Following a City Council vote, the Taylor Economic Development Corp. has stepped up to fund two of the city’s biggest needs: water and wastewater capacity expansion.
City leaders Thursday approved an interlocal agreement that will result in the EDC reimbursing the city over $8 million for three projects being driven by HDR Engineering, Inc.
“At the EDC level, this is something we’ve been talking about ever since (Samsung Austin Semiconductor) was announced. Infrastructure was going to be our next big thing, the most critical component to the city growing,” said Mayor Pro Tem Kelly Cmerek at the council meeting.
Cmerek is the EDC treasurer. Samsung, a South Korean electronics multinational, announced its intention in November 2021 to build a $17 billion fabrication plant in Taylor.
The EDC-funded projects include a water-supply study to evaluate alternatives for getting more water to southeast Taylor, constructing a wastewater sewer main line near Taylor Municipal Airport and planning for expanding sewer-service capacity to the west of town to support development.
City Manager Brian LaBorde said the projects are part of a vision coming to fruition with the financial backing of the EDC. He noted increased interest from industrial developers will require more water and wastewater capacity.
“We just have one supply of water, that is with (Brazos River Authority). It’s a very generous contract that we have with BRA, but nonetheless it is one feed of the supply, as well as the undersizing of our distribution lines to get enough water out to that end,” LaBorde said.
He added a South Korean company has shown interest in creating an extensive industrial development on the city’s southeast side. The proposed study will evaluate up to 20 alternatives for providing an additional 2 million gallons of water per day, or MGD, to 4 MGD to that area.
Some alternatives include rehabilitating the Trinity Well, blending BRA water with Trinity Well water, finding investor-owned groundwater sources and using treated wastewater approved for industrial purposes.
The Trinity Well is a well the BRA dug into the Trinity Aquifer that can supply up to 3 MGD per day, officials said.
“We’re looking at this as a separate feed, a secondary source for redundancy, for emergency purposes. So there’s obviously an agreement that can be struck with an industrial user to not only get additional supply over to this side, but then also to have a second feed for emergency purposes. That’s a real big win for the city,” LaBorde said.
The water-supply study is expected to cost $271,700 and take 180 days to complete.
The airport sewer main expansion project is currently being designed. It will serve the development around the airport and be the foundation for expanding the sewer service further west. About 5,100 linear feet of 24-inch sewer line will be built to handle up to 5 MGD capacity.
The anticipated total costs including construction are around $7.5 million, and the project is expected to take just over two years to complete.
The third scope included in the interlocal agreement for EDC financial backing is preliminary engineering for sewer lines along U.S. 79. This will expand sewer-service capacity to the west where much of Taylor’s development is happening.
This part of the project is estimated at $248,800 with a six-month timeline.
LaBorde said the original idea was to have developerdriven wastewater expansion, but he hasn’t seen that type of interest from the developers yet, so the EDC has moved ahead with working on the first phase of the sewage expansion and creating the interlocal funding agreement.
“The EDC is paying for this first phase, and now this is continuing that hopefully to fruition, to see sanitary sewer go from the airport lift station all the way down to CR 101, and that will really open up this entire small area corridor,” La Borde said.
Council members voted to approve the agreement, with some saying they believe the city is years behind on infrastructure improvement.
“The EDC is excited. We’ve been talking about infrastructure for two years,” Cmerek said. “Water is the new gold in the state of Texas, so having a redundant water source is so important.”
