Border Environment Cooperation Commission
Potable water and wastewater hook-up projects in seven Texas communities
Financial Feasibility and Project Management
Type of Project. The project is related to the distribution of potable water and collection of wastewater.
Cameron County:
City of Combes
City of Primera
City of San Benito
Hidalgo County:
City of San Juan
City of Donna
City of Mercedes
Val Verde County:
City of Del Rio
The following table shows for the colonias that will be serviced by the project, the population percentages that currently receive these services and their projection when they are concluded.
|
|
Service Availability (%) |
|||
|
Community (Local Promoter) |
Actual |
Projected |
||
|
|
PW |
WW |
PW |
WW |
|
City of Combes |
95 |
0 |
100 |
100 |
|
City of Primera |
100 |
0 |
100 |
100 |
|
City of San Benito |
0 |
0 |
100 |
100 |
|
City of Donna |
0 |
0 |
100 |
100 |
|
City of San Juan |
100 |
0 |
100 |
100 |
|
City of Mercedes |
93 |
0 |
100 |
100 |
|
City of Del Rio |
68 |
0 |
100 |
100 |
Note: PW = Potable Water, WW = Wastewater
The project tasks include the establishment of a public participation program to identify eligible users for financial assistance, the bid for the construction of these works, and their construction. It is estimated that the construction of tha main components of the project will begin in October 1999 and conclude in the year 2001.
II. Human Health and the Environment
Accelerating the hook-up process to the water supply and sewerage systems, the septic tanks that work inadequately could be removed rapidly, and the related health problems previously described can be eliminated.
IV. Financial Feasibility and Project Management
The financial structure of the project consists of grant funding from the NADB and TWDB. While all the agencies will be participating in the project, it is not possible to determine the exact amount that each agency will contribute. The final amount will be determined after the implementation of the Outreach Plan.The Potable water and wastewater hook-up project in seven Texas communities, will be financially supported by the Environmental Protection Agency funded Border Environmental Infrastructure Fund (BEIF), administered by the NADB. It is estimated that the NADB will be asked to provide approximately $8 million in BEIF funding. The next table lists the sources and uses of the existing commitments by the TWDB to fund the construction costs for the new water distribution and wastewater collection systems.
Project Financial Structure
The Sensitivity Analysis involves the potential impacts related to delaying construction of the connections. The next table presents the loss of revenue if connections are delayed. Based on the existing rates of the local sponsors, delaying connections by three months on these projects will, in the aggregate, reduce potential revenue by approximately $150,000 in lost water sales, and $240,000 in lost revenues from wastewater treatment. If the process were to be completely delayed by 24 months these communities would lose an estimated $1.1 million in water revenues and $1.9 in wastewater revenues.
A second factor to be considered in this analysis is the potential savings to the funding agencies through economies of scale in bidding the projects.
Comprehensive Public Participation Plan. The objectives of the Comprehensive Community Participation Plan (Plan) are to ensure that the community understands and supports the environmental, health, social, and financial benefits and costs of the project, as well as any changes in user fees. The State of Texas through the Secretary of State - Colonias Initiative Office submitted a Plan in late August 1999. The Plan comprises the development of three community steering committees; identification of local stakeholder groups; holding at least six public meetings; and develop a final report documenting public support for the project. The activities carried out in fulfillment of this Plan are described below.
1. Steering Committee:
The project encompassed three counties and three separate county steering committees were developed to coordinate the public participation process. The role of the committees was to select meetings times and places, identify outreach methods, develop the agendas and define their post-certification roles. Administrative support was provided by the Secretary of State’s office, and the consulting engineers provided additional support. Their composition was as follows:
Cameron County Steering Committee:
Gracie Escobedo, City of Primera; Tammy DeGannes, City of San Benito; Santos Saldivar, City of Combes; Judy Vera, Valley Interfaith; Remi Garza, Cameron County Judge’s Office; and Scott Storment, Texas Secretary of State’s Office. This committee’s organizational meeting was held on August 4, 1999.
Hidalgo County Steering Committee:
Carissa Baldwin and Mody Guzman of Valley Interfaith; Alex Estrada, City of Donna; Jaime Ortiz, City of Mercedes; Rick Rodriguez and Juan Zuñiga, City of San Juan; and Lisa Alemán, Hidalgo County Judge’s Office. This committee’s organizational meeting was held on August 4, 1999.
Val Verde County Steering Committee:
Enriqueta Quiñones and Maria Luz Saucedo, Border Organization; Pete Maldonado, City of Del Rio; Domingo F. Davalos, Texas Secretary of State’s Office; and Rogelio Musquiz, Val Verde County Commissioner-Precinct 2. This committee’s organizational meeting was held on September 16, 1999.
