City to extend utilities for Halliburton
After months of planning and closed-door negotiations, the City of Brownfield has reached a formal agreement with Halliburton regarding the extension of utilities to the worldwide oilfield services company’s new major facility north of the city.
The City Council pulled the trigger to seek bids and begin construction on a $1.25 million construction project to provide water and sewer pipelines to the location, inside Hogue Industrial Park a mile north of the City Limits.
The City will advertise for bids for construction in early April with intentions of opening the sealed proposals by April 23. Construction could begin by June with the goal of having the first phase of construction complete by September, when Halliburton officials have said they will begin consuming water.
The project will include two eight-inch water mains at a cost of $702,000. The lines will cross Lubbock Highway and the railroad track and join at the site on David Bailey Road. A sanitary sewer line will run parallel to the eastern-most water line, also crossing the Lubbock Hwy and railroad at a cost of $523,000.
Professional and engineering expenses total just over $40,000. As part of the oil company’s incentive package negotiated by the Brownfield Industrial Development Corp., the city agreed to extend municipal water and sewer services to the 900-acre tract, which will soon be the site of the company’s new facility.
Holly Holder, engineer with Parkhill, Smith and Cooper of Lubbock, told the council that the final plan presented is a result of months of work. “Our plans were revised and reworked several times as the scope of the project changed throughout this process,” he said.
“It took several meetings and a trip to Odessa to get a better idea of what was really needed to make this work.” Some initial requests from Halliburton representatives would have required enormous amounts of water from the city’s supply. In fact, one proposal would have required 1,800 gallons per minute, which according to Holder is the equivalent of the typical usage of a city with population 8,200. “That obviously would not have been feasible,” Holder said.
In early February, a contingent of PSC engineers and City officials met with Halliburton representatives at the company’s Odessa location, similar to what is planned in Brownfield.
The group came away from the tour with a better understanding of what to expect locally and was able to better plan for the project. Halliburton, to the credit of company officials, also made concessions and changed their plans to accommodate several requests from the City.
Chief among them was the addition of on-site storage of water with high pressure capability to fight fire. Without that, the City would have had to build a third water main — this one 10 inches in diameter — to meet the pressure requirements.
The company’s agreeing to build the storage tank eliminated the need for the additional water line from the city. Also, initial plans called for the city to extend its water connection 1,400 feet onto the Halliburton property, but the company agreed to meet the city line at the edge of the property instead at a cost savings to Brownfield of more than $100,000.
City Councilman Jack Cargill noted that the extension project opens up more potential for further development on the city’s north side, where access to utilities has been limited in the past. Further extension into Hogue Industrial Park is possible with the new lines, as well as land across Lubbock Hwy. where about 200 acres is currently for sale for development.
Construction crews have been busy this month with dirt work and other preliminary tasks to prepare the site. A sign affixed to the side of a portable office on site reads “Halliburton HES Field Camp, Brownfield, Texas.” A detailed site plan for the property shows impressive growth at the facility, including numerous office buildings, workshops and garages, a truck wash, ample parking for employees and company trucks, as well as five rail spurs. A cement plant, acid plant and mud mixing plant are included in the design, as is an eight acre, four-foot deep detention pond. The entire 100 acre site will be fenced with landscaping in some areas along the perimeter and office areas.
