City moves forward on sewer plant project

City moves forward on sewer plant project Brian Smith Wed, 04/24/2024 - 7:23 am After discussion for more than a dozen years and various work on different parts of the plan, a new water treatment plan is moving another step closer to fruition. The plant, a booster pump station and bulk loading station, is being drafted by engineering company Garver. Garver’s West Texas Water Business Team Leader Tina Hanson told city council members at a meeting last month that the project is a long time coming but securing the funding has taken some time. She said the company is excited to get started with plans, which should take about 10-12 months to complete. City Manager Mike Smith said it has been a 12-year process of getting a new plant. He said work with Garver began about five years ago. Through a combination of U.S. Department of Agriculture loans and grants, the funding has been raised for the plant. The cost will be about $800,000 a year for the next 40 years, Smith said. The three loans amount to $23 million with the grant monies coming to $3.724 million. Smith explained the grant funding will not kick in until the loan funding has been used. In working with state and federal agencies the funding has flip flopped from being primarily covered by grants to low interest loans, Smith said. Work is expected to begin on the project in 2025 and last about four years. Smith said there are some distribution issues with the plant that will have to be addressed with another grant which has not been determined. Upon completion, the plant will be able to increase capacity from one to two million gallons a day. Other meeting news City aldermen discussed establishing a permit and fee for inspection of fire suppression sprinkler system installation in commercial buildings. Jacksboro Fire Department Chief Jeremy Jennings said there are a lot of factors to consider such as following the original building codes. The city manager said the fire suppression sprinkler system systems must be installed for any new construction or renovation. “We’ll get a feel once we move forward with this,” Smith noted. “We’re anticipating some community growth, be it new construction or renovation.”