Everman staff outline grant‑funded pump‑house upgrades and $3M Fort Worth water connection; Fort Worth data‑center zoning under review

Everman city staff told the City Council on Feb. 10 they are pursuing two major water‑system projects to improve resilience and planning.

The first is a federal grant effort intended to update all pump houses, replace or repair storage tanks and repair chemical lines and ancillary infrastructure at well and pump sites. Staff said that, if awarded, the grant could fully fund those upgrades; they estimated total probable costs across identified projects at roughly $2,000,000 (staff estimate) and noted work to identify an opinion of probable cost is ongoing.

The second option under consideration is a permanent metered connection to the City of Fort Worth’s surface‑water system, running a new water line along Enon Avenue to a 200,200‑gallon storage tank near the police department. Staff estimated that connection would cost about $3,000,000 and likely require debt financing because grant programs generally do not fund a mixed well‑to‑surface‑water transition. City staff said the Fort Worth connection is intended as a supplemental supply—staff did not recommend switching Everman off its wells, but said the connection would provide resiliency if multiple pumps fail.

City staff described differences in aquifer performance, noting the Trinity wells have strong production while the Paluxy wells are declining; they said engineers recommend prioritizing Trinity well maintenance and focusing capital investments on resilience. Staff also outlined potential avenues for funding the Fort Worth connection, including a Texas Water Development Board loan with partial forgiveness, and told council the state loan program often provides modest loan forgiveness relative to total project cost.

Separately, staff briefed council about the Black Mountain data center proposed in neighboring Fort Worth. The developer seeks rezoning for roughly 39.3 acres near Anglin and Enon; staff reported developer representations that the facility would be an AI and credit‑card data center rather than Bitcoin‑mining and that operational traffic would be modest (developer cited ~300 employees across three shifts). Council members and staff emphasized construction‑period impacts, floodway and downstream drainage concerns, and the city’s request that transportation impact dollars be spent in the immediate vicinity. Staff said developer representatives expressed willingness, verbally, to pursue flood‑mitigation partnerships during replatting and later permitting stages; staff stressed those commitments remain subject to formal development agreements at the replat stage.

City staff estimated federal grant project submission deadlines require project identification forms by March for consideration; if invited, the full application would follow and funding would likely align with the federal budget cycle meaning projects could begin in early 2027 if approvals are timely. The Texas Water Development Board loan process was described as faster with a different timeline but would require notice and public hearings if pursued.

Council did not take formal action on either water project at the meeting but directed staff to continue engineering and funding work and to stay engaged with Fort Worth and the Black Mountain developer on flood‑mitigation and traffic‑impact commitments.

"We do not propose to go exclusively with the City of Fort Worth," staff said. "This would be a supplemental connection to our existing wells and pumps."