The Shenandoah City Council responded last week to resident concerns that its $21 million project to bring water and sewer to Tamina would prioritize development over the existing historic community.
During a Nov. 15 meeting, several council members addressed comments made in past public meetings from residents who worry the city’s goal to help protect the community is aimed at future residents.
“These people have blood, sweat and tears in this community and to leave them out, that is ridiculous,” resident Tyrone Price told Shenandoah Planning and Zoning Commission members in February. “The members of this board need to make sure they don’t misinform or not include those individuals. They have the rapport with the community you are trying to help. We are trying to progress together.”
Price said the city’s comprehensive plan would lead to gentrification of the community.
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Mayor John Escoto said it’s unfair to assume the city wants to bring in new commercial and residential development and push out residents.
“I’m personally disappointed because I thought we had conveyed that in past meetings,” Escoto said during the council’s Nov. 15 meeting.
Councilman Ted Fletcher said the city was not planning the gentrification of Tamina.
“We want Tamina to remain Tamina,” he said.
City Attorney Bill Ferebee and John Bleyl with Bleyl Engineering said they have spoken to residents to clear up what they called “misunderstandings” and “misinformation.” Bleyl’s firm is providing the engineering and oversight of the project.
“It’s not an easy project, it’s a complicated project,” Bleyl said. “We will make sure to give out correct information.”
While the project has been on the radar for years, in December 2021, Montgomery County commissioners unanimously approved an interlocal agreement with Shenandoah to use $21 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to provide services to all homes in Tamina. The project is expected to take about three years to complete.
Bleyl said Phase I of the project from David Memorial Drive to the railroad tracks will be complete in February. That portion is funded through the city’s American Rescue Plan Act funds.
The second phase will include areas east of the railroad tracks and the new Tamina Water Plant. The largest phase at $21 million is funded through Montgomery County’s ARPA funds.
Bleyl said the project will add 57 fire hydrants to the community.
“This was a top priority to have fire protection in the community,” Bleyl said.
The need for hydrants became a larger topic of conversation in 2017 when fire destroyed a home on Johnson Road killing three children and injuring four others in the home. The closest fire hydrant for firefighters was over a mile away near Interstate 45.
Bleyl said the hydrants will be every 500 feet for the residential areas and every 300 feet in areas with businesses.
“I’m proud of this council and this county for what it has done to move forward in providing water and sewer and 57 hydrants to make Tamina a better place for their residents to live,” Fletcher said.
The entire project is expected to be complete by the end of 2026.
