Fast growth fuels utility upgrades in Sherman

SHERMAN, Texas (KTEN) — Sherman is getting its utility network ready for the demands of semiconductor manufacturers Texas Instruments and GlobalWafers which are expanding operations.

"The City of Sherman has really kind of gone into overdrive mode when it comes to planning to make sure that we have the utilities ready," said city spokesperson Nate Strauch.

The City Council approved hundreds of millions of dollars of upgrades to the water and wastewater systems.

"That will be undergoing a major renovation, really kind of adding a whole second plant out there that'll add 30 million gallons of capacity per day," Strauch said. "On the sewage side, we'll be adding at least four million, possibly up to 8 million gallons down there off of Highway 11."

And Sherman taxpayers won't have to pay that bill.

"TI and GlobalWafers are going to be kind of providing and paying for upgrades to every step of our utility process," Strauch said.

However, with this high demand, Sherman is weaning off some of its wholesale customers, like the City of Howe.

"We've been a part of their wastewater service for a number of years, going back into the late 60s," said Howe City Administrator Jeff Stanley. "We helped with a grant to get their wastewater treatment plant, back in the late 60s, early 70s."

Howe is now planning for its own wastewater treatment plant.

"With TCEQ, we're waiting on them to get back with us on the exact placement and sizing that we need," Stanley said. "Once that happens, we'll go back to them with permitting, and hopefully land acquisition."

Sherman will stop providing wastewater services to Howe after the spring of 2025.

"We have plenty of water, we will have plenty of sewage capacity by the time [TI and GlobalWafers] open up," Strauch said. "But we really need to reserve all of our utilities for our actual customers who live in the city."