On December 8th there was a meeting at LIV. This meeting was requested by NADBank (North American Development Bank). NADBank is the organization that LMWD applied to for the $20.8 million dollars needed for the LIV Infrastructure project. This meeting was attended by representatives from NADBank, LMWD, SWG engineering, LIV Infrastructure committee, LIV Board President and LIV management team. NADBank had requested this project site visit as part of their approval process required before finalizing their loan to LMWD. NADBank explained that they provided funding for projects along the US/Mexico border necessary to improve the infrastructure in communities that had clearly defined need but had not received requested grants. LMWD and SWG Engineering explained the LIV project and why the loan was needed. LIV Management and the LIV infrastructure committee hosted a golf cart tour of LIV explaining how our community has grown over the years and why the planned project was so important. The NADBank team was very pleased with their visit and said that they would recommend to their Board of Directors in April that the funding be approved.
On December 12 several members of the LIV Infrastructure committee were invited to attend a meeting held at the AEP offices in San Benito. This meeting included representatives from AEP, SWG engineering and LIV infrastructure committee. Ron Miller & Romeo Rodriquez on the LIV Infrastructure committee are both retired AEP employees and have been communicating with AEP in an effort to get the electric grid in LIV upgraded in coordination with our fresh water and waste water infrastructure project. This was an engineering meeting which I listened to but did not participate in. However it was very obvious that AEP wanted to be a part of the project. SWG provided a timeline for the project so plans could be made to order needed equipment.
Funding to be approved in April, engineering plans to be finalized equipment to be ordered and received and contractors to be hired prior to the end of 2023. Construction to begin early January 2024 and project to be completed by the end of 2024.