Sunday, May 19, 2024
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Gatesville city leaders got an update on planned improvements at the Stillhouse Wastewater Treatment Plant during a presentation by Mike Clough, a project manager from Walker Partners, acting as the city's engineer.
Bids for the project were received on June 20, and the Gatesville City Council could select a contractor in August, after Walkers Partners takes time to evaluate the bids.
Gatesville will fund the work via a $10 million loan from the Texas Water Development Board.
The city will have to spend more than initially anticipated on the project. The initial estimated cost for the project was $6,653,906, and an agreement for Walker partners to work with the city on the plant's expansion was executed in May 2018. However, five years later, the cost of the plant expansion is now expected to be more than $9.7 million. The final cost will be determined following acceptance of a bid on the project.
Clough said the current plant is "reaching the end of its useful life" and noted that the plant exceeded 90% capacity in 2017. Since then, capacity usage is done to 62%, but improvements are still needed at the facility.
After the council selects a contractor, the Texas Water Development Board will then review that bid.
Work could begin this fall, with an anticipated completion date in the spring of 2025, Clough said.
The plant's capacity will increase from 2.2 million gallons per day to 2.7 million gallons per day. An automated control system will be installed to replace the manual system, the headworks will be improved, and new pumps will be installed.
The new plant will be more efficient, Clough said, which will reduce energy costs, and aeration improvements will also enhance plant operations.
"How long should this (improved facility) last us?" asked Mayor Pro Tem Meredith Rainer.
"The water development board requires 20 years, so a minimum of 20 years," Clough said.
Rainer said the price increase on the plant expansion "is very concerning to me."
Clough said there has been a 15% cost increase in construction year-to-year, with general cost escalations for labor and materials. Part of the increase is also due to modifications to the control system and aeration and a larger control building.
"Probably the biggest electricity cost for the city of Gatesville is aeration at that plant," Clough said. "You will have more upfront costs but there will be savings (due to reduced energy costs) in the long term."
Councilwoman Barbara Burrow asked about the possibility to powering the facility via solar energy.
"It would take several hundred acres of solar panels," Clough said. "I haven't really heard of a similar facility powered by solar."
The council also approved an additional $222,216 payment to Walker Partners to cover the cost of addition several items added during the design phase for the plant. The original agreement between the city and Walker Partners for the Stillhouse plant was for 32 months, according to a council memorandum, but work on the project has been for 58 months so far.
