2025 Certificates of Obligation

At its regular meeting on September 8, the City Council unanimously authorized a Notice of Intent to issue Certificates of Obligation (COs) for various water system infrastructure projects and the West Side Drainage Improvement Project, as identified in the City’s 2025 – 2034 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).

The total bond proceeds will be approximately $10.76 million.

On November 10, the City Council authorized the sale of COs, not to exceed $10.76 million. The City's 'AAA' rating was affirmed by S&P Global Ratings, guaranteeing that the city received the best interest rates for this issuance.  

2025 Notice of Intent to Issue COs

• West Side Drainage Improvement Project – Design ($342,000)
  • Between 2021 and 2023, the City completed the Preliminary Engineering Study for the West Side Drainage Improvements, which helped identify feasible alternatives for moving storm water out of West U to Brays Bayou.
  • Due to the complexity of the project, further modeling analysis was completed between 2023 and 2024.
  • In 2024, the City acquired property that provides the ability to construct a new storm sewer trunk line along the west side of the City from Bissonnet St. all the way to Brays Bayou. This new trunk line lessens the burden on the existing storm sewer system and Kilmarnock Ditch.  
  • This issuance will provide funding for the City to explore future internal storm sewer improvements for the west side that were not previously possible.  
• Cast Iron Water Line Replacement – Construction ($2,941,000)
  • This project will replace pre-1939 cast iron water lines throughout the city. Replacing these water lines prior to failure will prevent more costly repairs and unplanned service disruptions.
• Wakeforest Water Plant Distribution Line Replacement – Construction ($5,480,000)
  • This project will construct improvements to the water distribution system in the northeast corner of West U, which will have the benefits of improving water pressure to the immediate area and throughout the rest of the city. 
• Milton Water Plant Improvements – Design ($818,000)
  • The Milton Street Water Pump Station was constructed in 1957. This project will design improvements to upgrade the pump stations at this facility with additional pumping capacity to meet current and future needs, as well as replace two ground storage tanks (400K and 1.5 Million Gallon (MG)) with a dual 2.0 MG ground storage tank at the site. The dual tank (a tank within a tank) will replace the two single tanks.
• Wakeforest Elevated and Ground Storage Tanks Interior Rehabilitation – Design and Construction ($1,175,000)
  • The City has substantially completed exterior maintenance on the Wakeforest Elevated Storage Tank (EST) and Ground Storage Tanks (GSTs), which is completed every 15 years and helps extend the useful life of the tanks.
  • This work will complete the maintenance work on the interior of the EST and GSTs. This project will include new interior coatings, cathodic protection systems, and other work necessary to maintain the tanks’ compliance with various regulatory agencies and extend their anticipated service life.