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Gonzales pursues grants, $6 million in earmark requests for wastewater and advances street and bike projects
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Summary
City staff told the council the new wastewater treatment pond is nearly complete, described grant applications tying together 4th and 5th Street resurfacing and bike-path fixes, and reported two earmark requests totaling about $6,000,000 to support the municipal plant.
City officials updated the Gonzales City Council on April 23 about progress at the wastewater treatment plant and a package of street and bike-infrastructure projects, and said they have submitted earmark requests totaling about $6 million to federal offices for wastewater work.
Director Octavio Hurtado told the council the new wastewater-plant pond is nearly finished and staff are preparing to accept the industrial-project water return so construction can continue without delay. He said the city will begin a citywide weed-abatement program on city property to reduce fire hazards and will mark and repaint 'red curbs' as part of a daylighting effort.
Hurtado outlined plans to revise signage related to a Gonzales industrial park and to pursue an encroachment permit to advance the 5th Street project. He also described an application to the regional RSTP program to combine the 4th Street resurfacing with participatory-grant work on Rincon and 5th Street to create continuous bike lanes and improved bike-path connections. "So we're gonna tie those two projects together and make it a complete streets project to make sure we got good bike bike paths," he said.
Separately, the city manager reported that staff submitted two earmark requests to Members of Congress’ offices—including staff outreach from the office of Representative Zoe Lofgren—totaling about $6,000,000 to support the wastewater treatment plant. "We feel pretty good about one," the manager said, adding that Washington staff had visited and asked follow-up questions.
City staff also said they plan to remove a median/gap near Gonzales River Road and relocate a traffic signal to close a gap in the bike network, and to coordinate with the county on extending a bike lane on Alta Street toward Banoe Road to reach a nearby labor camp. Director Hurtado said the city is ordering paint and hopes to begin the red-curb project by the end of the month or the beginning of next month.
Ending: Staff said the city will continue pursuing grant and earmark opportunities and will return with permit approvals and more detailed project schedules; no formal funding award was announced at the April 23 meeting.
