by Nicole Bradford
Pearland’s largest single construction project to date broke ground last Wednesday, marking a major step in a lengthy and costly process.
At $260 million, the city’s Barry Rose Water Reclamation project is funded through utility revenues. It includes both an expansion and decommissioning of the Longwood facility and will increase plant treatment capacity to 8.5 million gallons per day from the current 3.1 million average capacity.
“It’s the largest and probably one of the most important to longevity projects for the city and we’re happy to participate in that,” said Jake Stone, vice president of operations for McCarthy Building Co.
Stone, along with community leaders, attended a July 31 groundbreaking ceremony.
“The project is one that is certainly needed and certainly going to impact every single one of our residents,” Mayor Kevin Cole said. “A lot of people are concerned over the size and cost of this project, but I remind them, ‘What would be the cost if we don’t do it?’
Tremendous growth over the past two decades has created the need to expand and improve infrastructure originally built in the 1960s, City Manager Trent Epperson said. The project and others like it are needed to serve citizens and meet regulatory requirements.
“Collapsing the Longwood plant and expanding the Barry Rose plant really started about 15 years ago,” Epperson said. “It takes a large team to do this. It takes past councils to make the decisions to put the efforts and dollars into moving a project like this forward, our current council to continue to fund those things.”
The 60-year-old Longwood plant is at the end of its useful life, he said.
“We have to move forward on projects like this because I want to set up the next generation for success,” he said. “Let’s make sure we delivery projects, not kick cans down the road.”
