City engineer recommends $900,000 work to restore required pressure for Skyway Gardens development

An engineering consultant told the City Council workshop that the Skyway Gardens subdivision on the city’s south end lacks sufficient water pressure under its current connection to the lower-hill pressure plane and recommended a network realignment and new dedicated piping.

Andy Visalia, an engineer with Jacob & Martin, said the lower-hill pressure plane “will not meet the 35 PSI criteria” required under TCEQ rules for distribution pressure. He recommended moving the Skyway area and about “450 customers plus or minus” from the lower-hill plane to the Sol Ross (east) pressure plane and installing a dedicated transmission line and isolation (gate) valves to hold the pressure boundary.

The consultant described the physical fix as a series of gate-valve closures to separate pressure planes, plus a new dedicated pipeline from the lower‑hill area to the suction side of the East booster pump station. “To do this, you have to close system valves… the way to do that typically is having gate valves in the water system that you just open and close,” Visalia said. He added that the team assumed as a conservative baseline that many existing gate valves are either missing or inoperable and would need replacement.

Visalia provided a cost opinion that covered construction and typical non‑construction project costs: “This would provide a total project, cost opinion of approximately $900,000,” he said, describing roughly $767,000 as the contractor construction portion before contingencies and engineering fees. He said the construction contingency used in the estimate was about 10 percent.

Council members asked whether Skyway Gardens currently has water service; Visalia said the neighborhood is in service but that, under the existing lower-hill connection, pressures would fall below the TCEQ 35 PSI requirement. He also confirmed the 20 PSI lower limit specified for fire-flow provisions.

Visalia and staff discussed implementation practicalities. The project requires installing and/or repairing perhaps 15–20 gate valves (the consultant’s conservative assumption) and building a dedicated 12‑inch transmission line to avoid creating an interconnection that would defeat the intended pressure boundary.

City staff and the consultant noted staffing constraints: Visalia said the work is straightforward engineering and construction but that municipal crews are constrained and that contracting the work will likely be necessary. Councilmembers did not take formal action at the workshop; the presentation closed with councilmembers thanking the presenter and asking staff to follow up with a schedule and budget recommendation.

Visalia also recommended that staff first confirm which gate valves currently operate before replacing any, since operable valves could reduce cost. He said the firm could walk staff through existing work products and provide implementation support when city staff have capacity.

The council did not vote on the Skyway recommendation during the workshop. Staff indicated they will return with more detailed cost and scheduling information for council consideration.

Ending: Council members thanked Visalia for the presentation and emphasized the need to equip water staff to implement the recommended fixes; no formal funding decision was made at the workshop.