FY2025 Community Project Funding

FY2025 Community Project Funding

Project Name: Tarrant County Law Enforcement Training Center and Range Equipment Modernization
Project Recipient: Tarrant County, TX
Project Recipient Address: 100 E. Weatherford, Fort Worth, TX, 76196
Amount Requested: $10,000,000
Purpose: Funding will be used to support the procurement of professional services, IT service improvements, special equipment, facilities equipment, furnishings, and operational expenses for the Tarrant County Law Enforcement Training Center and Range Center. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because it will enhance the training of Tarrant County’s current and future police officers to meet the needs of Tarrant County’s growing population. The training center will also act as a regional training hub for twelve neighboring law enforcement departments from throughout Texas’ 12th Congressional District, helping train nearly 5,500 police officers annually.

Project Name: Comprehensive Community Human Trafficking Prevention & Victim Identification and Services
Project Recipient: Unbound Now
Project Recipient Address: 5049 Trail Lake Dr., Fort Worth, TX, 76133
Amount Requested: $622,000
Purpose: Funding will be used to support Unbound Now’s 24/7 crisis response and victim advocacy services to survivors of human trafficking. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because it will directly advance the goals of the Byrne Justice Program and Comprehensive Community Human Trafficking Prevention & Victim Identification and Services are a critical part of the community’s response to the scourge of human trafficking.

Project Name: Formation of Aledo Police Department
Project Recipient: City of Aledo
Project Recipient Address: 104 Maverick St., Aledo, TX, 76008
Amount Requested: $400,000
Purpose: Funding will be used to provide necessary equipment and technology for the creation of the Aledo Police Department. Specifically, the procurement of two marked police vehicles equipped with the necessary equipment and safety equipment, as well as the procurement of technology including communication and video systems (dashcams and bodycams). The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because it will help meet the safety needs of a growing municipality.

Project Name: Texas A&M – Fort Worth Center for Aerospace Innovation
Project Recipient: Texas A&M – Fort Worth
Project Recipient Address: 801 Cherry St. Suite 850, Fort Worth, TX, 76102
Amount Requested: $25,000,000
Purpose: Funding will be used to establish the Texas A&M – Fort Worth Center for Aerospace Innovation, an effort to secure U.S. leadership in commercial space manufacturing sector and aviation sector resilience well into the future. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because this proposal would be used to conduct research, develop cutting edge technologies, establish laboratories, and educate and train the next generation aerospace workforce, through partnership with the aerospace ecosystem in Fort Worth. The center will serve will produce a new generation of engineers, with strategic cross-disciplinary training, who can help charter a new era of progress and prosperity for the region, state, and the nation.

Project Name: Tarleton State University at Texas A&M – Fort Worth Enzyme Manufacturing and Biotechnology Research
Project Recipient: Tarleton State University at Texas A&M – Fort Worth
Project Recipient Address: 1501 Calhoun Street, Fort Worth, TX, 76102
Amount Requested: $4,000,000
Purpose: Funding will be used to establish the Tarleton State at Texas A&M – Fort Worth Biotechnology Research and Innovation Institute facility. This project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because the campus will provide a Tier-One research presence, a diverse range of innovative education programming, workforce development, and service programs offered by Texas A&M University System. This unique development sector endeavor will become a magnet for economic growth in the North Texas region.

Project Name: Texas Christian University Innovation Hub
Project Recipient: Texas Christian University
Project Recipient Address: 2800 S. University Dr., Fort Worth, TX, 76109
Amount Requested: $10,000,000
Purpose: Funding will be used to establish research and technology related departments for Texas Christian University’s Energy Security Research Consortium. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because it will research and develop new innovations in both energy and environmental research. The project includes research on developing AI-driven tools to aid in the adaptive restoration of power grids and other critical infrastructure including clean water and sanitation systems in the aftermath of natural disasters like tropical storms, floods, and earthquakes.

Project Name: CASA Radars for Advanced Air Mobility and Natural Hazard Detection
Project Recipient: North Central Texas Council of Governments
Project Recipient Address: 616 Six Flags Dr., Arlington, TX, 76011
Amount Requested: $8,000,000
Purpose: Funding will be used to purchase and install 10 new CASA weather radars to replace existing radars at the end of their life and expand the radar network. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because it will update critical equipment that provides detailed, rapidly updating views of hail, winds, rain, floods, and tornados. The network is used for real-time operations by the National Weather Service and Emergency managers in North Texas. $8 million will cover the costs for equipment and installation. Multiple radars will be installed to provide coverage over the greater DFW/North Texas area including Parker, Tarrant, Wise, Ellis, Dallas, Denton, Collin, Rockwall, and Kauffman counties.

