CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The construction cost for the city's 30 million gallon inner harbor desal plant has exploded due to the economy and various delays.
Corpus Christi City Manager Peter Zanoni confirmed to 3NEWS that construction costs for the proposed inner harbor desalination plant skyrocketed to $550 million.
"The construction is about 550 million at this point for 30 million gallons," Zanoni said.
However, councilman Gil Hernandez said that number isn't the total project cost, which adds around $100 million.
"$654 million," Hernandez said. "That was briefed to us or briefed to me on Wednesday."
The cost increase and finding the dollars to pay for the project are enough of a concern for councilman Hernandez to ask for more time to look at all the issues.
"I would at least like to postpone these votes that are happening on Tuesday for at least 30 days so we can actually have time to absorb what impact tripling of the cost of desal facility would mean," Hernandez said.
"We're at kind of a critical point on Tuesday," Zanoni said. "We believe we have all the information that the council and the community needs to make a decision."
Councilman Jim Klein said the city has been put in this situation because it made a deal to send 25 million gallons of water a day to the Exxon plant in Gregory and then another 5 million gallons of water a day to the steel dynamics plant in Sinton.
"That's what put us in this situation where we are at right now and I don't think the residents should have to bear the cost of all of this," Klein said. "This is designed to lure still more heavy water industry users in the area."
Zanoni confirmed that most of the desal water will be headed to new companies who move into the area. He added that the city has a plan to pay for the plant project thru low interest loans and grants.
The city manager also said that when the Exxon plant went online residential and commercial customer bills went down. He's expecting the same thing to happen when that desal water starts to flow.
More from 3News on KIIITV.com:
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for your daily news and exclusive extended interviews.
Do you have a news tip? Tell 3!
Email tell3@kiiitv.com so we can get in touch with you about your story should we have questions or need more information. We realize some stories are sensitive in nature. Let us know if you'd like to remain anonymous.