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Council approves multiple Georgetown Municipal Water & Sewer purchases and construction payouts
Summary
Council accepted annual chemical bids, multiple cured-in-place pipe work orders and several equipment and maintenance purchases for the municipal water and sewer system; the council also approved contractor payouts for WWTP work and an operations center project funded with a state line-item grant.
The Georgetown City Council approved several Georgetown Municipal Water & Sewer (GMWS) procurement items and construction payouts at its Jan. 27 meeting, voting to accept annual chemical bids and multiple vendor work orders and to pay contractors for work completed on the wastewater treatment plant project.
GMWS presented its annual competitive procurement results for chemicals and routine parts. Staff said purchases in excess of $10,000 require council approval under local procurement rules; the packet and presentation showed some bid decreases from last year and a few increases with limited budgetary impact. Council voted to accept the annual chemical bids and to allow staff to purchase as needed during the year.
The council approved three work orders for cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) lining from Insituform Technologies to rehabilitate about 1,000 feet of sewer pipe in the East College Street area; the three work orders totaled $33,552.71 and were presented as budgeted collections operations work meant to reduce infiltration and inflow without street excavation.
Other approved items included a pump replacement purchase from Strafer Pump & Supply (Cainwood pump station No. 2) and an annual phosphorus-monitoring maintenance contract for equipment calibration and SCADA support. The council also accepted a series of vendor quotes and formal purchase orders to be used during the fiscal year as needed.
On capital work, the council approved a $440,000.10 payout to Judy Construction for work completed at Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) No. 1, with staff reporting the project is near completion and approaching beneficial use (targeted March 31). Staff also presented an operations-center construction contract with Judy Construction, a $629,129 purchase order to build a modest operations center for the sewer collections group. Staff told council that the operations-center project is being funded from a $7,000,000 line-item state grant received last year (sponsored by Senator Thayer) and is not charged to rate revenue.
Staff said the Insituform CIPP work and the pump purchases are budgeted in the collections and operations budgets, that work orders are prioritized by CCTV inspection and customer call volume, and that the WWTP project has purchased and stored equipment to limit price escalation. Council took voice votes on most items; staff said the procurement process includes follow-up price checks during the year to secure best pricing on day-of purchase.
Council asked for a fiscal snapshot showing where GMWS stands six months into the fiscal year; GMWS staff said they would circulate that information to members. Council members also pressed for clarification on pump sizing and on the project schedule for beneficial use of the upgraded WWTP.
