Marble Falls City Council recently approved a contract to build a new fire station, a second facility to keep pace with growth, officials say.
During the Feb. 17 meeting at City Hall, the council approved no more than $5.7 million out of capital funds to pay for construction of the new Fire Station No. 2, which will be located near the Thunder Rock development at Texas 71 and U.S. 281.
The new station is expected to provide improved emergency support for businesses and residences south of Lake Marble Falls.
“It is a critical investment that will maintain the city’s high standard of fire safety,” Fire Chief Tommy Crane told the council.
Trimbuilt Construction submitted the low bid for the construction, which city officials originally estimated would cost more than $7.3 million.
Plant Grant
Turning to another matter, the council accepted grant funds of more than $57.8 million to continue construction of a new water reclamation plant that can process three million gallons each day.
City officials declared funding for the plant is programmed to come from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Texas Water Development Board and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund.
“All of it (funding outside of Marble Falls) ensured the cost will not be borne by rate payers to maintain the system,” City Manager Caleb Kraenzel said.
In 2024, city officials reported that the total estimated cost of the project is $75 million. At that time the estimated monthly bill for a typical resident was $109.40 for 5,000 gallons of consumption. Officials stated then that a “user rate increase of $20.90 will be required to finance this project. In addition, a connection fee/tax/surcharge/other fee of $12,000 will be required.”
The existing wastewater plant began operations decades ago. Currently, the plant processes about one million gallons of wastewater, barely enough to meet the threshold set by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Kraenzel said.
Building the new plant will a require lot of “hard work,” and it could take builders up to 36 months to install all of its components, the city manager added.
To be sure, after the new plant becomes fully operative, it is expected to process 3 million gallons of wastewater 24-hours each day, seven days a week, during a period of between 50 to 100 years, Kraenzel said.
PID Tax
In other business, the council agreed to hold a public hearing March 17 at city hall to contemplate tax assessments on property within the Manzano Mile Public Improvement District (PID) Improvement Area No. 1, also to consider whether those assessments could be applied to finance improvements within the district.
During time for discussion, Bond counsel Gregory Miller assured council members the City of Marble Falls full faith and credit rating would not back the bond issue and payments, rather they would be secured solely by tax assessments within the PID.
“This (bond offering) is not the obligation of the city,” Miller said. “You are not co-signing for a loan.”
During her report, Tourism Manager Kayla Gostnell indicated Marble Falls hotel receipts dropped about 3% during last year, mainly because of inclement weather and renovations that followed.
“The fact that we stayed consistent with rest of the state is pretty good,” Gostnell said. “This time next year, hopefully, we will be looking at different numbers.”
Also during the meeting, the council approved the non-budgetary, updated agreement between Marble Falls and the Western Region Radio System, which operates across Burnet, Blanco and Llano counties during major emergencies.
Council member Karlee Hubble was absent.
