Council awards CDBG wastewater electrical contract, authorizes $127,449 in local funds; staff outlines Section 3 requirements

The City Council on July 14 approved a low bid from Alliance Electrical Group LLC for the McGregor wastewater electrical improvements project funded by a Texas CDBG grant (CDBG23-0172) and authorized the city manager to allocate $127,449.60 in additional local funds to cover bid increases. Walker Partners staff reported two bids were received; the low base bid from Alliance was $421,360 with an additive alternate of $156,189.60, producing a total contract amount of $577,549.60. Staff told council the engineer’s estimate was approximately $525,000. Walker Partners and procurement staff said Alliance had performed subcontract electrical work for the city previously and that staff had checked references. Before voting, Walker Partners reminded council that the grant originally covered $400,100 with a city match commitment of $50,000 and that the additional $127,449.60 would come from the utility fund. Staff said awarding both the base bid and the alternate would accomplish a new chemical storage building and electrical upgrades to separate chemical storage from electrical equipment. Council motioned and carried to award the contract to Alliance and then separately motioned and carried to authorize the city manager to allocate the additional $127,449.60 of local funds so the project could be completed. Meeting minutes show the motions carried with no recorded dissents. In a linked presentation, Shawna Kinolli of GrantWorks briefed the council on Section 3 obligations attached to federal CDBG funds. She explained Section 3 aims to direct economic opportunities created by CDBG funding to low- and very-low-income persons and businesses and described registration and documentation requirements for Section 3 businesses and workers. Kinolli emphasized the city must track hours worked on the project by worker category and stated that, while bid contractors supply much of the workforce, the city must still solicit historically underutilized, minority- and women-owned firms and collect required income documentation for reporting under federal regulations.