Fair Oaks Ranch City Council considers participation in GBRA WaterSECURE project
A nearly $5.9 billion water expansion project from the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority aims to provide water across the region.
Fair Oaks Ranch City Council on July 17 discussed whether the city would need to participate in the program to secure water for future growth.
Council members agreed that the city staff should look at other potential water sources if needed, rather than participate in the GBRA project.
Fair Oaks Ranch council approves first reading of impact fee increase
Fair Oaks Ranch staff and officials are in the process of updating the city’s water and wastewater impact fees, which require developers to pay for each living unit equivalent, or LUE, connected to city utilities.
In 2024, city staff hired the engineering firm Freese and Nichols Inc. to update the city’s Land Use Assumptions, Capital Improvement Plans and to calculate the maximum allowed impact fees.
On July 17, City Council approved the first reading of a resolution to increase city impact fees.
According to the report, the current impact fees are $8,670 per water LUE and $6,068 per wastewater LUE.
Freese and Nichols Inc. representatives stated that, based on growth projections and impact fee eligible project cost estimates, the maximum allowable 2025 impact fees are calculated to be $21,013 per water LUE and $9,943 per wastewater LUE.
Boerne leaders discuss long-term water projects
Boerne staff and leaders July 8 discussed the potential of bringing in additional potable water as part of a Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority project.
While City Council did not make any decisions on the project, council members voiced concerns about the overall costs and the actual need for additional resources.
Utilities Director Michael Mann said the GBRA project comes at an expected cost of around $5.88 billion to increase water delivery to the region.
Should Boerne decide to participate in the program to pull three million gallons of potable water, the capital cost could range between $383 million and $543 million, paid for around 30 years. An annual payment on the commitment would be over $12 million each year, Mann said.
Mann said the city currently has capacity for almost double the population of what is being served by the utility. Using growth assumptions, Mann projects the city to have adequate water until around 2070.
Boerne moves forward with water treatment improvements
Water projects are scheduled in the city of Boerne, including the development of a new filtration system at the city lake plant and the construction of a new facility off Ammann Road near the Fair Oaks Ranch city limits. City Council on July 8 approved funding for the two projects.
Constructed in the early 1970s, the Boerne Water Treatment Plant at the city lake uses a mixed media filtration system, according to the July 8 agenda.
To address concerns with contaminant levels for disinfection byproducts, or DBP, city staff proposed the construction of a granular activated carbon filtration system.
While the water treated from the lake is still safe for public consumption, the new system will help reduce DBP formation and also help with occasional geosmin taste and odor events that have occurred in the past, city staff said.
Boerne City Council authorizes $9 million for water storage tank, pump station
Funding for a new storage tank and pump station was approved by Boerne City Council on June 24, moving the process forward for a facility off Ammann Road near Fair Oaks Ranch.
The storage tank and pump station project is one of three interrelated projects to distribute additional water from the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority Western Canyon Project.
The facility will be a 1 million gallon ground storage tank and a pump station facility with three high-service pumps, with space for a future fourth pump.
Alongside the facility construction, a GBRA-delivered pipeline is planned to bring water to the site, and a planned city pipeline will deliver water from the new facility to the easternmost point of Boerne’s potable water system, according to agenda documents.
