NEW BOSTON, Texas-Riverbend Water Resources District held the annual true-up meeting Wednesday with Texarkana Water Utilities and representatives from original member cities of Annona, Avery, DeKalb, Hooks, Maud, New Boston, Texarkana, Texas and Wake Village. The original member cities are those who initially paid into construction costs for Wright Patman Lake and the New Boston Road Water Treatment Plant during the 1960s.
During the meeting, Texarkana Water Utilities had the opportunity to review the 2019 wholesale water supply budget, compare those numbers to the last two budgets and evaluate usage of the original member cities. The 2019 budget includes a water production rate of .9006, up from .8914, an increase of 1.04 percent.
Immediately following the true-up meeting, a workshop was held to outline development of a new regional wholesale water rate to be used toward construction of a new raw water intake on Wright Patman Lake, a new raw water line to TexAmericas Center and a new water treatment facility at TexAmericas and another in Cass County to serve Digital Packaging (formerly International Paper) and the cities of Domino and Atlanta. All these projects are included in Riverbend's Regional Water Master Plan, which was presented last month. Additional comments on the proposed projects are being accepted through September 30. Comments can be made on Riverbend's website at rwrd.org.
Riverbend contracted with NewGen Consulting to create cost participation scenarios for the projects. These all include a suggested increase in the wholesale water rate, which Liz Fazio-Hale, Riverbend Executive Director/CEO, has said is one of the lowest in the state.
"This is a piece of the puzzle that we are placing onto the table," Fazio Hale said. "We recognize that there are a lot of variables and assumptions. We are trying to educate everyone on those variables and asking for as much feedback early on in the process as possible."
The scenarios each take a phasing approach to the projects to mitigate rate impacts.
Phase 1A includes completion of the raw water intake, the raw water pump station and access road, the raw water line and land for the treatment plant at TexAmericas, along with distribution pipelines, storage and pumping.
Phase 1B includes construction of the new treatment plant and additional distribution pipelines, storage and pumping.
Phase 4 B is for the new water treatment plant at Graphic Packaging and includes a new raw water pipeline from the current plant's intake, the plant itself, which would process 2.5 million gallons per day and distribution pipelines, storage and pumping.
The scenarios begin with a suggested wholesale water rate increase of $1.50 per 1,000 gallons of water for the first three years. After that, different scenarios look at the cost of raising the rate at different increments until the projects are completed, depending on which member cities choose to participate and how much water is produced.
NexGen's plan also includes design costs for Phase 1A, to begin in 2019, at $13,906,232. Construction costs for Phase 1A, to begin in 2020, are shown to be $68,762,579. Design for 1B and 4B would begin in 2021 at a cost of $12,484,000 and $2,524,996, respectively. Construction on those phases would begin in 2022 for costs of $62,420,000 and $12,591,446. Total project costs are estimated to be $172,689,253.
While Riverbend can recommend a water increase to its member entities, it does not have the authority to raise the water rates. Each municipality must agree to increase rates for that to
happen.
Riverbend can seek bonds to pay for the new infrastructure, but in order for them to secure the bonds, members must also pass resolutions of intent to to contribute and ordinances to raise rates, along with formal water supply agreements.
Project funding is available through the Texas Water Development Board. If the resolutions are passed by 2019, bonds secured through TWDB would have a much lower interest rate than if they were passed at a later date.
Riverbend's next regular meeting will be held at 12 p.m. Aug. 29 at the Riverbend Offices, 228A Texas Ave., New Boston, Texas.