Project Name: Central City, Fort Worth, Upper Trinity River Basin, TX
Project Recipient: Fort Worth District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Project Recipient Address: 819 Taylor Street, Fort Worth, TX, 76102
Amount Requested: $160,000,000
Purpose: The Central City Flood Control Project addresses Fort Worth's flood risks that are a result of explosive population growth, the city having tripled in size since the current levee system was constructed in the 1960s. The Project is located immediately adjacent to downtown Fort Worth, Texas, along the West Fork and Clear Fork of the Trinity River, and downstream of downtown in economically disadvantaged portions of Fort Worth. It consists of a bypass channel, levee system, flood gates, a dam, valley storage, environmental remediation, ecosystem and wetland restoration and other associated improvements to return flood protection to over 2,400 acres of established Fort Worth neighborhoods including nearly 14,000 residents in 7,200 homes and over 1,000 businesses. The immediate need is $160 million in FY2025 to allow for the construction of the South Bypass Channel in a single phase, which will greatly increase efficiency and reduce project costs. And this funding is needed to complete engineering and design of the remaining project features, including the flood gates and dam. Constructing the South Bypass Channel in one phase rather than two is projected to reduce costs by at least 10-15%. Authorized by Congress in 2004 and reauthorized in 2016, the Modified Central City project will provide much needed flood protection to citizens of Fort Worth in the event of a catastrophic flooding event. This multi-benefit flood risk reduction project is key to addressing the impacts of climate change on flooding in the Trinity River, will benefit economically disadvantaged communities that are adjacent to the ecosystem restoration and environmental remediation project components, and is a model example of a federal flood risk reduction project with multiple benefits to the community, perfectly aligned with the Army Corps of Engineer's mission and federal goals. Projects authorized by Congress, including the Modified Central City project, are typically cost-shared between the Federal government using taxpayer dollars and a viable non-Federal sponsor.

Project Name: Flood Mitigation 7th/Linwood Phase 1
Project Recipient: Fort Worth District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Project Recipient Address: 819 Taylor Street, Fort Worth, TX, 76102
Amount Requested: $5,000,000
Purpose: Funding is designated to develop a flood mitigation solution to alleviate recurring property flooding. This funding will provide fieldwork, environmental screening, and preliminary engineering design (30%) to evaluate storage and conveyance solutions in the areas of Bailey Avenue, 6th Street, and White Settlement Road. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because it will help alleviate severe flooding in the Linwood and West 7th area of Fort Worth. Multiple homes and businesses in the area experience regular flooding and sustain damage and loss. Residents and businesses in the area have been looking for solutions from the city of Fort Worth for years.

Project Name: City of Aledo Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion
Project Recipient: City of Aledo
Project Recipient Address: 104 Maverick Street, Aledo, TX 76008
Amount Requested: $6,000,000
Purpose: Funding is designated to expand the city’s wastewater treatment plant from a 0.6 MGD to a 1.2 MGD annual average daily flow treatment to meet the needs of the city’s tremendous population growth and to ensure Texas Commission on Environmental Quality regulations are met. The expansion includes new fine screen, lift station pumps, sequencing batch reactors, post-equalization basin, cloth media filter, UV disinfection, aerated sludge holding tank, and mechanical dewatering. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because without the expansion to the Aledo wastewater treatment plant, there are potential public health risks and environmental hazards associated with sanitary sewer overflow and contaminants possibly leaking into public waterbodies and watersheds.

Project Name: Alliance Airport Taxi-lane and Aircraft Apron
Project Recipient: Alliance Airport
Project Recipient Address: 13901 Aviator Way, Fort Worth, TX, 76177
Requested Amount: $35,000,000
Purpose: Funding is designated to design and construct an aircraft parking apron and access taxi lane to service current and new airport users, foster new privately funded hangar development, and allow expansion of onsite collegiate pilot and aviation maintenance technician certification programs. Existing public aircraft parking aprons are being used to capacity. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because it will allow for Tarrant County College’s Center of Excellence for Aviation to expand its aviation mechanic, commercial airline pilot and avionic technician programs which are vital to the future of the aerospace and aviation workforce. This field was already experiencing shortages before the pandemic and is now facing a crisis.

Project Name: TEXRail Commuter Rail Line Extension
Project Recipient: Trinity Metro
Project Recipient Address: 801 Grove Street, Fort Worth, TX, 76102
Requested Amount: $5,000,000
Purpose: Funding is designated to construct a 2.1-mile single-track extension to the existing 26.8-mile TEXRail commuter rail line into the Fort Worth Medical District. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because it will add connectivity to the region for commuters traveling to and from Fort Worth’s Medical District and surrounding neighborhoods by providing direct rail service to points along the existing TEXRail commuter line.

Project Name: Haslet Farmers Market & Community Teaching Pavilion
Project Recipient: City of Haslet
Project Recipient Address: 101 Main Street, Haslet, TX, 76052
Requested Amount: $2,300,000
Purpose: Funding is designated to construct a new Haslet Farmers Market & Community Teaching Pavilion, which will promote local agriculture, nutrition, economic development, and cultural interaction. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because it will serve as a community marketplace and meeting space for adults and students in communities across North Texas to acquire locally grown produce, receive agricultural and nutritional education, and enhance the sharing of culinary experiences and ideas. This project will also benefit families facing food insecurity.

Link to financial disclosure for Member-Designated Projects.