Magnolia ISD develops plan for water service
Magnolia Independent School District officials are working with developers of the Audubon subdivision to provide water services to its new elementary school, expected to open in 2024, as the city grapples with a water shortage.
The city enacted a building permit moratorium in December, halting applications for new residential and commercial development due to the water shortage. The city is in the process of building new water wells to help address the supply issues.
The district’s initial plans for the new school included water service from the city. Instead, the school will get water from a well being built by developers of a subdivision in Audubon, said Tim Bruner, executive director of facilities for Magnolia ISD.
The developers of the subdivision located northeast of the city recently agreed with city leaders to build their own well to be able to provide water to the subdivision. In the agreement, 833 connections are reserved for the Audubon development, including the elementary school.
“Instead of having an agreement with the city of Magnolia for domestic water and sewer, we’re now going to have an agreement with Audubon development,” Bruner said during a board meeting on Monday. “We’re basically going to be receiving water directly from them ... we’ve gone to plan B.”
The developers worked with the district to purchase the land in 2020. The land where the elementary school will be built was purchased through the district’s $92 million 2015 bond. Since the subdivision has its own municipal utility district rights, the project will not be affected by the city’s halt of additional water connections, said Denise Meyers, executive director of communications for the district.
The elementary school is considered a priority for the district because it can be built faster, she said.
“We really want to start relieving the overcrowding in some of our elementary (schools),” Meyers said, noting a report by HAR.com, operated by the Houston Association of Realtors.
For the month of December, the Magnolia area was trending for areas of growth, according to the real estate portal website.
“We’re just trying to address the growth, what’s here and what’s coming,” she said.
The elementary school is expected to open its doors in August 2024.
The district also has two upcoming school projects — a new intermediate school and junior high school. Both schools would get water from Quadvest, a privately owned water utility company in the city.
The three new campus facilities are part of the $232 million bond package voters approved in November.
The $66 million intermediate school is expected to enter its bidding phase in April, while the $85 million junior high school is expected to enter its bidding phase in June. Both schools will be located near the Magnolia Parkway Elementary School and each have a capacity of 1,200 students.
Both schools are expected to open in 2025.
“We have a lot of bond work that’s beginning to pile up,” Superintendent Todd Stephens said at the meeting. “And Mr. Bruner is finally starting to get to work on some of that.”