Coffeeport Road Phase 1, Dennett Road upgrades and East 14th Street (rescheduled to FY2027 to avoid overlapping construction conflicts with TxDOT). The Dennett Road upgrade was described as a $6 million investment that will extend the roadway to a 60-foot right-of-way, add curb-and-gutter and bike lanes, and fund drainage improvements tied to a developer project nearby.

Commissioners asked staff to provide more specific public-facing details on the Resaca resiliency project, the allocation and matching status for trail and downtown improvements, and the maintenance plan for new trail segments. Staff committed to providing additional reporting to the commission and to posting CIP details to a public dashboard (QR code referenced in the presentation).

What’s next: Staff will post project details and a timeline, publish procurement schedules as designs are finalized, and return with additional reports on Resaca funding and the strategic and integrated resource plans for PUB and other utilities.