To keep up with the anticipated growth in the area, the city of Magnolia is looking to build a $15 million sewer treatment plant in the next few years, officials said.

The new treatment plant will service 2 million gallons of water each day. The city’s existing plant can treat 700,000 gallons of water per day, City Administrator Paul Mendes said.

“We realized with all the growth coming up…we’re not going to be able to support as much growth coming into this area with our existing plant, so we’ve got to build a new one,” he said.

The new plant would be capable of expansion, Mendes said. He said the council has already approved the design of a state-of-the-art facility, and the city has applied for a permit to allow it to build a larger treatment plant.

At a Magnolia City Council meeting Aug. 9, financial advisor Jim Gilley presented steps for the city to take in preparation for financing the multimillion-dollar sewer plant.

However, Mayor Todd Kana said the city will only proceed with financing and building the new plant if there is a commitment from developers to ensure the anticipated growth in Magnolia will become a reality.

“There’s a fine line. We don’t need another plant if nothing happens,” Kana said. “We are slowly putting the steps in place in anticipation of the growth that we believe is going to happen based on developments and developers. At some point—before there is a trigger pulled on financing—there’s got to be a commitment from some developments beyond, ‘We plan on doing [something in Magnolia].’”

The cost of the plant is expected to be financed by certificates of obligation, which do not require voter approval, Mendes said. The debt is paid for by revenue brought in from the plant itself, such as impact fees.

Kana said the plant will be located on additional land the city purchased near the existing sewer treatment plant on Nichols Sawmill Road.

“We’re still quite a ways away; everything is still in [the early] stage,” Kana said. “I just want the people to know that we’re not putting the cost of a $15 million plant on their backs. Before we commit to this there will be a verbal [agreement] and—in my opinion, some sort of monetary commitment—by the developments that are triggering this [need].”

Mendes said he expects the city to receive the permit for building a new plant in January 2017. He said construction may begin next summer and will take about two and a half years if the city receives financing for the project. The timing would align the plant’s completion date with the expected completion date of the Hwy. 249 extension into Magnolia.

During the meeting, Magnolia City Council also discussed the city’s tax rate. The proposed tax rate of .4629 per $100 valuation for fiscal year 2016-17 is the same as that of the last fiscal year.