State awards city $1.8M for emergency generators
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
The city of Cotulla has been awarded more than $1.8 million by the Texas Department of Emergency Management for fuel-powered generators that will maintain the municipal water supply in the event of a disaster.
The award comes more than five years after the city experienced complete breakdown of its utility system during Winter Storm Uri, a weather front that brought a deep freeze to large parts of the state in February 2021.
During the storm, the city’s water supply to residences and businesses failed because its pumps were operated entirely by electricity, and a five-day blackout left faucets dry and sewer lift stations idle.
Applications for relief were filed by the city government after the storm and temporary measures taken the following winter included renting temporary emergency generators that would be turned on to power the city’s water wells if the statewide electric grid should fail again.
The grid has not failed due to winter storms since the Valentine’s Day freeze.
Monies sent to the state agency for disbursement to cities seeking emergency relief this year were derived from the federal government’s reserves that had been earmarked for response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We applied for these funds in 2022,” Cotulla City Administrator David Wright said of last week’s award announcement. “Meanwhile, for two winters, we used rental generators, and those cost us $40,000 each year.”
Wright said he believes the cost of renting the machines was high for Cotulla and, in hindsight, unnecessary.
“We never needed them,” the city administrator said. “We were blowing money. This was not a wise use of our limited resources, so we stopped doing it.
“Yes, that was a gamble,” Wright acknowledged in an interview last week. “But we were still prepared. We knew that we could call somebody if we needed generators. We were paying attention, and we were ready to react if anything happened.
“We were reassured by the Texas state government that the electric grid was stronger in subsequent years,” Wright said. “We were counting on that.”
The 2021 power blackout also affected local businesses, preventing fuel sales from electric-powered pumps at local stations. Installation of diesel-powered generators will require reserve fuel tanks with adequate storage on city property.
The grant from TDEM this month represents 83 percent of the total award, made on the condition that the city put up a 17-percent share totaling $373,000.
Wright believes the city may have already paid a portion of that share by hiring the CDM Smith engineering firm to prep for generator installation at two vital supply sites.
When completed, the generators will kick in to power Well 8 at Cherokee Avenue and Choctaw Street, and Well 9 at Dobie Road and Ramirez Street near Martinez Park.
Well 8 has been the subject of council attention for the past two years after its electric motor failed repeatedly and required replacing four times. In one incident, the motor was affected by a nearby lightning strike.
The 350-horsepower engine running the Cherokee Avenue well is the largest in the municipal grid.
City expenditures on the frequent repair jobs at Well 8 were reimbursed through an insurance plan with the Texas Municipal League.
“A generator would not have solved that problem, but it would have kicked in if the power supply itself had failed,” Wright said.
City Hall has confirmed that contracts with CDM Smith for the engineering work have been paid in full and tallied $135,000, a little more than a third of the matching funds required for the grant award.
“Can this be the route that we take? We are looking into that,” Wright said. “This is eligible for funding through the Economic Development Council, which receives a portion of the state sales tax reimbursement to the city every month.”
