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La Marque council authorizes multiple grant and loan applications, eyes $11.24 million Clean Water loan
Summary
At its Nov. 18 special meeting, the La Marque City Council voted to submit several grant applications and a Clean Water State Revolving Fund loan application totaling an $11.24 million request for water and sewer projects, and approved other smaller grants and local infrastructure actions.
La Marque, Texas — The La Marque City Council voted Nov. 18 to pursue a slate of state and federal funding opportunities aimed at water, sewer and public‑safety needs, including a Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan application to the Texas Water Development Board for $11,240,000.
City Manager Cesar Garcia told the council the loan and supporting 2013 backup documents were part of earlier planning for the city’s pipeline and sewer projects and that staff would clarify a few file discrepancies before final submission. "This document is backup documentation to support what we needed to do in order to get our pipelines where they needed to be," Garcia said.
Why it matters: The SRF‑loan application and other grants would fund immediate and medium‑term projects that the city says are shovel‑ready — manhole repairs, lift‑station work and sanitary sewers — and could relieve pressure on utility funds if state awards are secured. Councilmembers asked staff to resolve rating‑report inconsistencies related to disadvantaged‑community scoring before finalizing the TWDB submission.
Other funding actions approved or authorized at the meeting included: a motion to apply for a Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) Community Development grant of up to $750,000 (city match 15%); acceptance of a $100,000 Lone Star grant from the governor’s office for police equipment; permission to pursue a U.S. EPA environmental and climate‑justice grant (no local match) to address roof and HVAC repairs, and potentially pilot solar and EV charging; and approval to reapply for a FEMA Assistance to Firefighters (AFG) grant to seek air packs, radios and bunker gear, a package Chief Merriman estimated at roughly $700,000 with a roughly 5% city match. "This year, the AFG grant opened up early … total what we would be going for is about $700,000," Chief Merriman said.
Council also authorized staff to pursue leftover disaster recovery reallocation funds through the Texas General Land Office (DRIP), describing a pool of roughly $5 million to $8 million in available projects with a 10% match, and directed staff to identify match sources (utility reserves, grant matches or phased budgeting). Garcia said matches would generally be due at the end of projects, not at application.
Local project approvals included a $50,000 purchase order to Adecco Engineers for general consulting services and approval to design and construct a sanitary sewer pipeline on Newman Road (Main Street to Strong Road), with engineering costs to be covered by impact fees once ordinance amendments are finalized.
What’s next: Staff will follow up on the TWDB rating discrepancies and return with corrected documentation as needed; the council instructed staff to proceed with grant submissions where indicated. If awarded, the projects will return to council for formal acceptance and implementation planning.
