Denton City Council on Tuesday signed off on roughly $90 million to kick off the first major work package for the Pecan Creek Water Reclamation Plant expansion, city staff say. The project is designed to boost the plant’s permitted capacity from about 21 million gallons per day to roughly 30 MGD and to ease the load on the city’s only reclamation facility that serves Denton and central Denton County. Staff told the council they expect to issue a notice to proceed in early April and anticipate the overall expansion program being in place by late 2031.
As reported by Community Impact, the council vote covered the first in a series of planned work packages and locked in Sundt Construction as the construction manager at risk to oversee early site work, including earthmoving, utilities and surveying. The approval funds the opening phase of the larger program and authorizes staff to execute early construction contracts and guarantees while the full buildout rolls out in stages.
City procurement records and the Public Utilities Board agenda show the first guaranteed maximum price for early site work (GMP #1) at about $92.3 million, covering testing, surveying, earthwork and site utilities, according to Motion Count. Those materials note that Sundt has already performed preconstruction services under earlier amendments and detail GMP #1 line items, including general conditions, contingencies and subcontractor allocations.
Why The City Is Moving Now
The schedule is being driven by a mix of capacity pressure and state regulations. Texas Water Development Board documents describe Pecan Creek as operating near its permitted limit of 21 MGD, and projections show the plant’s flows are expected to top that number within a few years. City staff and meeting materials have repeatedly cited state triggers that require utilities to move into design at around 75% of permitted capacity and into construction at roughly 90%. Those thresholds, along with the plant’s near capacity operation, were laid out in council briefings and staff reports last year. TWDB documents and city meeting records together outline the regulatory backdrop.
Scope, Cost And Next Steps
According to staff, the initial round of work includes a new control and operations building, upgraded solids handling systems, and improvements to disinfection and membrane processes so the plant can stay within permit limits while modernizing day-to-day operations. City materials describe the $90 million as the first of multiple work packages in a long term program that staff say will total in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and briefing documents and staff presentations to council characterize the program level costs as substantial. Community Impact reported on the council briefing and overall program estimate.
The council’s authorization gives staff the green light to move ahead with GMP #1 and positions Denton to seek loans, grants and bond financing as later work packages are lined up. Procurement notes indicate that funding for GMP #1 will come from the wastewater utilities account and the city’s extendable commercial paper program. City procurement records lay out the contract structure and funding details.
