Sewer project spends $1.4M

The city of Wimberley reported last week that nearly $1.4 million has been spent on the sewer system thus far, but some on the council questioned the costs submitted from one of the contractors.

So far, Black Castle, which is building the wastewater treatment plant, has spent $749,000. Councilmember Gary Barchfeld said he was “surprised” by the number and questioned whether or not the company had “frontloaded” the contract.

Jaggers said the city would look into the expenses to see which the city felt were necessary. This was one of the reasons Jaggers cited for the city pausing the treatment plant contract and the city discussed extending that pause past the original 30-day mark.

For the collection system, $625,000 have been spent with about 10 to 12 percent of the contract finished. So far, 4,000 feet of lines have been placed. City Administrator Shawn Cox said that the line on Rio Bonito has been completed along with the line on Blue Herron Road. The work on Oak Drive is halfway completed.

The city is still determining the next construction location as some changes have been made to the plans on the Wimberley Square, which was expected to be next on the list. Due to a change in location for where the collection system can reach the shops in The Quarter, which is closest to Cypress Creek, it will allow the lines on the Square to be raised about four feet.

“Upon doing some research in the Square, we found out a lot of businesses are on a pump system that pump to a higher septic tank,” Project Manager Jim Schoonover said. “(The sewage) went into one septic below them and pulled from there up to a higher septic tank. With that being where it is at, we can cut off about 100 feet of line, raise that portion of the line about four feet and raise the line on Henson four feet, which saves money.”

The change may cause Capital Excavation, which is installing the sewer lines, to take a week or two break while a new location is determined.

The city also approved two road repair projects. The roadways on either side of the Hidden Valley low water crossing will be repaired as the city moved forward with a contract with Myers Construction to complete the work.

Construction on the new low water crossing, built in 2017 after washing away in the floods two years earlier, damaged the existing roadways. The city contracted with Myers Construction to repair the roads for just under $50,000.

The city also approved a contract with Pendleton Excavation to repair pot holes throughout the city.

“I’ve driven all the roads and as far,” Public Works Director Aaron Reed said. “I’m sure there are some more out there, but we are confident we have marked most of the pot holes.”

The pot hole repair is expected to start within the next two weeks.