Weeks after Niagara Bottling‘s interest in building a water bottling plant at Brooks City Base was swatted down by San Antonio City Council and environmentalists, the City of Seguin has announced the California-based company will soon break ground on an $85 million, 557,000 sq. ft. plant several miles north of downtown Seguin.
Seguin City Council unanimously approved the deal on Tuesday.
Brooks City Base’s fast-tracked zoning request drew scrutiny from environmental groups, media and City Council after the City’s Zoning Commission approved the change on June 2. The item was scheduled for City Council approval on June 4, but was pulled for further review. It then became clear that City Council would not approve it.
“We serve whatever customers the City of San Antonio attracts, we don’t discriminate,” said SAWS President and CEO Robert Puente afterwards. “But, I guess it’s a relief.”
A relief to many.
“The water bottling plant opportunity was not thoroughly vetted by Council, so I am thankful we put the brakes on it,” Councilmember Ron Nirenberg (D8) said in June. “On the surface, it’s inconsistent with the conversation we are having with citizens about conservation and doing everything we can to ensure long-term water security for the city.”
Some officials estimate the bottling plant would have used as much as 1% of all the water SAWS pumps from the Edwards Aquifer.
In a news release, City of Seguin officials lauded the deal that includes an incentive package for Niagara: a $985,900 land grant from the Seguin Economic Development Corporation and a five-year partial property tax abatement valued at $485,000 from Guadalupe County. In return the City, Guadalupe County, and the Seguin Independent School District stand to receive $6 million in property tax revenue, according to the City. The first phase of the project will create 75 jobs. Most are expected to low hourly wage jobs.
“We are very fortunate in Seguin to have companies such as Niagara Bottling, LLC recognize what a great town and community we have and that Seguin is the best choice when considering locating a business,” stated Mayor Don Keil in the release. “Our dedicated workforce and forward thinking government continues to allow us to be a competitor in location decisions.”
Several sources said Niagara also was considering the City of Schertz as possible location for what will be its 20th plant. The Seguin plant is expected to be completed in less than a year.
According to the Seguin Gazette, “Family values and community were the words that seemed to be a constant during a presentation from Niagara Bottling, LLC’s Vice President Brian Hess at a special City Council meeting (after the deal was approved) on Tuesday.”
Seguin gets water from the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer, which is also the largest non-Edwards Aquifer water supply for San Antonio via water pumped south of San Antonio and the $149 million Regional Carrizo pipeline and pumping station completed in 2014.
“We knew from our initial visit that Seguin is a special place,” stated Brian Hess, Executive Vice President of Legal for Niagara Bottling (see top image). “Meeting the City leadership only solidified our belief. Niagara looks forward to a long partnership with Seguin.”
The company’s interest in moving to San Antonio comes eight months after City Council approved the 30-year, $3.4 billion Vista Ridge water pipeline project that will bring 50,000 acre-feet a year from Burleson County to San Antonio via a 142-mile pipeline. It’s an expensive project that, according to SAWS, will shore up San Antonio’s future supplies, but will also have the opportunity to sell the water it doesn’t need in the meantime.
The Vista Ridge pipeline also will draw from the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer.
The Rivard Report previously asked: Could Schertz or Seguin purchase Vista Ridge water from SAWS and then turn around and make it available to Niagara Bottling?
“They could do that, but we would have the opportunity to say no,” Puente said.
“That’s not something the council has considered, we haven’t gotten that far yet in our conversations,” Mayor Ivy Taylor said.
*Featured/top image: Niagara Bottling’s Executive Vice President of Legal Brian Hess speaks to Seguin City Council on Tuesday. Photo courtesy of the City of Seguin’s Facebook page.
Related Stories:
Sierra Club: San Antonio Doesn’t Need Vista Ridge Pipeline
City Says No Thanks to Niagara Water Bottling Deal
Zoning Change for Water Bottling Plant Paused for a Second Look
Epic fail.
Epic ew.
Does Seguin gets its water from the Edwards aquifer?
As story notes, Seguin gets its water from the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer.
yes it does
I don’t think Sequin gets water from the Edwards aquifer. We don’t in Schertz.
Backward not forward.
Good for Seguin. I appluad them unlike Conservative San Antonio. BTW there will never be a shortage of water. Hurry up and build the Desalinization plant.
“never be a shortage of water”. Really? Do you have a crystal ball? Don’t let recent rains fool you.
Ah, so much hyped spin from the players in this deal: From Seguin’s mayor saying Seguin is the “best choice” for Niagara (classic Texan hyperbole) to the Seguin newspaper trumpeting “family values and community” (whatever that is and whatever that has to do with bottled water production) to that Niagara executive exclaiming what a “special place” Seguin is (now that San Antonio didn’t go for his deal).
Cut the crap, folks…this is all about money. Niagara is getting cheap water and tax breaks and Seguin THINKS it’s getting an economic boost. Let’s just see how all this plays out.
Meanwhile….aren’t we supposed to be teaching the public to buy a couple of reusable water bottles and a water filter and fill ‘er up at home rather than buying bottled water that wastes resources in transportation, petroleum-based plastic bottles, and recycling (at best) costs????? I’ve been using the same four stainless steel bottles since 2008 — and I’m no model citizen by far. If I can do it, everyone can do it. Oh, right….now I’m impinging on folks’ “freedom”. Yeah, freedom to waste resources idiotically. Grumble, grumble, grumble…
The invisible man is losing this conversation. Tax breaks are a government problem with incentives. Both parties use these incentives like subsidies. Both parties have corporate sponsors except that these parties must yield to popular public opinion at the appropriate time. This is politically popular in Seguin and unpopular in San Antonio. Politics is a popularity contest that can be bought at the right time. Politicians hardly do what’s right or just. They do what’s popular. Just my pessimistic opinion.
PS to my previous post: Seguin does indeed have “family values,” as its newspaper stated, for a lesbian couple was married there Friday after the Supreme Court ruling. Seguin/Guadalupe County IS indeed a special place in that it did NOT block equal access to marriage as some other Texas counties have. In Seguin, “family values” apply to same-sex families as well. I wonder what Niagara’s corporate policy on same-sex spousal benefits has been prior to SCOTUS ruling?
Really…who cares?
Many people do care. Obviously you don’t, but who cares about that?
More to the point, many companies would NOT consider moving to a TX community that did not offer equal rights to all its employees. If Abbott/Patrick/Paxton etc. are at all successful in creating a hostile environment for same-sex couples, then many decision-makers at companies considering a move to TX will be prone to side-step Texas for another state that upholds the Constitution correctly — allowing full access to marriage by all its employees. It’s happened already…as Abbott is learning as he badgers other states to send bizness to Texas.