Mayor’s Corner
Today I would like to address where we stand on construction of the Collection System, including several major challenges before us.
First, to be clear that when we talk about the Collection System, this is the underground pipe that is being laid to carry the sewage for treatment. These are primarily gravity lines – meaning the sewage moves down through the pipe beginning in the downtown area at Cypress Creek, then ending at a low point at the Blanco River and RR 12 Bridge. At that location there will be a lift station that pumps the waste to the Blue Hole Park for treatment. The Collection System does not include the significant cost that individual property owners will bear to connect to the sewer and decommission their septic tanks. The City had planned to pay for such customer connections, but this assistance was removed from the scope of the project last year when the Collection System cost far exceeded the estimate. I will save this discussion on the cost impact to the sewer customers in a future Mayor’s Corner, as I feel it is important for customers to know what was decided by the previous Council regarding connection requirements.
We have been fortunate to have a quality company performing the construction work – Capital Excavation out of Austin. This is the most expensive portion of the sewer project at $3.6 million (which was $1.4 million, or 60% over the preliminary budget estimate). Progress continues, but in all projects of this nature there are issues that arise – some small and some large, some unforeseeable and some that better planning could have prevented. I would like to address some of the larger issues. Unfortunately, some of these could have a significant impact on the project, with real possibilities of delays and additional costs. The three areas relate to obtaining and having in place necessary easements, property acquisitions and permits.
Here is a bit of background about these critical elements in a project such as this. According to standard practice, all right-ofway easements, construction easements, property acquisitions and TXDOT permits should be in place prior to bidding out a project at best, but certainly before entering in a contract and giving the contractor notice to proceed. This is a prudent, common sense practice so as to prevent delays, extra cost and possibly worse – the inability to complete a project without all of these in place.
Easements and Property Acquisitions. Prior to beginning construction, many right-of-way easements were obtained along the planned location of the sewer lines. However, once construction began, some line routings have been modified, resulting in the need for new rightof-way easements. Construction easements are temporary easements that facilitate construction due to large equipment and space required for digging. Unfortunately, such easements were not adequately planned. As it stands, some right-of-way and construction easements have been obtained and many are still yet to be acquired. One of the biggest issues relates to the proposed location of the lift station by the RR 12 Blanco River bridge, the crucial piece of the Collection System. The lift station cannot be located at the engineered site because of overhead PEC powerlines that prevent it from being located there. Thus, another acceptable location must be found and private property acquired in order to proceed.
TXDOT Permits. TXDOT permits are required for any work performed that affect state roads. Not all permits are in hand as of today – all of which are critical and may cause delay or result in the need to reroute the sewer lines. For example, there are major issues related to the intersection of RR 12 and RM 3237 because of TXDOT’s intention to modify/improve this intersection, meaning that the proposed line must be moved.
It is unfortunate that we did not perform all the proper planning, due diligence and necessary required actions to ensure these critical items were in place prior to beginning actual construction. Furthermore, TRC Engineers performed an independent engineering review of the project which was commissioned by the City. In their report dated June 13, 2017 they identified a long list of deficiencies. In particular: “A permit for work to be done in the TXDOT State right-of-way was not obtained. Executing the Construction contract prior to having State of Texas permits in hand is a risk.” In their response, the City acknowledged the issue and accepted responsibility. Unfortunately a year later this has yet to be accomplished.
Trust was given to the City leadership who had consistently told its citizens over the past couple of years that the project was “shovel ready”. However, after verification it is clear that it was not then and unfortunately is not as of today.
What does all of this mean? It means that much effort will be required to overcome these hurdles – by City staff, our engineers, TXDOT and our contractor. Potential consequences could include project delays and change orders which will likely incur a price tag. However, we will continue with diligence to face these and other challenges that lie ahead.