Valeria Tokun Haga/THE RIDER
The city commission unanimously approved two infrastructure projects Tuesday that could add up to 18 million gallons of water per day to the region as the first qualifying projects to use funds from an agreement between Brownsville and SpaceX.
During their meeting, city commissioners approved two water renewal projects:
–The Indirect Potable Reuse initiative, which would aim to increase water capacity by 8 million gallons of water per day.
–Optimization and expansion of the Southmost Regional Water Authority, which would optimize the water capacity up to 10 million gallons of water per day.
In a phone interview Tuesday before the city commission meeting, At-Large A Commissioner Tino Villarreal told The Rider the initial $40 million of the memorandum of understanding between Brownsville and SpaceX had been designated.
“That’s the potable reuse water that will add 8 million additional gallons per day to Brownsville,” Villarreal said.
He added the second project will trigger the first of six installments of $30 million, per the MOU.
Valeria Tokun Haga/THE RIDER
According to a copy of the MOU obtained by The Rider, SpaceX will deposit the initial escrow amount of $40 million, from the total $220 million, within 30 days after the agreement was signed.
SpaceX will pay the remaining $180 million in six quarterly installments of $30 million. The MOU also states the first $30 million are due 30 days after the first qualifying project is approved.
City Attorney Will Treviño said Yvonne Treviño, senior vice president and wealth management market manager at PlainsCapital Bank, will serve as the escrow agent required by the MOU.
The Rider emailed SpaceX for a statement or an interview regarding the MOU and the disannexed 444 acres of land by Brownsville, but as of press time, the company had not responded.
Villarreal said the city and the Brownsville Public Utilities Board had been planning the projects for a while but did not have the funds to move forward with them.
Valeria Tokun Haga/THE RIDER
The commissioner also clarified that the MOU and disannexation of land are two separate ordinances, stating that the city cannot sell land it does not own. He said Brownsville residents may be misinformed about the two ordinances.
“I think Brownsville residents are very concerned because they get misinformation,” Villarreal said. “They listen to podcasts and bloggers and people who want clicks on their webpages and they don’t go get facts. When you don’t have the facts, I would be very skeptical, too.”
City Commissioners set the deadline for the Indirect Potable Reuse initiative to be 2030.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Will Treviño said the City of Brownsville will launch a website dedicated for the water projects. The city attorney added the website will have all the information about the approved projects, including all the agreements and public information requests received.
The Brownsville Water Security website is expected to go live by the end of the week.
