CITY OF BURTON RECEIVES $593,800 IN GRANT FUNDING FOR NEW WATER WELL

  

The City of Burton collected a grant on Tuesday that will significantly help the city in upgrading its water system.

The city was presented a check for $593,800 through the Texas General Land Office’s Community Development Block Grant Mitigation program.  The funding is the majority of what the city needs to build another water well, which has been deemed a priority in improving the city’s water infrastructure to support more residents and businesses. 

Representatives from the city and Washington County met with Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham at an award ceremony in College Station to receive the grant.

Burton Mayor Karen Buck said Burton’s existing water well, which was drilled in April 2012, has been the town’s only water supply for the past 12 years, with no backup well. 

Buck said the city’s recent efforts in tracing its water loss issues led to officials finding errors in the recorded number of meters, which in turn brought the city closer to its limit of 250 meter connections on its one well.  Texas state law sets rules on the number of connections to public water well systems. 

Last month, the city council took steps in the process of implementing a moratorium on new buildings and utility connections within the city’s service area to alleviate the strain on the water system.

Buck said the city is “more than thrilled” with the grant funding from the General Land Office.  She said, “If Burton is going to grow, like every other town and municipality in the area, then we need a water system that can handle that growth as well.”