Alpine adopts wastewater asset-management plan after consultant warns of multimillion-dollar backlog

The Alpine City Council on Tuesday approved a final wastewater system asset-management plan that lays out a 10- to 50-year schedule of repairs and replacements for collection and treatment infrastructure and recommends immediate condition assessment work to prioritize projects.

Consultants from Jacob & Martin presented the plan and told council the city faces large, concentrated replacement needs for underground sewer piping and treatment-plant components. “In year 1, [the] need is nearly $9,000,000,” said Andy Busani of Jacob & Martin, summarizing the spreadsheet outputs the firm prepared for Alpine. The plan also recommended targeted inspections and rehabilitation options that could substantially reduce immediate capital needs.

The plan matters because many underground assets—manholes and gravity sewer lines—already exceed expected lifespans in the consultants’ inventory. Busani said a focused condition assessment using CCTV inspection would allow the city to prioritize true failures and to consider rehabilitation options such as liners and spot repairs rather than wholesale replacement. The consultant estimated that a condition assessment could reduce the first‑year replacement estimate by about $7 million in the draft figures shown to council.

Jacob & Martin’s submission was prepared under the Texas Water Development Board’s AMPS (Asset Management Program for Small Systems) grant program; the consultants said the program supplied up to $100,000 in professional services to produce the plan. The final packet includes five related reports—asset inventory and condition worksheets, a comprehensive planning worksheet, an emergency response plan, operations and maintenance guidance, and a compliance checklist tied to the plant’s MPDES/TCEQ obligations.

Council members pressed for practical next steps. Councilmember Stevens said the plan suggested an operating shortfall for the wastewater fund and noted the large numbers the spreadsheet produced, including model outputs that showed an extreme rate impact if Alpine were to fund all recommended replacements immediately: “That is a no‑go for us,” Stevens said, referring to the consultant’s modeled monthly rate estimate. Busani urged a staged approach—camera inspections, selective rehabilitation, continued grant applications to the Texas Water Development Board and low‑interest loans—and recommended a formal rate study after the condition assessment.

City staff said some projects already are underway under other funding lines; the council approved the plan to qualify for follow-up actions under the Texas Water Development Board program, to support subsequent grant applications and to guide capital planning. The resolution approving the final wastewater system asset-management plan was adopted unanimously.

Council directed staff to schedule follow‑up work: (1) contract or procure a CCTV condition assessment of gravity sewer mains and manholes; (2) continue annual updates to the RG‑530 asset management spreadsheet; (3) pursue available grants and low‑interest loans; and (4) bring a scope and schedule for a rate study following the condition assessment.

The consultants and staff said Jacob & Martin will return to provide additional training for city GIS and utility staff and conduct a required nine‑month follow‑up visit for the AMPS program to confirm local implementation.

The council’s vote concludes a multi‑month technical engagement and gives the city a written, TCEQ‑ and TWDB‑oriented plan to guide both short‑term repairs and long‑range capital funding decisions. For the next meeting the consultants and staff will return with more detailed cost estimates and options for a phased condition‑assessment contract.