Van Zandt County commissioners voted to award the construction contract for the Little Hopemore Water Supply Company water improvements to Crabtree Underground Utilities LLC, with the county judge authorized to sign once indemnification concerns are resolved.

The contract award follows a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) through the Texas Department of Agriculture for water-line work tied to grant contract CDBG23-0273. Justin Meyer, who identified himself as a grant administrator, told the court the grant will fund installation of 6-inch and 8-inch water lines and that the county’s local match is $10,000 paid by the water supply entity.

The grant administrator explained that the Section 3 provisions of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 require recipients to “direct economic opportunities generated by the CDBG funds to low and very low income persons” to the greatest extent feasible. Meyer said the grant administrator and county staff will track certified payrolls and conduct random employee interviews to verify Section 3 hours and report compliance to the Texas Department of Agriculture. “We do everything to make sure the county does everything properly,” Meyer said.

Stevens Engineering completed design work and the county opened bids. The engineer recommended Crabtree Underground Utilities as the lowest apparent, responsive bidder, and court documents and discussion showed the bid tab and engineer’s reference checks supported that recommendation. The commissioners instructed staff to include in the motion the contractor name and dollar amount. The motion to award the bid to Crabtree Underground Utilities LLC for $369,954.79 passed, with the judge given authority to execute the contract pending review for indemnification.

County officials and the grant administrator told the court that engineering and administration fees plus other project expenses are covered within the overall $500,000 award and that the construction award comes in under the total grant budget. Meyer noted that the grant administrator and engineer were procured consistent with 2 CFR 200 procurement rules and preapproved by TDA.

What the court decided and next steps: the commissioners approved the award, but the judge will not execute the contract until county counsel and staff confirm whether the county is indemnified against any loss if federal or state compliance issues arise. Staff said a digital copy of the TDA contract and county files exist and will be circulated to commissioners and the judge’s office for review. If executed, staff said standard project administration will include certified payroll review, payroll interviews, environmental clearance, and reporting to TDA.

Details and limits: the court discussion clarified Section 3 is a compliance and outreach requirement rather than an absolute hiring quota; contractors must promote Section 3 opportunities but are not automatically penalized if Section 3 hours do not reach the 75 percent ownership or labor-hour thresholds that qualify a business as a Section 3 business. The engineer and grant administrator will monitor payrolls and report hours to TDA. The commissioners also discussed a contingency plan to use leftover grant dollars for additional cleared water-line work if the project comes in under budget.

A formal construction contract amount was discussed in multiple figures during the meeting; the award motion used $369,954.79 as the contract figure, and staff noted the broader construction budget and allowances previously reported to the court. The judge and county staff will confirm final contract exhibits and indemnification language before executing the contract.