The City of Bridge City will be getting two new water wells after action taken by the City Council on Tuesday. The council approved applying for a $7.369 million Community Development Block Mitigation Grant.
City Manager Jerry Jones explained the grant will allow Bridge City to replace two other water wells in the city. The well at Romero and one of the two wells at the City Hall will have to be capped.
The city has been looking to put a well at the Sunnyside location since there is a water tank already there. Grant funds became available to allow two wells to be created. The second well will be at the Roberts location near the old Sims Elementary School.
The Bridge City School District owns the property for the proposed well on Roberts. The city and the school district are working on an agreement to exchange the property where the Sims School was located for property owned by the city currently occupied by a former nursing home.
The grant would allow Bridge City to do both well projects. Jones stated, “Both wells, another elevated five-hundred-thousand-gallon tank, the filters, generators, everything. It would take care of the city’s needs for the next probably thirty, forty years.”
The grant does require over $74,437 in matching funds from Bridge City. Those funds were also approved by the City Council.
The well projects will be done by LJA Engineering. The council approved contracting with LJA for their engineering services to do the work during the meeting.
Approval was given on a final plat of the Arizona Bend Subdivision located in the city limits of Bridge City. The planned subdivision of 5.6 acres will have 15 homes built on it. The plat now goes to the Planning and Zoning Commission for its final approval.
The City Council approved Philip Welch as the nominee for Bridge City to fill a vacancy on the Board of Directors with the Orange County Appraisal District. Barry Foster was appointed to serve a two-year term on the city’s Board of Appointments.
Extensions were approved for 30 days to two emergency declarations. The Emergency Declarations of Local Disaster for the COVID-19 Pandemic and for Hurricane Laura were extended to November.
Ditch crews are back in town and have started clearing ditches again. The replacing of man-hole covers in the city is continuing.
A grant has been received by Bridge City to replace the flush valves on the fire hydrants in the city. Work will start soon, possibly the last week of October. Public Works Director Mike Lund indicated the process will require water service to be shut off to some neighborhoods with three hundred plus homes when the work is being done.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has been notified. The TCEQ will require boil water notices be issued by Bridge City. Lund admitted, “It’s going to be a trying time because some of this stuff is going to happen one week, and then the next week we’re going to have another round so it’s going to be a learning experience, but I think it’ll be great for the city once it’s done.”
Residents in Bridge City can still apply for sewer line extensions to be done on their property as part of another Community Development Block Grant. A little over one hundred applications have been received, and Lund said the grant will allow up to about 150 properties to be done.
County Judge John Gothia who lives in Bridge City attended the meeting. During the time for citizen comments Judge Gothia gave a progress report on the removal of debris following Hurricane Laura. He said the second pass is starting which will allow the removal of all items, green and construction debris.
The next meeting of the City Council in Bridge City will be postponed for one week because of the conflict with the general election on the same day. The meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, November 3, but will be held the following Tuesday, November 10, in the City Hall.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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