Some areas years away from bond release
Development planning for the Thermo coal mine might see a huge boost if Sulphur Springs receives two US Department of Transportation grants it intends to apply for after receiving the support of city council Tuesday night.
“They [the USDOT] have two pots of funding,” Community Development Director Tory Niewiadomski said in an interview after the meeting. “One is for construction activities, and one is for planning activities, so we’re going to try to apply for both.”
City finance director Lesa Smith said at the meeting the planning grant would total about $257,000 to be used for gaining insight into what is feasible in terms of development. Niewiadomski said planning includes environmental testing and will consider all of the property’s 4,800 acres, not just the parts that have been taken off bond from its original owner Luminant.
“We want to get a look at the overall picture and see where we can and where we can’t develop,” Niewiadomski said. “Then we can evaluate where we can focus.”
The construction grant would be much larger at roughly $3.4 million, according to Smith, and would go toward improving two roads that run through the middle of the property. Niewiadomski said it would turn the current gravel road into a concrete road.
“Part of the planning would try to figure out how do we interconnect the road network and infrastructure through there,” Niewiadomski said. “To start with, we’ll need to improve access to have people look at the property and be able to see its potential.”
The city applied for a grant for the same construction project last year through the federal Economic Development Administration but did not receive it. Niewiadomski acknowledged competition will be fierce nationwide for the federal funds the city applied for.
“There’s no guarantees, but we’re going to try to do what we can to get investment here by using federal funds to be more cost-effective for taxpayers,” Niewiadomski said.
Of the mine’s 4,800 acres, about 1,600 acres are off bond, meaning that Luminant has finished the reclamation process and returned the land to a natural state. The rest is still undergoing reclamation, including the area where Mount Thermo, or Helfferich and its nearby blue-green pond are located. That area is the last slated for reclamation and should come off bond in 2027.
“It doesn’t hurt to start planning it now so that when it is off bond, we have something in place that we can move forward with,” Niewiadomski said.