PWI committee approves lead-investigation loan, dam-match, and three major water contracts

At its March 6, 2025 meeting, the DeKalb County Public Works and Infrastructure Committee approved four substantive items: acceptance of a GIFA loan to advance the county’s lead-service-line inventory and limited replacement work; an allocation of SPLOST funds as the county match to apply for a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) credit-assistance loan for dam repairs; ratification of an emergency water-main replacement contract for Peachtree Industrial Boulevard; and a multi-vendor award for sanitary-sewer assessment and rehabilitation under the county’s consent decree.

The actions move several high-cost infrastructure efforts toward procurement and construction. Committee members said the loans and contracting decisions are intended to protect public health, support compliance with state and federal requirements, and reduce the risk of infrastructure failures that could affect hospitals, businesses and neighborhoods.

Acceptance of GIFA loan for lead-service-line work Director Wells and an assistant director from Watershed Management briefed the committee on a GIFA loan application intended to fund the county’s obligations under the EPA’s lead and copper rule improvements. Watershed staff reported the county has not identified any lead service lines to date but still needs to complete a private-side inventory and targeted investigations. Committee documents and presenters listed the loan at roughly $16.48 million, with about $14.93 million budgeted for engineering and administrative services and a small allocation (reported as about $1.4 million) set aside for direct replacement work if lead is found. Assistant director Dora summarized the risk: "lead is very dangerous to human health." The committee voted to accept the GIFA loan and forward the item as recommended.

SPLOST match for USACE CWIFP dam-repair loan Staff presented a proposal to appropriate SPLOST funding as DeKalb’s required match to pursue the USACE Credit Assistance Program (referred to in the packet as CWIFP) for dam repair and rehabilitation. Presenters said USACE would fund about 80% of a draft program covering repairs to category 1 and 2 dams; staff identified a loan amount of $29,000,606 and stated the county’s obligation would be roughly $7.0 million. The committee approved the request to appropriate approximately $7.4 million in SPLOST-derived funds (described in committee materials as roughly $4.9 million from water/stormwater and $2.5 million from parks) to meet the match requirement and directed staff to pursue the full CWIFP application with a target submittal before the September 2025 deadline.

Ratification of emergency Peachtree Industrial Boulevard water-main replacement Watershed staff asked the committee to ratify an emergency purchase and contract to replace corroded mains that staff said serve roughly one-third of the county and critical facilities such as Emory Hospital and the Centers for Disease Control. The agenda identified the contractor as Ruby Collins Incorporated with a not-to-exceed amount of $46,435,928. Staff said the county had already purchased approximately $5.7 million in pipe and gate valves proactively to avoid delays and that the full contract authorization covers mobilization and construction. The committee ratified the emergency award; staff said they will provide stakeholders (cities, HOAs, corridor CIDs) with project notices and a dedicated project web page and will schedule local briefings.

Consent-decree "find-and-fix" sanitary-sewer assessment and rehabilitation contract The committee approved a low-bid, two-vendor award to provide CCTV and sonar assessments ("Tiscuit") and rehabilitation, including cured-in-place pipe (CIPP), point repairs and related restoration. The recommended awards were to SAC Construction Incorporated and Vortex Services LLC with a combined not-to-exceed total of $75,826,623. Staff described the allocation of contract work as approximately 62% rehabilitation, 19% assessment and the remainder for supporting tasks like bypass pumping, traffic control and site restoration. The presentation included methods staff will use to prioritize work, public notification plans and examples of common defects found during CCTV/Tiscuit inspection.

Votes and next steps Each approved item will move forward to the Board of Commissioners or be processed administratively as required. Staff said they will coordinate with the Finance Department on loan terms, with procurement to prepare solicitations where needed, and with district commissioners and affected cities to improve stakeholder notifications. The dam loan application will be completed for USACE review with an objective to submit before September 2025; Watershed staff said emergency water-main work is planned to begin in June, subject to contract execution.

The committee also reviewed a draft set of PWI committee goals (SPLOST updates, MARTA/BRT studies, stormwater/master planning, sidewalk maintenance, utility-rate review and related items) but did not take a formal vote to adopt that goals document during the meeting.

Ending Committee members said they will schedule a special called session to address remaining high-priority items tied to consent-decree compliance. Staff committed to provide commissioners with additional detail sheets, project-level cost breakdowns, and solicitations timelines as these projects move to the procurement and construction phases.