By Scott Harvey
Commerce – The City of Commerce continues to make headway in its quest to improve the City's water system.
The City Council Tuesday approved a resolution engaging engineering, legal and financial consultants to assist the City in funding from the Texas Water Development Board. The loan, if approved, would provide funding in the amount of $2.74 million at 0% interest.
Last year, the City approved a loan from the Water Development Board for 2.474 million, but with 2.8% interest. The money was not used and the loan later abandoned.
With loan approval, a number of projects would be taken on, including improvements to the City's water treatment plant, raw water pipeline and raw water intake structure. Following completion of all projects, an estimated 7.3% would be left over for contingency or unforeseen circumstances.
Currently, there is no timetable on how long it would take to be approved for the loan. According to Director of Administrative Services Marc Clayton, if approved, the City would have up to two years to access the money provided.