15 - Wastewater Treatment Plant - rehabilitation and replacement

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Item No. 15 TO: Mayor & City Council FROM: John Godwin, City Manager SUBJECT: WASTEWATER (SEWER) TREATMENT PLANT DATE: April 15, 2019 BACKGROUND: As we have discussed for many years, the WWTP is very old, very inefficient, and in need of complete rehabilitation and some component replacements. Beginning in September 2013 the city began the process of identifying an engineering firm to help us with this crucial project. Four large, experienced firms submitted their qualifications. An evaluation team narrowed the choices to three, each of which made presentations in April 2014. Staff then visited wastewater treatment facilities designed by each firm. In October 2014 evaluations were completed by the team. Following thorough consideration, Garver was selected as the preferred firm for the project. A Memorandum of Understanding was executed with Garver following city council approval. Between December 2014 and August 2015 Garver joined us in meetings in Austin with the Texas Water Development Board to explore funding options, completed preliminary investigative work, and also participated in meetings with the city and board member Kathleen Jackson here locally, all at no cost to the city. In January 2016 staff recommended that the council authorize the hiring of Garver to perform phase 1 engineering work; however, the council decided against that project, partly because no funds were available for construction. STATUS OF ISSUE: This is a multi-year project, so it is very important to begin as soon as practical. The first phase will alone take very many months; complete engineering and permit work will likely take 18-24 months, and construction two to three years more. We cannot wait until things get even worse or the state steps in and requires us to act under threat of significant fines. Our old inefficient plant is well -taken care of and managed, but a major failure could be extremely costly in fines and repairs/replacement, and the health risks are significant. It is always better to hire an engineering firm and a construction company proactively rather than while under a TECQ enforcement order. Our current plant is also insufficient to handle any increase in industrial demand that might arise from successful economic development activity. A new plant will be quite expensive and necessitate increases in wastewater rates for our customers. The average increase should be about $7.60 per customer per month; large customers