Edgewood To Pursue Loan For Water System Project

The city council last Thursday voted to take an $835,000 zero-interest loan from the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB). The resolution passed 4-0 with council member James McEnturff absent.

Time was of the essence in making a decision, though, because there is a Dec. 19 deadline for proposals. Mike Tibbets of Hayter Engineering explained the city would need sufficient time to hire an engineer, financial advisor and bond attorney for the project.

Edgewood Mayor Charlie Prater said the city’s water plant needed some type of work on the filtration system and offered up three possibilities, two of those keeping the current filters.

By the end of the discussion, though, it was clear the council members wanted a more permanent solution.

"I think we need to go forward and stop patching things," council member Steven Goode said.

Paying back the interest-free loan will likely mean an increase in water and sewer rates, Prater said.

"I would point out we are still way under other similar-sized cities in the area on sewer rates, and we are about mid-level on water rates," he said.

Tibbets told the council the city’s current water filtration system is one constructed in 1984 and which utilizes steel walls.

"It was a design that was popular for a while, but I can tell you nobody that has one now wants another one," Tibbets said.

The TWDB loan would allow Edgewood to construct a new filtration system that Tibbets said "is more reliable and treats water to a higher standard than the state requires."

He also briefly discussed a possible Office of Rural Community Affairs (ORCA) grant program that might help the city on one of several needed improvements to the water and sewer system.

Prater said it could be worth exploring that route, even though there is a matching requirement of 10 percent of the award.

"You can’t get grants fast enough to fix what you need," he said.