City looking at funding options for replacement of intake station
The Cameron City Council heard about several options for grant funding to move the intake station on the Little River during a meeting on June 1.
Alan Hutson with Freese and Nichols was on hand to discuss the funding options with council.
The council approved Freese and Nichols scope of work and fee proposal for the Little River Pump Station preliminary design and authorized funding to be paid out of water and sewer reserves in February.
The city’s water intake station is currently located on an area of the Little River that is in an oxbow and could be cut off from the river as it meanders over time. The city began discussing this topic in August and hired Freese and Nichols to look into options for the project.
There is a lot of erosion along the Little River and it has put the city’s pump station at risk. Hutson said in a prior meeting with the city that erosion is creating an oxbow. That is when a river cuts off and leaves a segment without water. The group is looking at erosion trends and what may happen in the future.
“We have a number of projects we are working on with Freese and Nichols as far as the Little River and the pump stations,” City Manager Rhett Parker said.
Hutson said his group has been studying the Little River and there are only a couple hundred feet of land in the oxbow and if that were to close the city would be without a water supply. It has been decided to move the pump station for a cost close to $15 million.
“The last few months we have been evaluating where a new site would be for the new channel dam,” he said. “We are a few weeks away from having the results for that study. We have also been working with TCEQ. Cameron is blessed with a very senior water right on the river, so we are looking at an application to move the water right upstream. We have confirmed that the city will not lose its water rights with the move.”
He said surveyors will be starting the end of June to take samples of the soil to see where the pump station should be put.
“The next steps would be to look at funding alternatives,” he said. “We have been working with the city to look at three different funding opportunities for grant money to pay for this project.”
He said there are several grant programs through the Texas Water Development Board that would give the city low-interest loans and some grant money to fund the
The council also heard a request from Mark Mason about the possibility of placing a speed bump or stop signs along 12th Street.
“We have a lot of people who are driving fast from the high school up to the highway,” Mason said. “I have children who play in the yard. I also wanted to see if we could do something about the missing speed limit signs on the street.”
He requested there be a four-way stop put in at 12th Street and Central and to move the stop sign on Central up toward 12th Street.
“My neighbor suggested speed bumps,” Mason said. “It just seems to be a lot of traffic and really fast there. We expect a lot of traffic since we are by the school, but it is just fast.”
Mayor Bill Harris requested that Streets Director Craig Arnold look into putting stop signs up and said that he will get the chief to see if he can put some extra patrol over there to slow traffic down.
In other business the council also: tabled a request for the placement of a street light on South Austin Avenue until discussion with Oncor and the requester could happen; approved a resolution to submit an application for infrastructure funds through the CARES Act; approved a resolution to submit an application for Coronavirus Relief Funds through the Texas Division of Emergency Management and the CARES Act; and appointed Jim Camp as CEDC President through the remainder of the unexpired term of Bobby Schiller.