Thursday, April 25, 2024
After a two-year development ban, which was extended for another year by the City Council this week, the city of Granbury may soon finally have an answer to the question that necessitated the moratorium in the first place: whether the state will issue a permit for a much-needed second wastewater treatment plant.
Wednesday, Oct. 5, is the day when commissioners with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will consider issuing a permit for the WWTP planned for 3121 Old Granbury Road in the eastern part of town. It is the first item on their agenda.
If they agree with the recommendation of two judges with the State Office of Administrative Hearings, then the city will get its permit.
But TCEQ commissioners don’t have to follow that recommendation, and they are the ones who have the final say.
There is a chance they could side with parties that oppose the location and were granted a contested case hearing with SOAH. Opposition is what caused the TCEQ to put the brakes on the project after granting a preliminary permit in 2019.
If the permit is approved, the new WWTP, which will operate with Membrane Bioreactor technology, will discharge up to 2 million gallons of treated domestic wastewater per day into a tributary of Rucker Creek, which feeds into the Brazos River and Lake Granbury.
On Dec. 14, 2020, with the permit still undecided, the City Council enacted a development moratorium on the eastern side of town and portions of the extraterritorial jurisdiction.
The result of that moratorium was that development moved to other areas around the city, putting the existing WWTP on Water’s Edge Drive at capacity.
In October 2021, the council issued a development ban for the western and central parts of town and portions of the extraterritorial jurisdiction, effectively making the embargo citywide.
Projects that had already been approved were allowed to proceed since they had been factored into the existing WWTP’s capacity.
Upgrades are being made to the existing plant, but the city cannot expand capacity there.
In February, the City Council extended the central-western building halt and brought its expiration date in line with the ban in the eastern part of the city.
Both were to expire on Oct. 4, and both were extended for another year during the City Council’s regular meeting Tuesday night.
According to Public Works Director Rick Crownover, a new WWTP will take 18-24 months to build.
