09/01/2026
Grant funding to pay for work at Elgin water treatment plant
Council approves mitigation grant, impact fees for plant improvements
The City of Elgin will utilize remaining grant funding related to a 2017 hurricane relief effort toward water treatment plant improvements.
City Council on Aug. 18 voted to approve an agreement for construction services at the City water treatment plant. Funding from the project will come from water impact fees and the Hurricane Harvey mitigation assistance program, a targeted federal and state initiative meant to help communities address both immediate rebuilding needs and future disaster resilience.
C.C. Carlton Industries of Austin submitted the project low base bid, which would fund capacity expansion of the plant from 3.6 million gallons per day to 5.4 million gallons per day, filter media replacement, filter valve replacement, aerator rehabilitation and an air blower replacement. Staff recommended an additional filter media replacement and related work, which brought the project cost to approximately $6.48 million including engineering and grant administration.
The grant program requires the City utilize local funding before accessing grant funds. Thus, $5 million in City water impact fees will be utilized, with the remainder of the funding coming from the grant.
City of Elgin Public Works Director Michael Gonzalez noted the water treatment plant is in need of improvement.
“This improvement that we’re talking about tonight is not only about capacity, while that’s built into it, it’s about reliability,” Gonzalez told City Council on Aug. 18.
Construction on the project is expected to be completed within 390 days.
Hurricane Harvey made landfall along the Texas coast as a Category 4 storm in August 2017. It caused as much as 60 inches of rainfall and devastating flooding in some areas.
