As I write on this absolutely glorious day in May 2025, I am reminded of why our City Council, Parks Board, Patrons for Bellaire Parks, the Evelyn’s Park Conservancy, the Environmental Sustainability Board, the Nature Discovery Center, the Culture and Arts Board, and our new We Are Evergreen Committee, as well as the many volunteers and supporters, put so much time into improving the quality of life in our City. No doubt, glorious days like today showcase the real benefits of being outdoors and why we make such efforts.
Was it a harbinger of things to come or just a coinkidink (not a real word, but you understand)? But, while outdoors, I saw a mourning dove yesterday for the first time in a while, as well as a bright red cardinal, both in my backyard. So, I wondered, maybe we are on the right track with all our efforts? My point is that we are working hard in this town to make living here not only safe but enjoyable to be out and about. It will be hot soon, but everything has its time, e.g., the effort to redevelop Evergreen Pool to address our summer heat, the planting of more trees to create more shade and rejuvenate our tree canopy. Heck, we piloted a food waste program this spring that recycles food waste, which also saves the City money by reducing the weight of the material we dump in the landfill.
At the same time, while the State of Texas has reprised the Don’t Mess with Texas campaign, I continue to trumpet our Don’t Mess with Bellaire campaign by encouraging everyone to pick up the trash that you see when you’re out. Take a plastic bag with you on your walk and a glove, if you need, and pick up some trash. Of course, you didn’t put it there, but it’s our town, and if we don’t care, who will? Look up the Broken Windows theory, and you will understand. I could segway to the lawn guys who create most of the litter as it flies out of their trailers or those that blow their leaves and grass clippings in our sewers but won’t today. We’ll get to that soon enough. Where I am going with my quality of life theme is our discussion of what to do with the WWTP. For the haters of acronyms, me being at the top of the list, it means Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Sorry for this in advance, but for those of you who have been living under a rock, worst case, and best case, for those who elected us to handle this stuff, we are in the midst of deciding what to do with our Wastewater Treatment Plant, e.g., dismantle it and send our flows to Houston or rehab or replace the WWTP. If it’s the latter, it’s time. If it’s the former, it’s also time. It’s 80 years old and needs major work or replacement. The estimated cost is roughly $105 million to rehab or $130 million to replace, and, at that, we would even be reducing its capacity to the level of flows we are normally now using. Dismantling it would cost far less and is already baked into our $30 million bond that we passed in November 2024. Rehabbing or replacing it would provide us with a basic garden variety WWTP, no bells, no whistles, and the best part is that if you didn’t know it was over there off Edith Street, in the most southern part of the Southdale section of town, you will if it’s rehabbed or replaced because it will be much taller and more pronounced. There will be no marker needed to announce your entry into the City from that direction with a new plant. You see, the area in which the current WWTP is located has subsided over the years and is prone to flooding, which means we’ll have to raise the WWTP, as well. There is a great deal more to it, of course. It’s an issue we have been grappling with, as a City, for years, having expended millions over the last few decades for its repair, etc. Still, in all fairness, as we know in response to questions about many a relationship, it’s complicated. I will say that, for some, the independence of having our own WWTP and not being reliant on the City of Houston is the penultimate consideration, which supporters cite to the City of Houston’s many problems in support. They have a point, no doubt, but others respond with, at what cost do we rehab or replace and what do we lose, e.g., the benefits of it not being there, to include shedding the future regulatory burden and the real and tangible opportunities to increase our green space and recreational assets? You see, it will not only be the cost of rehab or replacement but the cost to maintain the existing plant in the interim (several million), as well as the cost to maintain it on a go-forward basis (roughly 3 million annually, lest future generations of Bellairians find themselves in the same position that we do now). These costs would be on top of our current debt of 92 million, plus the impending cost to renovate our new Public Works facility, as well as the 70 million in bonds that we approved in November 2024 to address our flooding issue as well as to improve our wastewater collection system, as stated above, 
which will not go away, by the way, in any event. So we are clear, within the next three years, the debt of the City of Bellaire could stand at an amount that approaches 300 million, and with that, there would likely be no new streets built or repaired, no new library, no new parks, no new soccer or ball fields, green-space, etc. (all of which would be in play with a dismantled WWTP and the associated benefits), but what you will have is a much heftier bill from the City. As John Adams stated, facts are stubborn things. In any event, you get the point. It’s an important decision to be sure, which also includes a hard look at what the future would look like in terms of rates and costs if we outsource the treatment of our wastewater to the City of Houston versus going it alone.
In that regard, the City has uploaded what your City Council has been presented with on this issue for your review and education. We are also having a community meeting on May 13, 2025, at City Hall beginning at 6:30 p.m. If you have questions or comments or just want to understand the implications, I urge you to make time to attend. Wastewater Treatment Plant Information
My father taught me to embrace the beauty of change, however it occurs. It’s coming anyway, and you’re far better off helping shape it versus the alternative. While the decisions are hard, I see an opportunity for us all in these decisions and am thankful that we are living in this precise moment in time in which we are presented with the ability to explore and shape our future. In so doing, I keep thinking about that bright red cardinal and mourning dove and this glorious day and wonder what do they know that we haven’t yet seen. It makes me smile. I hope you enjoyed the day.
Gus