Plans to expand Prosper and Celina’s shared water reclamation plant are moving forward.

At their respective Dec. 9 meetings, Prosper Town Council and Celina City Council received an update on the Upper Trinity Regional Water District Doe Branch Water Reclamation Plant, which serves both communities.

What happened: Celina City Council unanimously approved a $12 million increase to the project’s most recent contract amendment. According to Celina city documents, the project will expand the plant’s capacity from 4 million gallons per day to 12 mgd and add a wastewater pipeline extension from the plant to Fishtrap Road.

Some context: The plant was previously expanded in 2021, but continued population growth in both municipalities prompted the need for another expansion.

What it means: Celina City Manager Robert Ranc said the $12 million increase alone will not immediately raise the city’s wastewater utility rates, but future rate increases are possible due to the overall infrastructure investment. Prosper officials approved raising residential water and wastewater rates last fall as part of adopting the town’s fiscal year 2025-26 budget. 

A new Italian restaurant is opening soon in Celina.

Zooming in: Owner Hamza Milhem said in an email Capo's Pizza & Pasta is currently under construction and is scheduled to open in February.

Milhem said the new restaurant is the result of many years of “hands-on experience” in the restaurant industry. The menu will feature New York-style pizzas, fresh pasta, sandwiches and more. 

Quote of note: “From the beginning, the goal was never to open just another restaurant, but to create a neighborhood gathering place where families feel welcome and guests feel at home from their very first visit,” Milhem said.

• 2720 W. Frontier Parkway, Ste. 110, Prosper

Denton County My Health My Resource Center announced it was targeted by a data breach by an “unauthorized party” on or around Dec. 24, 2024, which affected 108,967 patients, the center confirmed.

In a nutshell: Denton County MHMR Center stated in a news release Dec. 30 that officials took “immediate action” when they noticed unusual activity on the center’s network. After hiring a third party to investigate the activity, it was determined that the breach occurred between Dec. 24 and Dec. 25, 2024.

The center received official results after a more in-depth investigation Oct. 10 that determined nearly 109,000 former and current patients’ information was possibly impacted, including names, addresses, dates of birth, medical history and medical records.

What’s next? The center stated it has partnered with a third party to ensure additional security is being taken and that its policies and procedures related to data protection are being reviewed.

See five transportation projects happening around Dallas Fort Worth. 

Collin County

Lebanon Road widening in Frisco

Project: Lebanon Road will be widened from a four-lane roadway to a six-lane divided roadway from FM 423 to Todd Drive. Improvements include pavement reconstruction, bridge repair, drainage improvements and street light replacement, among others.

Update: Construction was anticipated to begin in December 2025.

Timeline: October 2025-late 2027

Cost: $22.99 million

Funding sources: city of Frisco, external funding

Hundreds of Texas private schools have been approved to participate in the state’s new education savings account program, per a map released by the state comptroller in early January.

The overview: As of press time, 775 private schools and prekindergarten providers had been approved to accept education savings accounts, or ESAs. There are over 1,300 accredited private schools in the state, according to the Texas Private School Accreditation Commission. 

Of the approved schools, there are:

• 233 schools in the Houston area
• 195 schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area
• 94 schools in the San Antonio area
• 70 schools in the Austin area