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City outlines $77M wastewater plant project and procurement path to control costs
Summary
Public services staff described a $77 million wastewater treatment plant project split into phases, value-engineering steps that reduced the scope and cost, and a move away from construction-manager-at-risk procurement toward sealed proposals that weigh price and contractor experience.
City public-services staff briefed the council on Sept. 9 about a large wastewater treatment plant project the city plans to advertise for construction within about 30 days, describing new cost estimates, scope adjustments and procurement strategy.
Director of Public Services Erin Russell said the project’s current estimate is $77,000,000. That figure reflects revisions after a contractor’s early 60% design estimate showed a much larger number; the city commissioned an independent third‑party cost estimator and then modified the scope to manage rate impact.
Why it matters: the project is intended to satisfy Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) permit requirements and to avoid large short‑term sewer‑rate increases by phasing and value engineering.
Russell said the original scope included rehabilitation of existing aeration basins plus four new basins; staff elected to build four new, slightly larger basins and omit some rehab work to reduce near‑term cost by “about $7–8 million.” The project also includes a new blower building; to reduce HVAC costs staff moved heat‑generating equipment outside the conditioned space. Russell said switching to HDPE (high‑density polyethylene) pipe rather than ductile iron saved nearly $4 million and is expected to deliver longer service life.
Procurement: staff said the city will use a sealed‑proposal procurement that evaluates price and contractor experience, rather than the construction‑manager‑at‑risk (CMAR) model used early in design. Russell said several large plant projects regionally have seen high CMAR bids because only a small number of contractors build treatment plants; that market dynamic encouraged the city to change approach.
Russell told council design is complete, specifications are being finalized and staff plans to advertise the procurement within 30 days. She credited staff member Aaron for challenging high early contractor cost estimates and pursuing value engineering.
Council comments noted regional trends: staff cited discussions with Dallas Water Utilities and others who are similarly moving away from CMAR on plant projects because a limited contractor pool can push prices up. No formal contract award occurred at the meeting; council received the briefing and will later consider bids and any contract award.
