Graham council approves transfer of up to $700,000 to buy generators for water plant and critical facilities

The Graham City Council on May 20 authorized up to $700,000 in transfers from the lake fund to the water capital fund to acquire and install three commercial generators for the city’s water treatment plant and to repurpose two previously purchased generators for other critical facilities.

City staff said the Texas Department of Emergency Management awarded a $400,000 grant toward generator acquisition but the lowest responsive bid for purchase and installation totaled roughly $1.1 million. The council voted to use lake-fund reserves to cover the remainder so the project can proceed under state procurement rules requiring approved vendors.

City Manager Eric Garrity described the plan: the three new generators purchased under the grant will be installed at the water treatment plant to provide redundant power for intake pumps, clarifiers and controls; the two existing generators the city previously acquired but could not install at the plant will be repurposed for emergency use at the arena, police department and other critical facilities.

Garrity told council the lake fund cash balance is about $2.5 million. He said the repurposing plan would result in five generators across at least three critical facilities, improving resilience for water service and emergency operations. Garrity also explained that natural-gas–fueled generators originally intended for the plant required costly gas-line upsizing (estimated at $500,000–$600,000), prompting the city to pursue diesel commercial units under the grant and TDEM-approved vendor list.

Council members asked about bid competition (staff said only one responsive bid was received from state-approved vendors), estimated costs for installing generators at the police department and arena (staff estimated under $100,000 for arena installation), and the useful life of existing equipment (the police generator is about 25 years old and parts are becoming obsolete). Council discussed options to auction the two older units but staff recommended repurposing them to meet near-term resiliency needs.

Motion and outcome: Councilmember Brendan moved to approve the transfer; Councilmember Jeff seconded. The motion passed on a 4–1 vote. Staff will proceed with procurement and installation steps consistent with the TDEM grant and state vendor requirements.

Decision context: Staff framed the project as an investment in water-system resiliency following prior outages and statewide lessons about prolonged power loss. The council discussed potential cost-sharing with county partners for arena equipment and directed staff to return implementation details as needed.