Mayor Pete Saenz, interim City Manager Rosario Cabello, and Assistant City Manager Riazul Mia met virtually with the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) on July 29 to discuss the denial of 14 applications submitted by the City of Laredo for water and sewer infrastructure.
The City applies annually and timely for funding from the TWDB Drinking Water SRF (water) or Clean Water SRF (sewer) programs in accordance with the City’s Capital Improvement project.
The TWDB grant/loan programs require all applicants to file applications timely in order to qualify for a statewide Intended Use Plan (IUP). No applicants can qualify for funding unless the applicant’s projects are in the IUP. None of the 14 projects the City submitted were included in the IUP list.
Cabello asked TWDB representatives on the call for the reason the City’s applications had not been approved. She was advised of the overwhelming number of applications (400+) compared to previous years; that Laredo did not qualify as a disadvantaged city because the median income was too high, which caused the city to not rank higher compared to other cities that applied; that ranking was based on prioritizing the needs for water contaminants such as nitrate, arsenic, and high levels of total dissolved solids (TDS); that Laredo’s projects were ranked on a secondary level since the applications were for transmission and storage needs.
The meeting was hosted by State Senator Judith Zaffirini, State Representative Richard Peña Raymond, and State Representative Tracy King.
The City of Laredo has submitted 40 projects to the TWDB since 2014, of which seven were funded. In total, the City has received over $196 million dollars from TWDB.
TWDB is offering assistance for 2023 through two UIP programs including the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.
The City of Laredo is financing $125 million in 2022 from open markets due to the needs of the water system, and an additional $50 million from the Commercial Loan Program from private banks.
The City expects to continue applying for TWDB funding annually.
They let us drink waste water for ages. Why should they value our health now? Let’s vote all of them out and vote in some people who are proud to be “servants of people,” valuing their constituents equally.