Bryan City Council voted July 14 to approve designs for the continued construction of yearslong sewer projects around the city.
What you need to know
According to Jayson Barfknecht, director of public works, the city is experiencing growth, particularly on the north side of town. The site of the project is a proposed sewer crossing under Hwy. 6, which would also divert sewer from Burton Creek to the Brushy Creek wastewater treatment plant. The existing line in the area would still serve as overflow in the case of heavy rainfall.
The current phase of the project has an average daily flow of 3 million gallons per day, with a peak of 21 million gallons. The design contract alone for this item is roughly $1.1 million. Public works estimates the cost will be $33 million for both phases, with the overall cost of the entire plant estimated at $130 million.
Zooming in
Council member Jared Salvato said he wanted the public to know where the city was going with the project and the headway it has made, which is why he requested a presentation on the progress.
“Unfortunately, nothing is cheap anymore, but obviously it’s a good project, and I wanted the residents to know where their money is going and why,” Salvato said.
Mayor Bobby Gutierrez said investing in the future now is better than waiting until it’s too late.
“Infrastructure investments are long-term investments, and we’re able to buy stuff at today’s rates so we’ll be able to realize the benefits of those rates in the decades to come,” Gutierrez said. “It provides growth, economic development, businesses, households, and those will go on way into the future.”
The impact
The approval comes after the city approved its capital projects for fiscal year 2026-27, over half of which were sewer and drainage-related. Barfknecht said the original design contract for the plant is between 30%-40% complete, while continuing to define the route and also working on the design for an interceptor line.
The council voted unanimously to approve the motion.
