Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Mercedes moves to repair treatment plants, lift stations and tanks with HB 500 and TWDB funding
Summary
Engineers presented a water/wastewater master plan the commission reviewed June 23 identifying immediate projects to resolve TCEQ violations, rebuild four lift stations and pursue a 3 MGD reverse‑osmosis plant and a new 1 MGD well under HB 500 and TWDB funds.
Freese & Nichols engineers told the Mercedes City Commission on June 23 that a recently completed master plan and state funding award set the city on a path to fix long‑standing water and wastewater problems while positioning Mercedes to apply for additional HB 500 funds.
Fred Resendez of Freese & Nichols said the city has targeted TCEQ violations and identified a package of system upgrades including rehabilitation of two elevated storage tanks, upsizing a key water main on Coffee City Road from 10‑inch to 16‑inch, and multiple water‑plant repairs. “We did go after funding here for the Texas Water Development Board for the water system improvements project,” Resendez said, adding that the plant work aims to resolve the current TCEQ violations.
Why it matters: the work is meant to stop regulatory enforcement and reduce repeated service interruptions. Resendez told the commission that the funded wastewater package was approved in March and that the city received roughly $24 million of program funding with up to $10 million available as grant/forgivable assistance, but said the full list of improvements exceeds that award and will require additional grants or phased implementation.
Key items and timing - Immediate: address TCEQ violations at clear wells and headworks and replace failing mechanical components such as UV lamps and bar screens. Resendez said clear well crack repairs are a TCEQ issue that the project specifically targets. - Distribution: replace the undersized Coffee City Road main to relieve pressure problems and line breaks. - Lift stations: complete reconstruction or major rehabilitation for lift stations 8, 18, 27 and 28 (new wet wells, pumps, electrical and controls; moving buried valve vault piping above ground for easier service access). - Treatment plant: install dewatering equipment (multi‑disk screw press), inline groundwater filtration, improved intake screening to reduce mud inflow, emergency generator for the backwash pump, and structural repairs to catwalks and concrete. - HB 500 capital: conceptual proposals include a 3 million‑gallon‑per‑day reverse‑osmosis treatment plant and a new 1 MGD groundwater well north of the existing plant; those projects would leverage HB 500 competitive funds if the city’s application and any regional packaging score well.
Regional coordination and scoring Commissioners pushed for coordinated applications with the regional Public Utility Agency (PUA) and neighboring cities to improve scoring under HB 500. Mayor Montoya and others said they wanted Mercedes’ projects considered in both city‑specific and regional submissions to avoid losing points or duplicating requests. Resendez and staff recommended mapping projects by criticality in the master plan and working with the PUA engineering team to align submittals and census‑tract strategies that can increase eligibility and ranking.
Costs and next steps Resendez said the TWDB award covers a major portion of wastewater scope but not all desired work; the city must pursue additional grants such as NADBank or state programs to cover supplemental items like replacement of the bar screen or an aerated‑sludge holding tank. He estimated roughly 18 months for water‑plant design and advised phasing the elevated storage tank work to avoid leaving the city short on storage capacity during construction. Staff said design is already underway for the wastewater package.
What was not decided: Commissioners discussed local problem sites (notably recurring overflows at the Dawson/Expressway/Camargo area and suspected commercial discharges) and asked staff to evaluate whether to add specific locations to the funded schedule; no formal vote or contract award occurred at the workshop.
The commission ended the water presentation by directing staff to continue engineering and to pursue additional grant funding and regional coordination. Staff said they will notify TCEQ of the planned repairs and submit timelines to secure regulatory leniency while work proceeds.
