PORT NECHES — Port Neches is set to embark on a multi-year, multi-million dollar project to make repairs to streets, upgrades at the water and wastewater plants and more.

Funding for the projects comes as previous debt is being retired, City Manager Andrè Wimer said. City council recently approved an ordinance for the issuance and sale of certificates of obligation in the amount of $7.25 million to pay for the projects.

Roughly $700,000 will be spent on the streets projects, an increase from normal years, when $160,000 to $170,000 is spent.

“The majority will be concrete repairs, crack sealing as well as pavement stabilization,” Wimer said.

Taylor Shelton, director of public works, said there will also be sidewalk replacement and pavement work, and some streets will get hot mix overlay.

Shelton explained some of the other needs.

“Nothing has been done at the wastewater and water treatment plants for a long time,” Shelton said. “We are upgrading some of the systems for better efficiency at the plants.”

About a million will be used to pay for work on sewer and water lines in the city, and $1.3 million will be used between renovations at the Port Neches Police Station/court and for erosion control along the river.

Talks about erosion control came into play late last year for about a three-mile area from Port Neches Riverfront Park to near Oak Bluff Memorial Park.

 

The city learned of three plans to control the erosion and opted for the construction of a rock breakwater along an about 750-foot section of riverfront property. The breakwater would be about 30 feet off the existing shoreline for an estimated cost of $750,000 to $850,000, according to a story that ran in the Port Arthur News in November 2015.

The city is also in the process of other shoreline projects not related to the debt issuance. Last year the city learned they were the recipients of a Coastal Management Program grant in the amount of $75,000 from the Texas General Land Office for planning and design associated with the riverfront property. They also are the recipients of a different grant through the GLO for the removal of dilapidated structures and debris from the Neches River.

City staff previously identified $18 million worth of necessary projects that were whittled down to $7.25 million during several months of council discussion.

Mary Meaux:  409-721-2429

Twitter: @MaryMeauxPANews