Portland council approves wastewater and sewer contracts, ratifies emergency reroute and accepts HVAC work

The Portland City Council on April 1 approved several infrastructure measures including an engineering services contract for the Nicholas (Lehi) lift station, ratified an emergency reroute for a damaged US-181 wastewater line, accepted a low bid for trenchless sewer work in Old Town and accepted completion of an animal services HVAC upgrade.

Nicholas lift station engineering: The council approved a professional services agreement with the selected engineering firm for a not-to-exceed amount of $271,334.60. City staff said the Nicholas lift station is about 40 years old, approaching capacity, and serves several basins; the selected firm will perform hydraulic modeling and preliminary engineering to evaluate options including upsized pumps, additional wet wells or rerouting flows. Logan Burton, water practice director for Ardura, told council that the model produced will be city property and usable for future capacity planning. Motion to approve the agreement was made and passed unanimously.

US-181 emergency reroute: Council ratified change order number 1, the final pay application and accepted the US-181 emergency wastewater line reroute project. City staff said crews installed a parallel 24-inch steel casing with a 15-inch PVC carrier line after video inspection in April 2024 showed a failing 15-inch gravity line under U.S. 181 that conveys roughly 70–75% of the city’s wastewater. Engineering fees to LJA were about $116,600 and the construction contract to IPQ Construction was roughly $1,491,490; staff reported the project finished in 80 days, ahead of its 89-day estimate, and came in $97,954.13 under budget. The work was funded from utility reserves with an intent to reimburse with future utility revenue bonds.

Old Town sewer improvements (TDA grant): The council accepted the apparent low bid from Texas Pride Utilities LLC for a Texas Department of Agriculture grant-funded sewer rehabilitation project in Old Town. The grant award is $500,000; staff said the project includes 2,385 feet of replacement using trenchless methods and rehabilitation of six manholes. The recommended contract amount is $159,240; staff and the engineer (LJA) said the low bid was substantially below the engineer’s opinion of probable cost and the bidder had visited the site while others had not. Council approved the contract; staff said change orders are capped at 25% of the total contract amount and the contractor must carry performance bonds.

Animal-services HVAC: Council accepted final completion of an HVAC retrofit at the animal-services facility. The project added mechanical cooling, roof insulation and other changes to better control temperature and noise in kennel areas. Final project cost was $249,021, including two change orders: $3,032 to modify the exterior condenser access and $15,824 for site preparation and an epoxy paint finish after staff found coating issues during construction. The project is closed and funded from general-fund reserves.

Votes at a glance: - Approve minutes, March 18, 2025 (motion: Councilman Sutton; second: Councilman Moore) — Approved (unanimous). - Approve engineering agreement, Nicholas Lehi Station, not to exceed $271,334.60 (mover: Mayor Pro Tem Green/mayor) — Approved (unanimous). - Ratify US-181 emergency wastewater reroute, change order #1 and final pay; authorize city manager to execute documents (mover: Councilman Moore) — Approved (unanimous). - Accept bid: Texas Pride Utilities LLC, TDA contract CDV23-0368, not to exceed $159,240 (mover: Councilman Sutton) — Approved (unanimous). - Accept animal services HVAC project completion; approve change orders #1 and #2 (mover: Councilman Sutton; second: Mayor Pro Tem Green) — Approved (unanimous).

Why it matters: The Nicholas lift station work and the US-181 project address critical wastewater capacity and reliability in parts of the city; the Old Town sewer work uses state grant funds and trenchless methods to limit disruption; the animal-services upgrade responds to public-animal-care conditions. Council votes authorized contracts, accepted completed emergency work and closed out a facility upgrade, all actions with immediate budget and operational implications.

What’s next: Staff said the US-181 utility reserve drawdown will be reimbursed via a future utility revenue bond and that the Nicholas lift-station study will return with modeling results and preliminary cost estimates for council review.