08/26/2026
๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ข๐น ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต 58.38 ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด, ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐ด ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด
LIBERTY โ Liberty City Council awarded an $8.19 million contract for the long-planned Highway 146 water plant Tuesday night while working through a proposed $14.15 million general fund budget, higher EMS charges and a series of equipment and infrastructure needs facing the city.
Council voted unanimously to award the Highway 146 Water Plant contract to Houston-based R&B Group Inc. for $8,190,441.
Nine bids were received Aug. 11, ranging from R&B's low bid to $12,167,600.
William J. Huebner of Strand Associates, the project's engineer, told council the project has been in development for roughly a decade and will include an elevated water tank, 300,000-gallon ground storage tank, booster pump station, electrical and control systems, piping and equipment needed to place the new Highway 146 well into service.
Huebner said he worked with R&B on a wastewater project approximately 10 to 12 years ago and had a good experience with the company. Strand also checked several more recent references, which he said returned favorable reviews.
The comments provided additional context to Strand's written recommendation, which noted that the firm had not had recent experience with R&B and recommended proceeding after the city evaluated the contractor's qualifications.
๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐ถ๐บ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด
The Highway 146 project has been years in the making, with delays involving property acquisition, environmental clearance and, more recently, problems encountered during drilling of the new water well.
Officials said approximately $10.1 million had previously been assembled for the project through city and grant funding, while the combined cost of the well and water plant work is now expected to reach about $11.2 million.
The city has requested an extension of its grant deadline from the Texas General Land Office. Officials told council they believe the extension will be granted but acknowledged approval has not yet been received.
If it is denied, the city could be forced to replace roughly $2.6 million in grant funding with local money. The city has approximately $8.9 million in its water fund balance, according to figures discussed during the meeting.
The replacement well itself is nearing completion. Huebner said the drilling contractor had completed the new hole and screens and was preparing for a 36-hour pump test. Completion is expected around the end of August or first week of September.
If contract paperwork proceeds as expected, the city could hold a preconstruction meeting with R&B and begin work on the water plant in early to mid-October.
๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ $๐ญ๐ฐ.๐ญ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
City Manager Bryan Kendrick also presented the proposed 2026-27 budget.
The general fund proposal shown to council Tuesday totals $14,150,290 in both revenues and expenditures, producing a balanced proposed budget.
That compares with an estimated $15.36 million in general fund revenue and $14.65 million in expenditures for the current fiscal year.
Several apparent year-to-year swings reflect changes in how the city accounts for expenses rather than equivalent changes in city services.
For example, utility billing is being moved out of the general fund and charged more directly to the utility funds. Solid-waste operations, meanwhile, are being folded into the general fund, where the city projects $925,000 in solid-waste collections next year.
The proposed general fund includes approximately $3.67 million for Fire/EMS, $3.54 million for police, $1.39 million for streets and drainage, $1.01 million for parks and recreation and $659,190 for the library.
The proposal also includes a 4 percent pay increase for city employees.
Kendrick repeatedly described the city's revenue assumptions as conservative and said staff hopes actual collections will again outperform budget projections.
The budget remains preliminary. Council will have another opportunity to make changes before final adoption.
๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐น ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐
๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฑ๐ด.๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐
Council unanimously approved a proposed 2026 property tax rate of $0.5838 per $100 of taxable value, unchanged from the city's current nominal rate.
The proposed rate consists of $0.3976 for maintenance and operations and $0.1862 for debt service.
A comparison presented Tuesday showed Liberty's proposed rate below the rates currently being considered by Dayton and Cleveland.
Dayton's current rate was shown at $0.6476, with a proposed rate of $0.6529. Cleveland was shown at $0.63 currently with a proposed rate of $0.75. Liberty's rate would remain at $0.5838.
Approval Tuesday establishes the highest rate council may later adopt. Council can still lower the rate before final adoption.
Public hearings on both the proposed budget and tax rate are scheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 8 at Liberty City Hall.
๐๐ ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ; ๐๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ป
A substantial portion of Tuesday's discussion focused on increasing demand on Liberty Fire & EMS.
Fire Chief Brian Hurst told council the department was 488 calls ahead of last year's pace through the end of July. He said Liberty has increasingly relied on administrative staff to help cover calls and had requested assistance from neighboring agencies five times during the previous month.
The department has 17 volunteers, Hurst said, but only five are currently able to perform the full range of firefighting duties required on major incidents.
The budget presentation originally contemplated additional Firefighter/EMT staffing. After a lengthy discussion about call volume, employee burnout and the cost of losing experienced firefighters to higher-paying departments, council directed Kendrick to prepare the next budget draft with two additional firefighter positions.
Officials estimated the two positions would require approximately $166,000 annually. Kendrick said increased EMS revenue is expected to cover most of the cost, with roughly $21,000 potentially coming from the city's $200,000 general fund contingency.
Council then unanimously approved higher EMS charges.
The rate schedule presented to council originally recommended increasing Basic Life Support non-emergency transports from $1,200 to $1,400, BLS emergency transports from $1,200 to $1,500, and Advanced Life Support emergency transports from $1,200 to $1,600.
