Council Oks changes to Belton, Salado fire district

By David Stone

The Belton Journal

The City of Belton will enter into an agreement with the Salado Fire Department which will realign fire-response districts to promote more timely and efficient emergency services.

“To improve response efficiency and to better serve the public, the Belton Fire Department and Bell County ESD 1 have worked together to identify and adjust our fire district boundaries,” said BFD Fire Chief Jon Fontenot.

“The proposed change focuses on areas where another agency is simply closer and can provide a faster response,” he said.

According to Fontenot, these adjustments are based on real-world geography — traffic patterns, growing populations, and proximity.

“It’s a simple concept: the closest unit should respond, and this realignment helps make that happen,” he said in a report to Council.

Fontenot said the realignment has been discussed for several years, but recent progress was prompted by Salado to establish an Emergency Service District.

“This allows the Salado Fire Department to hire fulltime firefighters,” Fontenot said. “It also puts Salado’s fire-fighting capabilities inline with Belton and makes this adjustment both practical and timely.”

“By reducing drive times, we will also reduce the wear and tear, fuel use and equipment strain,” he said. “More importantly, we’ll strengthen the working relationship between our departments and provide more reliable coverage during major incidents or overlapping calls.”

Fontenot said the exchange of fire protection coverage areas will not come with a cost to either Belton or Salado.

“The agreement reflects an equitable adjustment in district responsibilities based solely on operational efficiency and proximity of emergency response resources,” he said. “No financial compensation, reimbursement or fee is required by either party in connection with the territorial exchange.”

Salado approved the agreement earlier this month.

Belton City Council approved two items this week related to the Temple-Belton Wastewater Treatment Plant. The Council authorized City Manager Sam Listi to execute a construction contract and any changes associated with the contract. Council also authorized Listi to enter into an agreement with Temple-based Kasberg, Patrick & Associates (KPA) for construction administration services.

According to Scott Hodde, Belton’s director of public works, the wastewater treatment plant on FM 93 (East Sixth Avenue) is jointly owned by the two cities — Temple’s share of capital improvement costs is 75 percent and Belton’s is 25 percent.

The facility is currently permitted to treat up to 10 million gallons per day of wastewater with a peak flow of 30 million gallons per day and is operated under contract by the Brazos River Authority. Originally constructed in 1975 and expanded in 1990, the plant currently serves approximately 70 percent of Temple and all of Belton.

Phase II of the expansion will allow the plant to treat 16 million gallons of water per day with a peak flow of 40 million gallons, which is a 60 percent increase in capacity.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality requires wastewater treatment plants to initiate steps toward expansion once certain influent flow thresholds are met. In 2010, the plant’s influent flow exceeded 75 percent of its permitted capacity for three consecutive months, triggering TCEQ’s requirement to begin preliminary engineering for future expansion.

In response, Belton authorized KPA in 2011 to prepare a preliminary engineering report for the plan to evaluate the needed expansion.

Design of Phase I commenced in 2015 and was completed in 2020. Phase I included a new headworks facility, odor control units, and converting the abandoned digesters to a storage basin, allowing wastewater to be stored and treated during high flows.

According to Scott Hodde, Belton’s director of public works, the Phase II design process in 2020 included provisions for disk filtration and UV disinfection, anticipating the potential for a Total Phosphorus limit to be added to the plant’s discharge permit. However, the updated permit issued at that time did not include a TP limit, allowing the plant to continue utilizing the existing chlorine contact basins for disinfection.

In 2023, KPA submitted a draft permit application to TCEQ for Phase II. It was determined that the improvements included in Phase II would now require UV disinfection and disk filtration, leading to these components being added back into the project’s design scope.

Hodde said in a report to Council that two competitive bids were received for the expansion project. Matous Construction submitted a bid of $67.5 million, and ARCO Murray submitted a bid for $77.5 million. Both cities — Temple and Belton — have now agreed that Matous is experienced and capable of completing this project.

Belton’s share of the expansion costs will be 25 percent of the total amount, which equates to $16.88 million. Construction time for the expansion is 920 calendar days. Belton’s share will be paid through Certificates of Obligation that were issued earlier this year.