Shenandoah Kicks Off Project to Bring New Utilities to Historic Tamina Community

SHENANDOAH, TEXAS -- The City of Shenandoah and Bleyl Engineering officially launched the project to install a new water and sewer utility system in the Tamina community. The Shenandoah City Council awarded the contract for engineering services at their regular meeting on March 8, following a request for qualifications.

Officials from Montgomery County and Shenandoah, along with board members from the Old Tamina Water Supply Corporation worked for nearly two years to bring this project to fruition. Montgomery County committed $21,000,000 from American Rescue Act Plan (ARPA) funds as part of the federal COVID recovery program. Shenandoah is contributing $750,000 in ARPA funds they received.

The use of ARPA funds is highly restricted, and infrastructure is eligible. These funds can only be disbursed to public agencies such as a municipality. Shenandoah and Bleyl Engineering will manage the project, which will take three years to complete.

At the kickoff meeting on March 9, Shenandoah Mayor John Escoto acknowledged the importance of the moment. “This is a historic day that has been decades in the making. I look forward to working with our neighbors in Tamina as we complete a successful project and also learn more about the rich history of the community.”

The effort to bring sewer services to Tamina has been attempted over the last 20 years and has died for lack of funding and other obstacles. The existing water system is aging and there is no fire suppression capability. The new system will also provide fire hydrants throughout the community.

Bleyl Engineering and Shenandoah staff are putting together an extensive community engagement plan to keep Tamina residents and businesses fully informed throughout the duration of the project.

“Communication will be key to this project since it will be lengthy and will involve ongoing work throughout the community. We want everyone to know what’s going on and when,” said John Bleyl, President and CEO of Bleyl Engineering. “This will be an exciting project to work on and we look forward to working with the Tamina community leadership.”

Design and engineering will begin immediately, while surveying and other site assessments will begin in Tamina next month.