2. Local Organizations:
Local organizations identified as key players in the public participation process were the community-based organizations Valley Interfaith and the Border Organization. In addition, cities and counties affected by the project were also part of the local organizations contacted. The cities of Del Rio, Primera, San Benito, Combes, Mercedes, San Juan and Donna, and the counties of Val Verde, Cameron and Hidalgo were contacted and participated in supporting the project.
Valley Interfaith worked in Cameron and Hidalgo counties. Valley Interfaith has worked in grassroots organizing in these counties for the past 12 years. The Border Organization has been organizing in the colonias around Del Rio and Eagle Pass, Texas for the past eight years. Colonia leaders affiliated within the organizational structures of these two organizations organize meetings and the community around issues that affect their neighborhoods.
Resolutions in support of the project were submitted to the State of Texas Secretary of State - Colonia Initiatives Office by the Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, the cities of Primera, Combes, Mercedes, Donna and San Juan. Valley Interfaith and Border Organization provided letters of support as well.
3. Public Information:
The Step II application was on file with the County Judges of each county and the local sponsors made this information available at their respective city halls. Notices for the public meetings were published in the local newspapers, church bulletins, and delivered door to door. At each of the meetings an agenda was given to the attendees along with information on how they could qualify for financial hook-up assistance. All this information was supplied in Spanish and English.
The notices delivered door to door included public meeting dates and agenda. The informational network used by Valley Interfaith and the Border Organization was a key element in the colonia outreach efforts. In Primera, San Benito, Mercedes and San Juan, Combes and Donna, Valley Interfaith and city staff went door to door delivering 4000 flyers for the colonia meetings, and in Del Rio the Border Organization delivered 1000 flyers door to door.
The 30-day notices were posted in Del Rio News Herald, McAllen Monitor, Harlingen Valley-Morning Star and Texas Register. Media coverage of the project included a news story in the Harlingen Valley Morning Star on September 2nd, and a story in the McAllen Monitor on October 8th and in KVJY-840 (Spanish radio station) from Harlingen.
Public announcements of the meetings were posted at convenience stores in Primera and Combes and at the respective City Halls and County Courthouses. They were made at the Mercedes Sacred Heart Catholic Church during three masses on August 22; during Valley Interfaith house meetings in Mercedes, San Juan and Donna; at St. John-the-Baptist Catholic Church in San Juan during two masses on August 29; at Christ the King Catholic Church during two masses on August 29 in Donna; and; at the Juan Diego Chapel in Del Rio on September 25.
4. Public Meetings:
Eleven public meetings were held. At each of the public meetings an agenda was given to the attendees along with information on the project and qualifications for financial assistance for the hook-ups.
Public meetings took place on the following dates for colonias residents:
Cameron County:
On August 24 at the Primera Community Center in Primera: 70 people attended.
August 26 in San Benito at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church: 20 people attended.
September 2 in Combes at the Combes Community Center: 123 people attended.
October 6 in Brownsville at the Cameron County Courthouse: 21 people attended.
Hidalgo County:
August 25 in Mercedes at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church: 52 people attended.
August 31 in San Juan at the Reed-Mock Elementary School: 204 people attended.
September 1 in Donna at the Cristo Rey Catholic Church: 69 people attended.
October 7 in Edinburg at the Hidalgo County Courthouse: 5 people attended.
Val Verde County:
September 30 in Del Rio at the Juan Diego Catholic Chapel: 85 people attended.
October 5 in Del Rio at City Hall: 21 people attended.
November 10 in Del Rio at City Hall: 86 people attended.
The numbers above reflect the actual number of persons that signed-in at the meetings. They do not reflect the actual number of colonia residents who attended and overall it is estimated that over 800 colonia residents attended the meetings.
Below is a sample list of questions asked by the residents:
- Will the hook-ups be mandatory?
- When will construction begin?
- Will the septic tanks be taken out of service?
- Will I have to contract a plumber to connect to the system?
- Do I have to own property to qualify?
- If I do not qualify, is there other assistance available?
In general, the answers were that the hook-ups will be mandatory and construction should begin in the spring of 2000. Septic tanks will be taken out of service, and a general contractor will do the connection to the households. Regarding qualifications, the residents were told that they did not have to own property and proof of income is needed to qualify. A 1% loan will be available through the Colonia Plumbing Loan Program for those who do not qualify which is repayable over a 5 year period.
VI. Sustainable Development