Council went further on the ALS rate, increasing it to $1,850, the bottom of the market range presented by staff.
Treatment with no transport remains $275.
For specialty critical-care transports, the presentation recommended increasing the rate from $2,600 to $3,800. Council raised the final amount to $4,000 before approving the schedule.
Kendrick and Hurst said Liberty's rates had fallen below comparable providers and argued that property taxpayers were effectively subsidizing services when charges were kept artificially low.
Hurst noted that Medicare and Medicaid generally reimburse according to established rates regardless of what the city bills, meaning much of the increased revenue is expected to come from commercial insurers and other payers.
๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐
The proposed water and wastewater budget totals approximately $6.70 million, balanced between revenues and expenditures.
Water collections are projected at $3.4 million, up $300,000 from the city's current-year estimate, while wastewater collections are projected at $3 million, an increase of $170,000.
Council was told no residential utility-rate increase is currently proposed. City officials did indicate they expect to study commercial and industrial electric rates after residential rates were adjusted previously.
The electric utility budget is proposed at approximately $14.75 million in both revenues and expenditures. The city projects $11.17 million in regular electric billings and another $2.5 million in power-cost collections.
Officials also said the city has worked to rebuild its inventory of transformers and other critical electrical equipment after shortages exposed vulnerabilities in recent years.
๐๐พ๐๐ถ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ต
Before the formal budget presentation, council reviewed a number of one-time purchases and capital needs.
The list included ambulances and other public-safety vehicles, additional office space at the city park, drainage engineering on Industrial Drive and water and wastewater equipment.
Officials said approximately $1.5 million in the most immediate proposed purchases could be funded through available fleet and general fund reserves.
Council authorized the expenditures presented by staff and directed approximately $600,000 to be moved into the appropriate capital or fixed-asset accounts so equipment with long lead times can be ordered.
Among the largest public-safety needs are ambulance replacements and remounts. Hurst told council a remounted ambulance costs roughly $254,000, compared with approximately $400,000 for a completely new unit.
The city's transport van targeted for replacement has approximately 300,000 miles.
Council also discussed a drainage problem on Industrial Drive where erosion has already resulted in the loss of roughly 12 feet of culvert pipe. Engineering work would determine the scope and cost of a permanent repair and could position the city to seek outside funding.
Another unresolved need is an estimated $500,000 replacement of the Liberty Municipal Library's air-conditioning system.
Librarian Amber Ursprung told council the current system is being kept operating but needs to be addressed. Kendrick suggested the city could return later this year with a financing plan, potentially using Cambridge funds and repaying them over an extended period.
๐๐ผ๐น๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐๐ต
The proposed golf-course budget totals approximately $1.4 million, with revenues and expenditures balanced.
One of its largest projected changes comes from merchandise, concessions and restaurant operations, which are budgeted to produce $385,000, compared with an estimated $137,000 this year.
Officials cautioned that the restaurant operation remains a developing concept and that the budget will likely need adjustment once the city has several months of actual operating results.
The plan includes roughly $638,000 in personnel costs, $551,000 in operations and maintenance, $160,000 in capital spending and about $50,000 in contingency.
City officials said they intend to separately track restaurant sales and expenses so council can evaluate whether the operation is performing as intended.
๐๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐น ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
Council unanimously approved up to $55,000 in Liberty Community Development Corporation funding to inspect, clean and make minor repairs to the city's 28 flood-control levee flap gates.
The levee was constructed in 1996, and the council packet says there is no record of a formal inspection or maintenance program for the gates since installation.
Officials clarified Tuesday that city crews have performed routine cleaning where possible, but the work being authorized represents a formal inspection of the crossings and gates.
The inspection itself is expected to cost approximately $50,400, leaving about $4,600 available for minor repairs discovered during the work. More substantial repairs would have to return to council for additional funding.
LCDC approved the expenditure Aug. 18, requiring subsequent City Council approval.
$๐ฒ๐ฌ,๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ณ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐ฒ
Council also unanimously approved $60,000 in LCDC funding for the 2027 Liberty Jubilee.
Jubilee committee member Luke Liberty told council organizers currently anticipate an overall event budget of roughly $80,000, with the LCDC contribution supplemented by sponsorships, vendor fees and VIP ticket packages.
Current estimates include approximately $15,000 for staging, sound and lighting and between $15,000 and $20,000 for entertainment.
Liberty said organizers already have several production quotes and preliminary pricing on Friday night performers, including a potential headliner at approximately $4,000 and an opening act at about $800.
He also said he met Tuesday with City Attorney Brandon Davis about forming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that could contract with LCDC for the event and potentially retain funds for future Jubilee operations.
The future of LCDC remains tied to Liberty's Nov. 3 sales-tax election. If voters approve the proposition previously called by council, LCDC would ultimately be wound down as the city restructures its sales tax.
Council Member Bruce Bell made the motion to approve the $60,000 expenditure, and Council Member Ross Ward seconded it. The vote was 7-0.
Council entered executive session shortly after 8 p.m. to discuss legal matters, real property, personnel and economic-development negotiations.
