The Brownsville City Commission has voted to keep the Resaca Fee, which helps restore resacas, fixed at $6.25.
Mark Dombroski, assistant general manager and chief operating officer at the Brownsville Public Utilities Board, gave the presentation on the Resaca Fee reduction request during the public hearing at last Tuesday’s commission meeting.
BPUB resaca fees help restore Brownsville resacas, increasing the water capacity and quality, according to the presentation.
The fee is set at $6.25 per account for retail water customers and is forecast to generate $4.14 million in revenue in Fiscal Year 2024.
The revenue forecast includes non-federal share of the RESTORE Grant, reserve for usage project requirements and a general fund transfer.
BPUB received the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast Grant from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, classified as a reimbursement grant.
In 2022, the commission approved an ordinance charging retail water customers a Resaca Fee of $4.50 starting in June and $6.25 beginning in January 2023. In September, the utility’s board of directors approved a resolution requesting that the commission maintain the fee at $6.25 because it generates adequate funding for program needs in 2024. Previously, the fee was scheduled to increase to $10 in 2025 and $12 in 2026.
After review of the water and wastewater rates, fees and charges, BPUB recommended canceling scheduled adjustments to the Resaca Fee, according to the agenda memo.
Dombroski requested that the commission hold the fee at $6.25.
“That will generate enough revenue for us to maintain the resaca restoration program,” he said.
“We are currently going under a cost of service study for this program and we’ll come back to you in the future if we need to increase those funds or decrease them, and we’ll know more about that once we get more information from the United States Army Corps of Engineers,” Dombroski said.
District 4 City Commissioner Pedro Cardenas made the motion to adopt Ordinance No. 2023-1701-A to keep the Resaca Fee fixed. District 3 City Commissioner Roy de los Santos seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
In other business, the commission approved:
– a proposal from SCS Engineers, an environmental consulting and contracting firm in Houston, to assist in the preparation of a request for proposal to solicit bids from third-party developers to implement a landfill gas-to-energy project using gas produced by the City of Brownsville Landfill. SCS Engineers will be paid $62,500 for the service.
The request for proposal will also assess the effectiveness of the current gas collection system, which vacuums methane gas from 57 wells to the flare system, according to the agenda memo.
The project will positively impact the City of Brownsville Landfill’s methane gas emissions and economic development of the city landfill, according to the agenda memo.
De los Santos made a motion to approve the item and District 1 City Commissioner Bryan L. Martinez seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
– the appointment of developer Dennis Sanchez to the Capital Improvement Advisory Committee
The committee advises the city government on the need to revise land use, implementation of the capital improvement plan and impact fees, according to the agenda memo.
“No less than 40% of the members must be representatives of the real estate, development or building industries who are not employees or officials of a political subdivision or government entity,” according to the agenda memo.
Cardenas made the motion to appoint Sanchez and De los Santos seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
