Operations committee approves a series of city contracts and minor works, all motions pass

The Tuscaloosa City Operations Committee on an undisclosed meeting date approved a set of professional services and minor public-works contracts, with committee members voting “aye” on each motion.

Committee members approved a professional services agreement with Jacobs Engineering Group for operational-technology maintenance and support at the Ed Love water treatment plant, not to exceed $96,500. Brian Gurney, a city staff presenter, described the work as monitoring and maintaining the plant’s SCADA and control systems, reviewing alerts and logs, producing monthly deliverables and providing as-needed updates and user-interface modifications. Funding was identified as coming from the city’s outside services operational account.

The committee approved a minor public-works contract with Suncoast Infrastructure to clean and video-inspect a 24-inch sewer main in the vicinity of Nucor Steel, for a contract total recorded in the meeting as $414,300. Staff said the cleaning was required because city equipment was not large enough to perform the work in-house; the sewer main is on a rotation for cleaning but this specific cleaning was prompted after an attempted in-house cleaning failed.

The committee also approved a professional services agreement with TTL Inc. for design, bidding and construction-phase services for the Mercedes‑Benz Phase 3 pipeline replacement project. The contract amount was listed as $398,000. Staff said the project will replace about 2,600 linear feet of ductile-iron force main with HDPE and replace 31 air-release valves along the corridor. Staff estimated design would take about five months and said the work is funded through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF).

A separate professional services contract with Jacobs Engineering Group was approved for a water-tank maintenance master plan not to exceed $79,000. Staff said Jacobs will model taking each of the city’s water tanks and clear wells offline to determine infrastructure improvements needed to maintain service during inspections and cleaning; the city identified 13 water tanks and three clear wells and said the plan will take about four months. Finance committee budget action was noted as accompanying this item.

Smaller public-works and facility items approved included: - Rekeying and new hardware for Fire Station No. 6 (26 doors; contract $7,285). - Construction contract award to NC Morgan Construction Company for a police logistics building at the public-safety logistics site (contract amount described as about $1.1 million; NC Morgan was the lowest of eight bidders). - Replacement of a steel roll-up door (contract $16,465) and two overhead doors at the Public Works concrete shop (contracts $15,907 and $15,970) funded from facility renewal/5-year facility plan accounts. - Sanding and repainting columns on the SkyBridge at City Hall (K & A Builders; $11,857). - Annual agreement with the National Museum of the United States Air Force to continue the static display of a 33A jet aircraft at the Tuscaloosa National Airport (no contract dollar amount specified in the meeting).

All motions were made, seconded and approved by voice vote; the transcript records repeated “aye” responses and several items concluded with “motion is carried” or “it is so ordered.” No recorded votes showing individual member names or numeric tallies were provided in the meeting transcript.

Why it matters: Together, the approvals advance routine maintenance and planned capital work that city staff said are necessary to maintain water and sewer service, address aging facility components, and expand logistics capacity for public safety operations. Several items are funded from existing utility or facility renewal accounts; at least one pipeline project is supported by the state Clean Water SRF program.

The committee scheduled its next projects committee meeting for Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, at 2:30 p.m.