City approves $6.25 million sewer rehabilitation contract funded by EPA grant

The Temple City Council voted 4-0 to approve a construction contract with Vortex Services LLC of Houston to perform sewer-line rehabilitation under a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant.

"We pay 20% of the project, the EPA pays 80% of the project," Mister Moffett, the utilities presenter, said. The award covers work on the Knott Creek, Little Elm and Garden District sewer systems; the contract amount from the EPA-funded portion is up to $5,000,000 with the required city match of 20%, producing a total not-to-exceed of $6,250,000.

City staff said the work responds to an engineering Sewer Evaluation and Capacity Assurance Plan (CCAP) and will replace older clay sewer pipe with plastic, perform manhole rehabilitation, and increase some pipe sizes where the CCAP identified capacity needs. Moffett said the city received two bids and Vortex was the apparent low bidder; the company has worked on the city’s pipe bursting projects before.

Staff described the contract as an indefinite-delivery-quantity (IDQ) style arrangement driven by available funding and unit pricing. Areas identified for possible work include the Garden District, Bel Air, and downtown/Little Elm sections; Moffett cited overall lengths as context for the system size (about 8 miles in the Garden District, 10 miles in Little Elm and 12.5 miles in Knott/Knott Creek). Moffett said crews expect "there shouldn't be a lot of service interruptions" and that bursting methods generally keep connections active during replacement.

Council Member Grant moved the resolution; Mayor Pro Tem Tim Walker seconded. The council voted 4-0 to adopt the contract resolution.