Nacogdoches to seek $21 million TWDB WSIG grant to accelerate water-line replacements

City engineers told council on July 21 that Nacogdoches will apply for the Texas Water Development Board’s Water Supply and Infrastructure Grant (WSIG) program and pursue the $21,000,000 allocation available to jurisdictions in the city’s population band. Case Opperman and Kaye Soperman (public-works staff, speaker 6) said staff selected multiple water-line replacement and transmission-main projects that would be shovel-ready in time to meet program requirements and outlined a compressed timeline: applications were due in about nine days and awarded projects must finish construction by Feb. 1, 2031.

Opperman described the WSIG awards as 100% grants to eligible cities and said the city intends to request the full $21 million based on population eligibility. He said staff had retained professional-services consultant Peyton Dawson (represented in the meeting by Danny Hayes, speaker 13) to prepare the application and, if funded, to serve as grant administrator, designer and construction administrator. Hayes explained the program uses a scoring model tied to median household income and population categories and confirmed that an award can be for the full amount requested or a partial amount depending on need and scoring.

Councilors asked whether requests for less than the maximum improved odds; Hayes said awards are project specific. The council unanimously approved the resolution authorizing the application and delegated signatory authority to staff to pursue the grant opportunity.

Next steps described by staff include finalizing the application package with Peyton Dawson, preparing project lists and supporting documentation for TWDB review, and returning to council with the formal grant administration plan if an award is made.