Argyle authorizes master engineering agreement and $330,000 task order for multi-site drainage work and master plan

Argyle Town Council on April 21 approved a master professional services agreement (MPSA) with Friese & Nichols Inc. to provide on-call engineering for drainage projects, and separately approved Task Order No. 1 under that agreement for an amount not to exceed $330,000 to produce design documents for three priority maintenance locations and to develop a comprehensive townwide drainage master plan.

Scope and purpose: Harrison (staff member) said the MPSA establishes contract terms and allows the town to issue individual task orders for ditch maintenance, design and other stormwater work without renegotiating a full contract on each project. Task Order No. 1 covers detailed design and construction documents for three prioritized maintenance sites — Ben Boyd Road, Hickory Ridge Circle and Harpole Road East — and the creation of a drainage master plan that includes GIS asset inventory, hydrologic modeling, public input and a prioritized list of future improvement projects.

Cost and what’s included: staff presented an estimated $330,000 cost for engineering, data collection, design and construction-phase services over a roughly 24-month schedule. The anticipated construction costs for the three priority sites were discussed in workshop terms; staff estimated a separate ballpark construction cost on the order of several hundred thousand dollars (staff cited an aggregate order‑of‑magnitude figure during discussion); Task Order No. 1 covers engineering and plan development only, not construction contracts.

Why it matters: the town has reported repeated localized drainage issues (standing water, erosion, failing culverts) at the three named locations. Council members described the master plan as a “baseline” that the town and future developers can use for downstream assessments and for coordinating mitigation as growth and development continue.

Operations model: Friese & Nichols representatives explained the practical benefit of a single master agreement: the MPSA contains boilerplate, indemnity and insurance language and then each task order lists scope and compensation — simplifying procurement and permitting. Staff and consultants also discussed strategies to keep the master plan current by feeding development-related updates into the model as new plats and drainage reports are reviewed; council directed staff to include a requirement on subdivision/plat checklists so updates occur as part of the development review process.

Votes and next steps: the council first approved the master professional services agreement by resolution, then approved Task Order No. 1 authorizing the scope and up to $330,000 in funding for engineering services. Friese & Nichols will begin data collection, modeling and design work and will deliver a draft drainage master plan and task-engineering deliverables for the three identified sites. Construction funds will need separate authorization once designs are complete and bids are solicited.

Ending note: council members said they want the master plan to be a living document maintained as development occurs and to be the basis for charging developers for incremental updates when a development’s drainage work alters the townwide model.